Spice of Life: about Spices and Oxalate content
Eventually, you’ll get around to wondering: which spices are high in oxalate? You wouldn’t imagine they could make a big difference, those light sprinklings of everyday seasonings. But they do.
A quarter teaspoon of regular old black pepper has as much oxalate as 1.5 cups of sliced onions and 22 times as much as the same amount of white pepper. In fact, if you’re sticking to an intake of 50 mg of oxalate every day, that ¼ teaspoon of pepper would occupy 6% of your days’ total oxalate allowance.
Granted, we need to take care of the heavy hitters first. After all, the 3 mg of oxalate in a ¼ tsp. of black pepper pales in comparison to the 33 mg provided by a 3-ounce portion of french fries or the 150 mg in one fluffy, half-ounce cup of raw spinach. Given the heavy hit made by these modern lunch foods, we’re tempted to discard any concern over how our food is seasoned.
But that would be a mistake.
Helen’s Breakthrough
My friend Helen is a case in point. She was still in chronic pain due to an auto accident 13 years ago. And she was also trying to drop stubborn pounds after decades of frustration at not losing weight while enduring a constant nagging hunger. For years she had struggled to get control of her tendency to reach for chips, soda pop, and a quick sandwich. Thus, she was pleased with her recent success in sticking with a strict no-sugar, no-gluten diet, but feeling discouraged that the excess pounds didn’t drop, not in the least.
Her best efforts to follow the combined advice of her nutritionist and counselor led to other frustrations too. Some of their advice conflicted with what her body was telling her—that many vegetables didn’t agree with her. “Healthy” foods often gave her stomach pains. Her nutritionist and counselor both insisted that she just needed to comply and eat her vegetables. She was caught in a tussle and needing some new ideas. I ran into Helen in a local café and she begged for my input. She needed more options, desperate for a breakthrough.
Trying Low-Oxalate
As we chatted, I told her that my physical energy and mental focus was much better on the low-oxalate diet—simply by avoiding certain vegetables, nuts, and fruits. In no way was I suggesting that this was a fit for her situation. But Helen insisted that I look at her diet and suggest changes. She wanted to know what not to eat. On a napkin, I wrote a list of low-oxalate vegetables she could have and told her to eat more butter and olive oil. I never mentioned spices. Later she set an appointment to get more details and suggestions, so she could try this approach and still comply with her counselor’s advice to eat “healthy foods”.
A few weeks passed, it was mid-July, and a much happier Helen called me. “I feel like I got my life back. I know this sounds like a trite exaggeration, but this approach has worked miracles” she said. “I feel better and I am not getting headaches. I’ve stopped taking Advil at night. My stomach aches are better, and my digestion is finally working. For once, I feel as if I am digesting and absorbing my food and I don’t feel hungry. I am eating much less, and it is easy. I am feeling a level of peace and simplicity about it like never before.”
Many Spices are High in Oxalate!
Helen got a second breakthrough when she studied my table of oxalate in foods. She was amazed to learn how much oxalate was packed into black pepper, cumin, turmeric, and other spices.
She had always gravitated to spicy foods. Her favorite snack, specially ordered and shipped in, was black pepper potato chips. Her favorite local hot-bar was stocked with heavily seasoned foods loaded with exotic aromas and strong, pungent spices, including: Indian curries, Ethiopian cuisine, and Mexican-style dishes.
Photo by: T. Maari
After seeing the actual numbers, the amount of oxalate conveyed to her diet by seasonings, she made a big, surprising shift. She started cooking most all her meals at home… cooking for one and eating alone, just she and her cats. She does NOT like to cook, and keeps it all as simple as she can. She tells me: This produced another breakthrough. Her back and knee pain were so much better! She could walk, exercise, and take stairs like she hasn’t for years.
Refine Your Diet
Paying more attention to spices might be a good way to refine your oxalate-aware eating plan. If you are really already avoiding potato chips, fries, nuts, snacks with nuts and seeds, spinach, and so on – the spice cabinet might be your next step. After all, most spices are potent seeds.
If you love spice too or love to cook with spices like I do, you might be daunted or otherwise resist this step. (It took me years to discard several spices languishing in my cabinet.) Please, don’t be afraid of cleaning out your spice cabinet. You can still enjoy great food, even with a simplified approach to seasoning. Undoubtedly, the best flavors come from the quality of the ingredients. When handled with care and skill in the kitchen, fresh ingredients shine without excessive embellishment. But, you don’t have to give up spices entirely – just be aware of what you’re eating, and use spices that are consistent with your low-oxalate goals.
