Your free low-oxalate food list

Oxalate is a naturally occurring compound found in many plants, and the body also produces some on its own. In plants, it helps regulate excess calcium. In humans, most of it simply passes out through urine, but problems can arise when it binds with calcium in the kidneys. Calcium-oxalate crystals are the most common type of kidney stone, accounting for roughly 80 percent of cases.

Most animal proteins and dairy are naturally very low in oxalate: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products contain little to none. Among plant foods, cauliflower, mushrooms, cabbage, romaine lettuce, and most berries are also low. Foods under about 2 mg of oxalate per serving are generally considered low-oxalate.

Spinach, almonds, wheat bran, and beets are consistently among the highest-oxalate foods people eat regularly. The full 433-food chart in this guide breaks these down by category with exact serving sizes, since what counts as "high" varies a lot depending on portion size.

Guidance varies depending on how elevated your urinary oxalate is. Most general low-oxalate diets aim for under 100 mg per day; some care teams recommend a stricter target of 40 to 50 mg per day for people with significantly elevated urinary oxalate. The right number for you depends on your own 24-hour urine test results. This is a range to discuss with your doctor or dietitian, not a single universal figure. (Source: Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation)

No. Oxalate is in a wide range of otherwise healthy foods, and the body produces some of its own regardless of diet, so eliminating it entirely isn't realistic or necessary. The more useful approach, and the one this guide is built around, is pairing oxalate-containing foods with a source of calcium at the same meal rather than cutting them out.

Yes. Pairing calcium-rich foods with oxalate-containing foods at the same meal is one of the most effective habits for lowering kidney stone risk. Calcium binds to oxalate in the gut before it can be absorbed, so low-calcium diets are actually linked to higher stone risk, not lower.

Yes. A tablespoon of peanut butter contains about 19 mg of oxalate, putting it in the high-oxalate category. Most nuts and nut butters are higher than people expect.

Partially. Because oxalate is water-soluble, boiling spinach and discarding the cooking water can reduce its oxalate content by roughly 30 to 90 percent, depending on the method. But spinach cooks down a lot: a serving of boiled spinach contains far more spinach by weight than the same size serving of raw, so it often still delivers more oxalate per serving than raw spinach. It stays one of the highest-oxalate vegetables in either form.

No, brewed coffee is low in oxalate, generally around 1 to 2 mg per cup. The bigger consideration with coffee is hydration: drinking several cups a day without also meeting your water goals can work against kidney stone prevention, regardless of oxalate content.

Yes. Staying well hydrated is one of the most protective habits for anyone prone to kidney stones, since it dilutes urine and reduces the concentration of stone-forming compounds like calcium and oxalate. Aiming for around 3 liters of fluid a day is a common general target, though your doctor may recommend a different amount based on your own risk factors.

This is most relevant for people with a history of calcium-oxalate kidney stones, particularly those with elevated urinary oxalate on a 24-hour urine test. It's especially important for people with enteric hyperoxaluria, often linked to Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, short bowel syndrome, chronic pancreatitis, or prior bariatric surgery, all of which increase how much oxalate the gut absorbs. A doctor or registered dietitian can help determine whether and how strictly to follow one.

Hyperoxaluria means having too much oxalate in the urine. Primary hyperoxaluria is a rare genetic condition where the liver overproduces oxalate. Enteric (or secondary) hyperoxaluria happens when a digestive condition causes the gut to absorb more oxalate than usual. Dietary hyperoxaluria simply reflects a diet high in oxalate-rich foods. A 24-hour urine test measuring oxalate excretion is the standard way it's diagnosed.

Withings' mission is to give people the data and tools to understand and manage their own health, and kidney stone prevention is a natural extension of that. U-Scan Calci, part of the Prevention Series, lets people who have had a kidney stone track their urine calcium and hydration levels at home between doctor visits, working alongside dietary guidance like this one.