Oxalate Diet

Latest Edit: Hector 2014-03-13 (EDT)

See Also	Naturopathic Therapies

See Also	Clinical Nutrition

Oxalates are chemicals that are found in plant foods. A low oxalate diet is commonly used to help clear kidney stones or to prevent their formation.

Guidelines

• Restriction of dietary calcium enhances oxalate absorption and excretion, whereas an increase in calcium intake may reduce urinary oxalate excretion by binding more oxalate in the gut.

• The following foods are the most strongly associated with an increase in urinary oxalate excretion:

• Vegetables such as spinach, beets
• Fruits such as rhubarb, strawberries
• Nuts and seeds such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans
• Other foods and drinks such as chocolate, tea (green, black, iced or instant), coffee, cola, wheat bran

Foods that have some level of oxalate include:

• Grains such as white corn grits, wheat germ, whole-wheat flour.
• Fruits such as berries (blackberries, gooseberries, black raspberries), concord grapes, red currants, damson plums, peels from lemons, limes and oranges and tangerines.
• Desserts such as fruitcake or other desserts that contain the fruits listed above.
• Protein such as baked beans with tomato sauce, peanut butter and tofu.
• Vegetables such sweet potatoes, vegetable soups that contain very few vegetables, beans (wax, legume and soy), celery, dark leafy greens (swiss chard, endive, escarole, parsley), eggplant, leeks and summer squash.
• Beverages such as draft beer.

Uses

The Oxalate diet has been found to be beneficial for the following conditions:

• Kidney Stones
• High Uric Acid