Alternatives to High Oxalate Seasoning
Easy Substitutions and Approaches to Bringing out the Flavor of Foods
1. White pepper in place of black pepper
2. Lower the amounts of spices in your cooking by half
3. Use more white pepper, ground mustard seed, pinches of cayenne pepper, and mineral-type salts like pink Himalayan or Real Salt brand salt (ancient sea salt mined in Utah).
4. Use more salt. If you’re not eating processed food, you’re getting half of what most people are. And salt has an undeservedly bad nutritional reputation in any case: you might even need more salt to be healthy!
5. Add a hint of lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar just before serving to give all the flavors in your dish a subtle lift.
6. Use enough fat when cooking and serving. An extra dash of olive oil or butter when garnishing and serving extends and enhances flavors.
7. Try prepared horseradish more often. It is great with beef and seafood. Good stirred into sour cream or yogurt, too (along with Frank’s Hot Sauce).
Essential oils and extracts can make good substitutes in the kitchen. Begin with these easy substitutions:
1. To replace (whole root) turmeric use a turmeric extract sold as a dietary supplement. (Start with 1 -3 caps per recipe, opened and the capsule discarded.) (Oxalate tends to stick to fibers and other elements removed when an extract is made.)
2. To replace lemon peel: use oil of lemon (1 small drop per tsp. of zest) or lemon extract (1/4 tsp./ lemon). (Oxalate is filtered out during extraction, and does not hang around in the oil fraction of any given food.)
Extracts typically don’t have exactly the same taste as the whole spice, but for certain recipes they can still provide a safe and pleasant flavor enhancement.
An adventurous cook will want to try using other essential oils too…
. . . such as the essential oils of clove, ginger, cardamon, and cumin seed oil (not black cumin seed -nigella- oil – which has very little flavor) (Cumin seed oil is hard to find.)
- Purchase high-quality edible grade essential oils and a brown glass dropper bottle.
- Dilute the essential oil 10:1 (5 teaspoons macadamia or almond oil to 1/2 teaspoon essential oil).
- Label the brown glass dropper bottle with the names of the two oils used and the ratio of your mixture. (invest in a quality label machine). Store the mixture in a dark cabinet.
- When cooking, add the oil at the last step of preparation.
- Use only one drop of the diluted oil per recipe, taste and adjust up from there.
- Make notes about what worked or didn’t.
For Curry Style Foods . . .
Try the curry styles of Thailand. Instead of cumin and turmeric (Indian style curry ingredients), Thai food are seasoned with various combinations of the following: cayenne, chili peppers, garlic, lime, lemongrass, mint, coconut milk, fish sauce, onion, and cilantro. To make the switch, keep these four ingredients on hand: 1) Thai chili paste (red or green), 2) fish sauce, 3) limes, and 4) coconut milk or coconut milk powder. Use the first 3 in ~1 tablespoon amounts… you can make nearly any dish interesting. These four ingredients can easily transform bone broth into something really nice.
Oxalate in Spices
High Oxalate SpicesMilligrams (mg) of oxalate (culinary portions)
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Moderate Oxalate SpicesMilligrams (mg) of oxalate (culinary portions)
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Oh, Spice Road: Spices in Verse
Pepper black, pepper red,
pepper, pepper
excite me, entertain me,
soothe me.
Conceal, mask, camouflage.
Spice, satisfy me, soothe me.
What longings, what emptiness shall I fill?
What hunger, what boredom, what lack can you displace?
Hunger, hunger what do you want?
Let me run away, travel, find jungle, beach, tropical paradise.
Oh, spice road, take me away from here.
What can you show me? What can you mask?
What fears can you quell? Sadness, aloneness, weakness, death?
Oh, spice entertain me! Oh, spice connect me, me oh spice, warm me, rev me, jolt me alive.
Oh, spice don’t flog me, punish me, or make me fat.
Hunger, hunger what do you want?
Can you please provide the sources for the oxalate levels you’ve listed for the spices mentioned in your article?
Thank you!
Deb Daly
Hello Deb,
Thanks for pointing out that I did not credit my sources. My bad. The most extensive food testing has been published by the (Vulvar Pain) VP Foundation in their Newsletters. Testing foods for oxalate content is a central mission of this 25-year old organization. We all owe the founder, Joanne J. Yount a debt of gratitude for her dedication these many years to helping us all learn about oxalates in foods. The VP Foundation tested many spices in 2011 (Fall Addendum) and 2010 (Summer Addendum). Fewer numbers of spices were tested and reported in 2008 (Spring), 2009 (Summer), spring 2011, summer and fall 2012 and 2014 and the fall of 2013 and 2016. The lab that conducted these tests was run by Michael Liebman. Ph. D. (Professor of Human Nutrition, emeritus) at The University of Wyoming in Laramie. (http://www.thevpfoundation.org)
Joanne and her supporters should be congratulated for their willingness to test spices. In contrast, many medical and dietetic professionals have been content to ignore the impact of spices on our total intake of oxalates. As a result, it is really hard to find any decent information, except for the efforts of the VP Foundation and the Trying Low Oxalate group lead by Susan Owens and list moderators.
