By Deb Martin, Holistic Health Educator
April 2025
Are you experiencing new, unwelcome symptoms of “aging” such as joint
and muscle stiffness and loss of muscle mass?
Do you have issues that no one has been able to help you resolve?
Among many possible causes, oxalates are often not considered. However, they definitely are a problem for some people, and in Natural Medicine, we are looking for root causes. Other common oxalate-caused symptoms include:
- mood conditions, anxiety, neurological conditions
- mitochondrial dysfunction
- red, dry or watery eyes
- lack of heart and vascular integrity
- atherosclerosis
- glandular dysfunction of the thyroid and adrenal glands
- poor gut function
- sleep problems
- weakness
- prostatitis
- burning feet
- painful urinary issues
- calcium deposits formed in multiple joints.
These–and over 50 other symptoms may be caused by a plant poison called oxalates.
Although not everyone has an issue with oxalates, for some this is a critical discovery and can change their lives. The good news is that by using readily-available information about foods, you can manage, heal and even reverse most of these issues. In this article, you will gain a basic understanding of the problem with oxalates and what to do about them.
The bottom line: If you have a lot of unanswered health questions that no one has helped you resolve, oxalates could be the cause!
What Are Oxalates and Why are They Bad?
Oxalates are a common plant compound designed to protect the plant from being eaten. They bind to crystals which abrade tissue, including your blood vessels and internal organs, especially the kidneys. They also bind to minerals we need to maintain strong, healthy bones. Oxalates essentially make calcium, magnesium, and other positive-ion minerals inactive and unavailable.
This is bad news for everything from our head to our toes. For example, we need calcium to maintain a regular heartbeat. We need key minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, iron and B Vitamins for many functions of brain and body. These are the most notable nutrient deficiencies caused by oxalates. Want to maintain or reverse bone loss? Many on that list are required for the constant remodeling our bones are undergoing this very minute!
There are at least 70 symptoms (which can have other causes too) that have been linked to oxalate sensitivity. Why are we having so much trouble? One smoking gun is the use of antibiotics. Many of us have lost our protective oxalate-eating bacteria. Keep reading…the
food hacks are coming!
Foods High in Oxalates
These are a few of the highest foods to limit or avoid if you are concerned about oxalates: Spinach, kale (although the latest research shows kale as a LOW oxalate), Swiss chard (red is worse than spinach), soybeans, almonds, beets, navy beans, okra, rhubarb, turnip, yams, potatoes, raspberries, dates, black and green tea, potatoes, . Some of these are listed in WebMD’s “Nourish” section on this topic. https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-high-in-oxalates
A half-cup of cooked spinach contains 547 mg. Interestingly, the same size portion “raw” is 158 mg. But a half-cup of chopped broccoli is 6 mg, and soaking and boiling beans takes most of the oxalates out. (The chemistry of food is complicated.) And to give you a sense of scale, a low-oxalate diet caps out at 350 mg.
The full list of high-oxalate foods is rather long. You commonly find Swiss chard, peanut butter and even my beloved chocolate on most lists. Look for specific food information on the web (Google “Harvard food oxalates”). There is also a free app called “Cronometer” which lists the oxalates in individual foods.
The good news is that by being aware of this, you can choose to take stock of your current diet, and make adjustments. Most vegetables and fruits have low to medium oxalate levels. All fruits are low oxalate except one: raspberries.
Testing for Oxalates
There are two tests commonly used for diagnosing an oxalate problem:
24-hour Urine Citric Acid
- Optimal range = more than 600 mg/24 hr
- Low range = Under 600 mg/24 hr
24-hour Urine Oxalates
- Optimal range = less than 25 mg/24 hr
High range = over 38 mg/24 hr
Keep in mind that oxalates are not a problem for everyone. However, if you have kidney stones, you do have a problem with oxalates. Consult with a healthcare provider if you have questions or want to pursue oxalate testing. And, if you are feeling like you just want to lower your oxalates a bit, you can do that. It is best not to cut them all out at once, which could cause you to feel sick.
Food Hack Recommendations for Oxalates:
To address oxalates, many experts such as Dr. Gundry, author of “The Plant Paradox“, suggest:
- Identify and Avoid High-Oxalate Foods: Limit or avoid foods high in oxalates such as spinach, kale, beets, chocolate, and certain nuts and seeds. Refer to the longer list above, and research more on your own. Buy Dr. Gundry’s book. Sign up for Dr. Millman’s course.
- Food Combining with Calcium and Vit C: Pairing high-oxalate foods with calcium-rich and citric acid-rich foods helps neutralize the impact of oxalates.
Food Examples: Enjoy the juice of ½ a lemon in your salad dressing and drizzled on your veggies, or include oranges, or eat goat/sheep yogurt as part of the meal.
Take a Pill: Another choice, particularly if you are having a meal with high-oxalate foods, take 200-300 mg of Calcium Citrate or Di-Malate Calcium with that meal, per Dr. Kim Millman, an Integrated Medicine MD in California. (Check out her Restore and Rebuild Program, which supplied much of the information in this article.) - Stay Hydrated: Hydrating during the day and 15-20 minutes before eating dilutes oxalates.
- Heal The Gut (and the possible missing strains). Oxalobacter Formigenes and Bifidobacterium Lactis are the oxalate-eating bacteria. We’ve lost a lot of the ancient bacteria that used to protect us, and those two key strains are killed by the antibiotic
drugs erythromycin and azithromycin.
If you are having digestive issues, it is best to work with a practitioner who offers services in this area. Ask your doctor for a stool analysis, and they may refer you to someone else…even to the Acupuncture Physician at Lotus Blossom Clinic! Knowing the population of your microbiota (digestive “bugs”) will help guide the practitioner to establish a protocol for you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Lastly, and especially, if you have digestive issues, you have more sensitivity to and will likely experience several painful or uncomfortable symptoms from eating high-oxalate foods. This may propel you to ask for testing. Plus, you can also take charge and make appropriate changes before symptoms worsen, before kidney or bladder damage occurs…or painful and unsightly calcium buildups happen to your joints, and many other symptoms. Resolving health issues and staying healthy is a participatory sport. Engage, seek answers, and never give up!
To Your Best Healthy Life,
David Martin, AP, DOM
Lotus Blossom Clinic
www.lotusblossomclinic.com
(239) 277-1399
Serving the greater Fort Myers area with Natural and Holistic Medicine, including Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Massage, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Science-backed Food as Medicine, Near Infrared Light, Energy and Transformational Sessions and Community Classes and Events both Virtual and In-Person.