Juicing For Health | Juicing To Lose Weight | Juice Lady Cherie
Juicing, Oxalates and Kidney Stones

Cranberry to the Rescue!

I have had numerous emails of late from people worried about oxalates in the juices they drink. Oxalates (or oxalic acid) are naturally occurring compounds in foods like spinach, kale and chard. They are also produced in small amounts in the liver. The role of oxalates is to provide protection for plants– everything from harmful bacteria to insects and animals.

Oxalates are correlated with the formation of the most common type of kidney stones – calcium oxalate stones. These form when oxalates bind with calcium in the bloodstream.

Most people do not need to be concerned about oxalates in the diet. However, if you have a health condition that requires you to limit oxalates, then you do need to follow some nutritional guidelines.

Cranberry to the Rescue!

Here’s a suggestion from a study in 2003 that rarely gets mentioned when people discuss oxalates and kidney stones. Cranberry juice has antilithogenic (stops the promotion of calculi) properties and should be used in managing calcium oxalate formation of stones in the urinary tract (urolithiasis t). So in plain English what this means is that you should drink some unsweetened cranberry juice in addition to your green juices, berry, celery or beet juice to prevent kidney stones especially if you are so prone. I like to mix about 1 TBSP unsweetened cranberry juice in a glass of purified water or sparkling water. And you’ll get an added bonus; it also acts as a diuretic.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14616463

Highest Foods in Oxalates

  • Beans, baked and green, snap, waxed, dried, pod, runner
  • Beer: Lager draft, Tuborg, Pilsner
  • Beets: Tops, roots, greens
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Bread, whole wheat
  • Celery
  • Cheerios (1 cup)
  • Chocolate, Chocolate milk, Cocoa, Cocoa Powder
  • Cinnamon
  • Collards
  • Currants, red
  • Dandelion greens
  • Dewberries,
  • Eggplant,
  • Escarole
  • Fig Newtons, Figs, dried
  • Fruit cake,
  • Garbanzo beans, canned
  • Ginger,
  • Gooseberries
  • Graham crackers, Graham flour
  • Grapes
  • Green Tea
  • Grits, White corn
  • Juices containing high berry content
  • Kale
  • Kamut
  • Leeks
  • Lemon, lime, and orange peel
  • Marmalade
  • Oatmeal
  • Okra
  • Parsley
  • Parsnips
  • Peanuts and Peanut butter
  • Pecans
  • Pepper, Peppers, green
  • Pokeweed
  • Popcorn
  • Potatoes and sweet potatoes
  • Raspberries
  • Rhubarb
  • Rutabagas
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Sorrel
  • Soy Sause,
  • Soybean crackers, and tofu
  • Spelt
  • Spinach
  • Squash
  • Stoneground flour
  • strawberries
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Swiss Chard
  • Tangerines
  • Tea, black and Indian
  • Tomato sauce canned
  • Turnip Greens
  • Watercress
  • Wheat bran, wheat germ, wheat flour
  • Yams
  • Yellow Dock

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO IF YOU’RE PRONE TO KIDNEY STONES

1. Increase the amount of calcium in your diet.

Not enough calcium in your diet will increase your chances of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones. Many people who are prone to kidney stones are afraid to eat calcium because of the name “calcium oxalate stones.” Calcium binds oxalate in the intestines. A diet rich in calcium helps reduce the amount of oxalate absorbed by your body, therefore stones calcium-rich foods.

Also, eating high calcium foods at the same time as high oxalate food is helpful; for example have sesame seeds with a spinach salad. If you take a calcium supplement, calcium citrate is the preferred form.

2. Drink plenty of water each day.

It is very important to drink plenty of water. Your goal should be 10-12 glasses of liquids a day. At least 6 glasses should be purified water. You may also want to consider drinking lemon water. Research suggests that lemon and water may be helpful in reducing the risk of calcium oxalate stone formation.

3. Eat the right amount of protein daily.

Eating large amounts of protein may increase the risk of kidney stone formation. Your daily protein needs can usually be met with 4 to 6 ounces. Eating more than this if you are at risk at kidney stones could present a problem.

4. Reduce the amount of sodium in your diet.

Reduce the amount of sodium in your diet to 2-3 grams per day. Limit eating processed foods such as hot dogs, deli meats, sausage, canned products, dry soup mixes, sauerkraut, pickles, and fast food

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