Other Publications with Spice Data Include
Das, S.G., and Savage, G.P. (2012). Total and soluble oxalate content of some Indian spices. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 67, 186–190.¬¬
Ramasastri, B.V. (1983). Calcium, iron and oxalate content of some condiments and spices. Plant Food Hum Nutr 33, 11–15.
Hi Sally, thank you so much for your wonderfully detailed answer! I use the Harvard List that Nephrologist Fred Coe and his Nurse, Jill Harris, use with their kidney stone patients and in their Kidney Stone Diet and Prevention Course (in Facebook). That list doesn’t really cover spices except for chili powder, so it was very helpful to find your article and know the sources of the research! Thanks so much, Deb
Hi sally
How about using sesame oil instead of seeds? Would that be lower in oxylates?
Thanks
Yes. Oils have essentially no oxalate even when extracted from a high-oxalate food like sesame seeds . A few drops of toasted sesame oil can be a great flavor-enhancer in some dishes. Untoasted sesame oil has a very mild flavor and is less useful as a seasoning. Remember, however, that seed oils like sesame are high in Omega-6 fatty acids and should be consumed in small quantities.
I do take white pepper since many months now because i find out that its better for histamine intolerance then black peppter (Same thing for White onion). And i need to take 1/3 less then black pepper because it taste more. Happy to learn that it’s better for Low Oxalate too.
But i will lower these or stop them for some weeks or months to drop oxalate even more.
Hello Gino,
FYI – 1/4 tsp white pepper has only 0.2mg oxalate. This is practically nothing.
Be careful; going too low in oxalate too soon can trigger some unpleasant reactions that can be very disruptive to your life. Eventually, being very low is healthy, but the release of old oxalate deposits seems to get going too fast and too intensely if you make an abrupt shift to zero oxalate in your diet.
There might be other reasons to cut out spices, such as allergy or digestive issues, or concerns over plant chemicals in general.
Hi there,i was wondering if you can do some meal prep recipes on youtube,sorry thanks.
I’ll try to get around to that! Would love to.
Ms Knorton: I wonder if green peppercorns have moderate oxylates because they’re immature. White curbs for a mill are aren’t for sale in our local stores.
Hello Mark,
I do not know of a test on green peppercorns for oxalate content. Being an immature seed is no guarantee of lower oxalate content. In fact, some seeds (soy, for example) and fruits (avocados) are higher in oxalate in their unripe stage. We have no reason to image that green peppercorns are lower in oxalate. Just go with white pepper, if possible.
Hi Sally,
Is there an updated list for 2019 for foods containing oxalates with the numerical values? Most of what I have seen has been contradictory. Also, I have The Low Oxalate Cookbook: Book Two, which is what I have been referring to, but it’s quite out-of-date. Do you know if a book three will be forthcoming from the VP Foundation?
Thank you.
I know that the VPFoundation was working on their #3 cookbook, but have heard no updates if they are still pursuing this project. I am organizing the data in hopes of creating a better resource.
I’m having a hard time adjusting to all this information. Potatoes in one study – too high, and low in another! I know to switch to white pepper and garlic is good raw or cooked, but what about the caraway seeds in the vinegar (and vinegar and cucumber are both okay) for bread and butter pickles. Even if I rinse them, the caraway seed has flavored the pickle. . .One study says high, like 600, another study says 44 (which is pretty low). Which is it?
There are three major factors that make the data confusing.
1) Plant samples naturally very in oxalate content. Some types of foods like potatoes vary a lot. In the case of potatoes, the variation seems to be about the variety (type), but there are other factors such as growing conditions and storage conditions that might be in play. Thus, the potato you have in hand can not be trusted to be fit the test number, because, to quote myself, the food you are about to eat is not the one that was tested. My rule of thumb is, if a type of food sometimes tests as high when reliable testing is done then it should be avoided.
2) Older tests of potatoes tended to under-estimate the level of oxalate. These older, poor quality results still hang around causing confusion. They live on as “science myths”. Testing still has its problems, and needs a skillful lab.
3) Mishandled data. It is easy to introduce typo-type mistakes or miscalculations. Again, false results hang around and add to the confusion.
