What foods and drinks are high in oxalates?

How do calcium oxalate kidney stones form?

Kidney stones form when your urine contains more crystal-forming substances — such as calcium, oxalate and uric acid — than the fluid in your urine can dilute. At the same time, your urine may lack substances that prevent crystals from sticking together, creating an ideal environment for kidney stones to form.

Many fruits are considered low-oxalate, meaning they contain less than 2 milligrams per serving. These include bananas, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, mangoes, melons, green and yellow plums and nectarines. Canned fruits including peaches and pears and dried fruits such as raisins are also low in oxalate.

Instant coffee has even more oxalate per gram than the regular coffees. The question is whether drinking coffee increases urine oxalate, which has not been determined. I suspect it does not because coffee drinkers have a lower, not a higher kidney stone risk.

Tomatoes. Tomatoes belong to the nightshade plant family, along with eggplant, potatoes and bell peppers. While these other nightshade plants contain a “high” amount of oxalate, or more than 10 mg per serving, tomatoes contain only a “moderate” amount, or between 2 and 10 mg per serving.

A 100-gram serving of cooked brown rice, or roughly one-half cup, contains between 2 and 10 milligrams of oxalate, qualifying it as a moderate source of oxalate. Low-oxalate dietary guidelines generally recommend limiting moderate-oxalate foods to two or three servings per day and avoiding high-oxalate foods.

Oxalate is naturally found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, grains, legumes, and even chocolate and tea. Some examples of foods that contain high levels of oxalate include: peanuts, rhubarb, spinach, beets, chocolate and sweet potatoes.

Your doctor can determine whether a juice may cause side effects for you or your baby.

Water. When passing a stone, upping your water intake can help speed up the process.

Lemon juice.

Basil juice.

Apple cider vinegar.

Celery juice.

Pomegranate juice.

Kidney bean broth.

Dandelion root juice.

Follow these guidelines if you have calcium kidney stones:

Drink plenty of fluids, particularly water.

Eat less salt.

Have only 2 or 3 servings a day of foods with a lot of calcium, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, oysters, and tofu.

Eat lemons or oranges, or drink fresh lemonade.

Limit how much protein you eat.

Vegetables:

Artichokes, asparagus, and brussels sprouts.

Broccoli and cauliflower.

Kale, endive, cabbage, and lettuce.

Cucumbers, peas, and zucchini.

Mushrooms, onions, and peppers.

Potatoes and corn.

Carrots, celery, and green beans (medium oxalate)

Parsnips, summer squash, tomatoes, and turnips (medium oxalate)

Avoid foods containing oxalates. Spinach seems to produce the most oxalate. Other oxalate-containing foods include beans, beets, berries, green peppers, chocolate, coffee, colas, peanuts, peanut butter, and wheat bran.

He also referred to published implications not supported by quantitative data that pineapples contained high amounts of oxalates, but definitely stated “pineapples contain no more oxalate than many other common fruits and rank low in cal- cium oxalate as compared with a number of other foods.”

OJ Better Than Lemonade. In the study, researchers compared the effects of orange juice and lemonade in preventing recurrent kidney stones. The results showed that orange juice increased levels of citrate in the urine and decreased urine acidity, which reduced the risk of kidney stones.

Calcium oxalate stones are the most common type of kidney stones. The evidence indicates that consuming milk and milk products does not increase the risk of kidney stone formation. In fact, increasing dietary calcium from foods such as milk and milk products is recommended to prevent kidney stones.

Caffeine causes a short but sudden increase in blood pressure. Research has not shown that drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day increases the risk of kidney disease or increases rate of decline of kidney function. However, moderating how much coffee you drink is a good idea.

An apple a day keeps kidney stones away. Researchers have found another reason to eat well: a healthy diet helps prevent kidney stones. Individuals with higher DASH scores consumed diets that were higher in calcium, potassium, magnesium, oxalate, and vitamin C and lower in sodium.

“It is good for preventing urinary tract infections, because it does solidify the urine and prevent infections, but it has the opposite effect with kidney stones,” Gupta tells Yahoo Health. “Cranberry is high in oxalate [which can cause kidney stones], so we recommend not to drink cranberry juice or take supplements.”

Patients who form calcium oxalate stones should avoid eating foods containing high amounts of oxalate. Examples of such foods include spinach, parsley, rhubarb, cranberries, celery, peanuts, soy products, fiber-containing cereals, bran and chocolate.

Beets, broccoli, carrots, celery, okra, olives, potatoes, spinach and other dark leafy greens, and tomatoes are all high in oxalates. This may seem very limiting at first, but there are other vegetables at your disposal.

Thirteen home remedies for kidney stones

Water. Drinking water is one of the easiest ways to prevent and treat kidney stones.

Lemon juice.

Basil.

Apple cider vinegar.

Wheatgrass juice.

Celery juice or seed.

Uva ursi.

Kidney bean broth.

Oxalate Content. You can reduce your risk of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones by eating no more than 40 to 50 mg of oxalates per day, according to the University of Pittsburgh. Popcorn can be part of a low-oxalate diet because each cup provides only 4 mg, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Most of the foods that contain oxalates are very important for good health. The root and leaves of rhubarb contain dangerously high concentrations of oxalic acid and should not be consumed raw. Only spinach, almonds and peanuts caused a small increase in urinary oxalate excretion.