As for the oxalate in the seeds leaching into the liquid of pickles, chances are that the amount of pickle juice you eat is so small that it is NOT an issue. So at least you can relax on that one.
I had a 4 cm stag horn calculus embedded in my left kidney, COMPOSED OF CALCIUM OXALATE!!! It Newark’s cost me my life from Jan 1,2019, thru the end of March this year! Septic shock four times, in hospital for three months ! Helppppp?????
Citric acid can help dissolve oxalate crystals. Sources: Lemon juice, coconut water, citrate supplements (calcium citrate, potassium citrate, magnesium citrate.) There is more you can do. Schedule a consultation with me for customized suggestions.
I am prone to the most common type of kidney stones, calcium oxalate; therefore I am adjusting my diet to minimize my oxalate intake. I see in one of your responses for treatment of a stag horn calculus, you recommend coconut water. I don’t drink soft drinks (haven’t for decades, and never did very often), coffee, tomato juice, fruit juices, etc. I basically just drink water, and before being diagnosed with kidney stones, I drank decaffeinated tea, which of course I can no longer drink. In looking for things in addition to water, I started drinking Bai coconut water because it is also good for hydration, but my doctor advised against it because of it’s oxalate content. So, now, as I am often with oxalate content, I am confused, is coconut water an acceptable drink for me?
One very short-term study found that coconut water consumption (2L/day) increased urinary potassium, chloride, and citrate. This is thought to lower risk of kidney stones. The tests for oxalate content of coconut water suggest some variability between products. The brand they used was the same brand I had tested for oxalate content. This brand had only 1mg oxalate per liter – almost NONE. However, since that test, I learned that the brand, Niviana was cheating by watering down their product with sugar water. See complaint and admission of guilt.
A much older test of a unnamed coconut water was published by the VP-Foundation in their Low Oxalate Cookbook II. That test suggested that coconut water could have as much as 70mg per liter. This number seems high for many reasons, mostly being that I have never heard of anyone on a low oxalate diet having a bad reaction to coconut water, and coconut flesh is a low oxalate food. It would be nice to have a test that looks at fresh coconut water from several sources and also several commercial products too. However, this is not considered a common food or a food of concern, and is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Hi Sally,
I’ve heard that Ceylon (verum or “true”) Cinnamon has a very different nutritional profile than the commonly used Cassia cinnamon.
In your list, which cinnamon are you referring to as high in oxalates. Apparently Ceylon cinnamon is much better?
Thank you!
Ceylon cinnamon (Simply Organic Brand) was tested by the VP Foundation in Fall 2016 and found still to be very high in oxalate: 1180 mg per 100g (or about 31 mg in a teaspoon). Regular cinnamon is considerably higher (1675 mg per 100g, or about 40 mg in a teaspoon). Neither would appear to be a good choice for low-oxalate eating.
PENUTS CASHEWS ARE THEY HIGH IN OXZALATES..ISNT THAT WAS CAN TRIGGER GOUT AS WELL?
Yes. Nuts are generally very high in oxalate, especially peanuts.
Hi Sally. Great info! Are there any nuts that are the *exception* to high oxalate content? Same with seeds: other than flax seed & chia seed, is there any other seeds low in oxalate? Thanks!
First of all: chia seeds are NOT low oxalate (200mg per ounce!).
Low-oxalate seeds other than flax include sunflower seeds (7mg per ounce), sprouted pumpkin seeds (6mg per ounce), or sprouted watermelon seeds (1.4mg per ounce). Nuts are a problem all around, but some are better than others. You’ll get about 20mg of oxalate in a one ounce serving of the relatively low macadamia nuts or pistachios, for example.
I’ve been trying to find out more about the oxalate levels of chia seeds. Do you have a source for your info Jeremy? I’d be interested to know.
Chia seeds were tested by the VP Foundation in 2012 and found to be very high in oxalate, 690 mg per 100g, in the same league as spinach or swiss chard).
Sally, I read somewhere that tamarind is good to dissolve oxalate. It contains potassium and tartaric acid. Can you confirm that.
There have been a few studies asking this question with mixed results. One study with only 4 men found that it did lower the oxalate crystals in urine in a short, 7-day trial. I am not sure what to think about this outcome. They declare that it helps with oxalate, but it might be shutting down the excretion of oxalate in urine, which is not good. Besides 4 guys and 7 days tells us very little. Ref: Anasuya and Sasikala (1990). Tamarind ingestion and lithogenic properties of urine: Study in men. Nutrition Research 10. Potassium and tartaric acid might be good, jury is out on this.
I understand the ripeness of vegetables/fruits impacts the oxalate content – please can you explain where the oxalate goes or what it is converted to say in a green pepper turning red and ripening? Thank you
Plants have many uses for oxalate throughout their various stages of development. For example, soybean seeds have much higher amounts of oxalate crystals in their early development and less when they are fully mature. Scientists are at a loss to give a satisfactory explanation.
It makes great evolutionary sense for unripe fruits to have higher oxalate content (and thus dissuade plant predators) whereas ripe fruits are lower because the fruit flesh will encourage beneficial seed spreading by creatures that find the ripe fruit palatable.
Basically, since mainstream science has not yet caught on to caring about food oxalate content, there have been very few resources applied to answering this kind of question.
Are avocados high in oxalate?
A recent study of avocados at various stages sponsored by the VP Foundation (Winter 2018) found that the oxalate content is quite high for unripe avocados (18 – 33 mg / 100g) but drops to only 3 to 4 mg / 100 g (low to moderate) when they are very ripe. They tested multiple samples (which is why there is variation). The bottom line is that if you want to eat avocados on a low-oxalate diet, make sure they are very ripe!
Hi Sally, thank you for you amazing work!! You saved my life!! I had migraines for 3 weeks and had no idea why!! Then I found you
and you gave me the answers I was seeking! Was wondering about hot sauce. Am trying to find a few things to add to my meatloaf.
Thanks for reaching out with good news!
Of the testing I know of, Franks Hot Sauce came out very low, just under 1mg per tbsn, while Tabasco has twice as much (1.5mg). Even ketchup isn’t too bad (~1.5mg per Tbsn.) Mustard is low too (1mg/ tbsn.) Enjoy your meatloaf and hot sauce.
Hi Sally, I just discovered about oxalates. I been so sick for over 2 decades and just recently discovered Keto and now Carnivore. I been mostly carnivore for 3 weeks now and feeling some positive results and not so good! but a few days ago I got into fat bombs with the peanut butter and cocoa (not knowing what I am learning now from you! I have had pretty much constant sinus issues always blistering, swelling and bleeding but a few days ago WOW did I get a reaction that intensified these symptoms 10 fold. I also discovered lately I have a insulin issue because there is no way I have have any amount of sugar in my diet or I am very sick with flu like and hangover feeling. But back to the recent thing I feel very toxic and flu like with inflammation in the nose and even goes into both ears. I feel completely drained mentally, emotionally and physically. My spirit is usually in a very good place 🙂 but I feel I am dying slowly. Prior to finding the latest that I mention above I did a lot of fruit for a good 10 years but gradually became nutrient deficient! The last few years I have barely ate anything. Does this sound to you like it is an Oxalate issue? I would very much appreciate your input and suggestions for me.
Thanks for sharing your story. I’m so sorry you have been so sick. Reacting to high oxalate foods like peanut butter and cocoa can be allergy or oxalate excess or both. Oxalate seems to promote auto-immune issues and allergies and can mess up your sinuses. Many of us who are impacted by excessive oxalate in the diet get into serious trouble. This trouble can and does feel like a slow death. These correlations are not diagnostic, however. I cannot diagnose; and at this remote level of familiarity with your situation, I can only say that oxalate is trouble for sick people, and you would be wise to know what foods are high in oxalate and avoid them.
However, an abrupt shift to a very low oxalate diet can be a mistake. Keep some medium oxalate foods in your diet for a while, if you tolerate them. (Eg. carrots, celery, artichoke, pineapple)
I would suggest drinking the juice of a whole lemon 3 times a day to support your kidneys and help your body resist oxalate accumulation. It might be a good idea to add 1/8 tsp each of baking soda and potassium bicarbonate to it and let it fizz before you drink it. If you don’t tolerate lemons, try citrate supplements (calcium, magnesium, and potassium) at low doses, and increase gradually. (I’m writing a blog post about citrates at the moment.)
You sound like you need personalized attention. At the moment, I don’t have openings in my consultation calendar. Stay in touch and look for options for group visits with me starting later this year. Glad to know your spirit is strong. Hang on to that fact!
Hi sally
Would drinking juice of lemon three times a day be damaging to my teeth ?
I think the sipping of acid water (lemon water) could be an issue and is less effective for metabolic support than drinking lemon juice straight as a “shot”. Here are a few tips for caring for your teeth after taking lemon juice:
Drink mineral water before and after a lemon shot. Use your saliva (which is alkaline) to “rinse” or pull the lemon juice out of the gaps and pockets between the teeth. Do not brush your teeth in the 30 minutes following a lemon. Remember, citric acid builds strong teeth and bones. Weak dental enamel comes from primarily from nutrient deficiency (causes weakness in the enamel), not acid.
Personally, in the 5 years I juiced at least 3 lemons every day, my dental health was excellent.
Hi. Thank you for sharing this info with us. I’m wanting to make some carnivore “bread” with a recipe that has Caraway seeds in it. Do you know if they are high in oxalates?
Thanks
A teaspoon of caraway seeds has about 21 mg of oxalate, which makes them a high oxalate food. I’d recommend leaving them out.
What an amazing gift you are to us all, darling Sally!! Thank you for all you share?
Does taking black seed oil help prevent formation of calcium oxalate kidney stones? If so, what amount would you suggest taking? Are there any risks with taking black seed oil/or capsules?
There is no evidence that black seed oil prevents kidney stones. I would be concerned about possible allergy and excessive poly-unsaturated fats that have the potential to inhibit effective energy metabolism and lead to fatigue or weight gain. (And it’s an unnecessary expense.)
Awesome information !
Sally, Thank you for your website and generosity with this important info; I’m very grateful!
Hi
I know one guy he start to eat every day green part of the watermelon and he never has more stones in 20 years
Only about 50% of people who suffer from a kidney stone have a repeat event.
Even if herbal remedies helped to prevent crystals from clumping and getting stuck in the kidneys, that doesn’t make eating a high-oxalate diet safe for your overall health.
Great work!
What about oxalate levels found in fully grown sprouts in general and lentil, brocolli, mung bean specifically?
Thank you for your keen insights.
Unfortunately, every sprout is probably different. Mung bean sprouts were tested by the VP Foundation, and had about 8mg oxalate in a half cup; not so bad. Alfalfa sprouts ere even lower (1mg per half cup), but those two are the only ones we’ve seen test results for.
Do you have a source for the oxalate content of herbal teas? Since the slippery elm is high, and ginger as a dried or fresh food source is moderate to high, I am wondering about my chamomile,moringa, and rooibos teas
The VP Foundation has reported tests for a number of herbal teas. Chamomile and Rooibos are both fine (about 1.5mg per cup). McKay et al (1995) explored a lot of herbal teas and found most of the popular ones are generally very low. I’ve only seen moringa leaf tested as a supplement, where it was rather high, so that might be one to steer away from. As always, we’re happy to hear from people who know of other studies.
vanilla powder? I know extract is low but before going LO I splurged on some powder (ground beans!) & have been afraid to use it since I can’t find any numbers on vanilla beans. Any idea of where I might look or what it might be?
We’re still looking for test results on ground vanilla pods (if anyone knows of one, PLEASE let us know, either in a comment or an email to support@sallyknorton.com). Vanilla (powder as well as extract) appears in many, many commercial foods whose oxalate content doesn’t seem to have been elevated by having vanilla in it (Chocolate, which is high, leaves its oxalate mark on every food it is included in). Commercial foods often use vanilla powder, not extract, and we imagine that if the powder were high (in spice-sized doses) it would show up in some of those other tests. Sally consequently considers vanilla, even the powder, a low-oxalate food. But we’d be happy to hear from someone who has found a published test result for vanilla powder.
I know this is going to be a silly questions but here goes. When I look at the Harvard tables, the provide serving size and oxalate value. I am having difficulties converting the information in the tables in your website for spices to the format in Harvard tables. Can you provide a mathematical example to help walk me through the calculations? Thank you in advance!
Hi Diane,
It’s not a silly question at all. A lot of people have had trouble interpreting the spice tables. Here’s how they were supposed to be read: the big number was “milligrams (mg) per 100 grams of food” which is the standard way that oxalate laboratory tests are reported for food content. The smaller number in parentheses was the one most people are interested in: that’s the number of milligrams in a half a teaspoon (2.5 ml in metric units). You could factor that up or down (half the listed amount for a quarter teaspoon, twice for a full teaspoon, six times for a tablespoon).
But if you (or anyone else) has been having trouble with the spice tables, you should look again! I just reformatted them completely so it should be a lot more obvious what you’re looking at. There are two columns, one for the spices by volume and one for the spices by weight. The volume column (still half a teaspoon) automatically takes into account whether the spice usually comes as a liquid, a powder or a whole seed or leaf.
If you want to assess a particular serving precisely (and maybe you have whole cumin seed instead of ground), you can get a milligram scale (or a sensitive kitchen scale) and use the weight column, which reports the milligrams of oxalate you would get from a ten gram portion. You would weigh your spice portion and factor the amount per 10 grams up or down. So if you had 5 grams of whole cumin seed, it has 100mg oxalate in a 10 gram portion, five mg is half of ten, so you’d get 50mg of oxalate in that portion (wow, that’s a LOT!).
Let us know (write to help@sallyknorton.com) if you still can’t figure out the new tables, or if you have a better idea about how to format the information.
The key point, of course, is to limit your intake of the high ones, by noticing that some of them have an entire day’s worth of oxalate in just a half teaspoon!
Best regards,
Jeremy (Sally’s website administrator and data guy)
Wow! Great work. Thank you so much!!
Thanks for all your information and reponses!
Hello, I know this is an older post but I just saw this and had a couple of questions. I am going to be following the carnivore diet but the one thing I cant let go of is garlic and chili peppers. I either cook with fresh garlic or garlic powder, or I make a raw garlic and raw chili dipping sauce with some lemon juice for some of my meat options, like turtle meat, catfish, gar, and shrimp. I wouldn’t consume a lot of it maybe 3 cloves of fresh garlic and two chili peppers with the lemon juice per meal maybe once or twice a week. Also I’m not sure if you had any input on eating freshwater turtle meat and whether there is something I should be aware of while eating it. I eat it once or twice a week or so along with freshwater fish that I catch out of Kansas rivers and lakes. Thank you for what you do.
Fresh raw garlic has less than 1mg per clove, so it’s a great choice for low-oxalate eating.
For peppers, ripe peppers (red) are lower in oxalate than fresh ones (green). A half teaspoon of cayenne has about 3mg, crushed pepper flakes have tested lower (1-2mg). Fresh ripe hot peppers (cayenne, habenero, serrano) range from 1-5mg. Hot sauces like Frank’s or Tabasco also test low (1-2mg per Tablespoon).
So you should be just fine with what you’re describing.
Hi
I just want to say thanks for all the information. Very helpful to me. I have been passing kidney stones on a regular basis.
Hi Sally. Thanks for the details. So useful especially the spices bit. Would request a clarification on one thing as I use it everyday in my vegetable juices. Can you please tell me the difference between Ginger Dried and Ginger Fresh? I am vegetarian (always been) and heavily dependent on fruits/veggies/spices etc. Many Thanks
Dried ginger is the dried ground powder sold in jars. Fresh ginger is the hunk of root (less the skin) that you can buy in grocery store produce sections.
I am carnivore and ran out of black pepper 4-5 days ago. I used black pepper last night and again today and also and herb mix that was a free gift last night and today. Today my knee and hip ache like when bone changes arthritis flares up. Is it likely the herb mix that caused the issue? Shallots, garlic, onion, green peppercorns, chives, and green onion.
Hi Renee. You won’t get a huge load from typical servings of black pepper (you’re looking at 10-15mg per teaspoon ground), so its not intrinsically high. Likewise with your herb mix: the ingredients look mostly low (depending of course on how much of it you ate). If you have a long history of over-doing oxalate prior to becoming carnivore, you are a bit at risk for what Sally calls “clearing illness” (and that others call “flare ups” or “dumping”). “Binges” on oxalate can set off clearing symptoms (what you described probably doesn’t count as a “binge”, unless you ate a half cup or more of it). Bouts of clearing can just happen on their own if you’re eating a near-zero oxalate diet regularly as a carnivore. Such bouts usually clear up in a few days (but may recur).
Sally will be resuming group meetings soon, and those will be a good venue for learning more. Individual consultations will also be available at some point, though there’s a long waiting list. If you’re on her mailing list, you’ll get notified when she “re-emerges”. She has been on the sidelines as she spends essentially every waking moment finishing her book manuscript for Harmony Books, where these and other questions will be thoroughly addressed both from the perspective of “why and how does it happen” to “what do you do about it”. She’s hoping for publication by the end of 2021.
Having had A bad case of kidney stones, I’ve adjusted my diet to lower my daily oxalate intake. Taking vitamin supplements on a daily basis, there are two I would like some information on.
I’ve read that the amount of oxalates in the supplement turmeric varies with the percentage of curcumin in it. Is it true that turmeric with a high amount of curcumin is low in oxalates?
Also, I take an elderberry suplement to support immune health. How does this effect my oxalate intake?
Thanks so much for all if the helpful information you’ve shared with us!
Hi Jim,
Turmeric as a whole spice is very high (2,000mg per 100g), but its extract curcumin is very low (<1mg per typical supplement serving). Given how high turmeric is, if you have to have curcumin, you should go for "pure extracts". Elderberry works the same: the fresh fruit is high (70mg per 100g) but extracted syrup (the only form for which we have found a test) is low (again, <1mg per typical serving). The extraction process in both cases appears to leave most of the oxalate behind.
Best wishes for good health!
Has there been any links between a high oxalate diet and pre-mature graying of hair? I have been on a very high oxalate diet (almonds, spinach, kale, dark chocolate) for the last 15 years. I have a lot of gray hair. Also, I am very skinny. It’s very hard for me to gain weight. I used to have perfect teeth, but over the last 5 years I have gotten several cavities. Could all these things be symptomatic of having too many oxalates in my body? Perhaps the high oxalates have prohibited me from absorbing minerals.
In principle, oxalates could cause graying of the hair: they are often associated with tissue repair issues due to enzyme impairment and oxidative stress. Sally says she is not aware of any studies specifically on graying hair. Medicine doesn’t usually think of trying to pin specific symptoms on oxalate toxicity – they mostly stumble across oxalates when they are looking for other things and then often still don’t know what to make of it.
With respect to the dental issues, excessive oxalate has been associated with dental problems. Also, as you note, oxalates can impair mineral absorption, but in excess they will also engender deficiency by commandeering minerals that your body has previously absorbed (and by forcing your body to dip into mineral stores in the bones to maintain correct electrolyte balance).
Sally recommends using her free Symptom and Exposure Inventory to see if you have been over-exposed to oxalate and if your symptoms are consistent with oxalate toxicity.
Hi!
Would you guys say the lowoxalate.info list of foods is a good list to base food choices from? They say it’s updated with modern testing. Even if it varies a lot, like mentioned, certain foods will always have high values and others generally can have. So I assume it’s safer to exclude rather than getting high amounts in.
Sincerely,
James
The lowoxalate.info list is about as good as it gets for identifying high and low oxalate foods (except of course for the list in Sally’s Beginners Guide or in her Cookbook 😀). It’s based on the database of content numbers maintained by the Trying Low Oxalate (TLO) Facebook group and the Autism Oxalate Project. In practice, “beginners” should identify foods that are “high” and shift their diet away from those to other foods that are “lower”/”safe”, so a classification list like those is usually enough to make better dietary choices. The exception would be if you are trying to tread the fine line between recovering from long-term oxalate damage and tipping over into “clearing illness” or “dumping”. Understanding that line and how to manage it is a frequent topic of conversation in Sally’s online groups and on TLO.
How about za’atar ?
We haven’t found a test for the real za’atar herb (origanum syriacum) yet. Since it’s related to oregano, you might use that as an approximation. Per a variety of web sources, za’atar is also a name for a similarly flavored blend of more common herbs. If you’re considering such a mixture, you might want to look at the ingredients.
Per Wikipedia, za’atar is “a prepared condiment […] generally made with ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram (2mg per 1/2 tsp, or 41mg per 10g), or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, and salt, though other spices such as sumac (4mg per 1/2 tsp ground, or 32mg per 10g) might also be added.” So depending on the ratios (and picking one that doesn’t have sesame seeds), it would would fall in the “moderate” list somewhere.
How about oregano? I’m having a very difficult time finding oxalate info on it online.
I added oregano to the “moderate spices” list as reported by the VP Foundation. As you can see, it occupies that gray zone between “high” and “moderate”.
Hello Jeremy,
Every mustard bottle that I can find has tumeric listed in its ingredients list. Is the mustard that’s listed as safe “tumeric- free”? If so, which brand is it so I can purchase? Or is the amount in the mustard too low to cause problems? I use a ton of mustard because I’m full Carnivore and pray I’m not having oxalates in high doses with the mustard?!?
Also, I see that onion powder is on high list but onions aren’t? Is that correct?
Thanks so much!
Hi Sharon,
It’s probably negligible. But there are choices in mustard if you get away from the giant supermarket squeeze bottles (where the turmeric is used to ensure the bright yellow color), and especially if you consider imported mustards. From my own local grocery (The Fresh Market), the house organic Dijon lists “organic spices” as the last ingredient (turmeric is not explicitly listed, but there might be some in there). Another one in my fridge is Lowenstein’s spicy mustard made in Germany, which has no turmeric or “mystery spices” in its listed ingredients at all.
Let’s work out the worst case for a mainstream mustard: A one tablespoon serving (the container probably says one teaspoon, but let’s be real!) weighs about 15 grams. If we very generously assume 5% of it is turmeric (Probably a GIGANTIC over-estimate; I’d be surprised if it was even 1%), that works out to 0.75 grams of turmeric, which in turn (based on the table) would yield 16mg or so of oxalate. That’s quite a lot, but if you’re eating full carnivore otherwise, it’s a manageable amount even if you ate a couple of tablespoons per day. In practice, there is probably considerably less turmeric present than that.
As for finding a turmeric-free alternative, if all you have is a standard American grocery, you should look down the international aisle…