Oxalic Acid, Kidney Stones and Greens

[Tirza]

I just talked to someone who has been drinking green smoothies every day and the person said they had just had a CT scan to detect another thing, but the scan showed up small kidney stones.

I have been looking at sites that tell how much oxalic acid there is in foods and am very surprised at how many of the foods we eat have what is considered a fairly high amount. I don't know anything about the issue of cooked vs raw as pertaining to the absorption of oxalic acid, but I could use some advice on this.

I was just brushing this off before that some people could get kidney stones from eating spinach, etc. on a continuous basis. I have been trying to get other greens in the smoothies, but I see that a lot of them are on the same list. Just plain lettuce seems okay.

[Arky]

Rhubarb is another item high in oxalic acid. Dr Norman Walker had an interesting take on oxalic acid in so much as he believed it only to be a significant problem with cooked items. However, there are other issues at stake here - for example, does your friend know, with absolute certainty, that the kidney stones were not there prior to eating a raw diet?

If one looks at the naturopathic literature, several natural remedies for kidney stones may be found. For example, consuming a good quantity of citrus fruits (esp. Lemon juice) and malic acid, in the form, of apple juice. Obviously, it is wise to avoid focusing excessively on any one food in the diet, and those high in oxalic acid (be they raw or otherwise) are no exception. However, anyone enjoying the many benefits of spinach, for example, would be wise to deliberately ensure that they avoid kidney stressors such as sodium chloride and deliberately ensure that they consume good quantities of foods known to remedy kidney stones, and good amounts of pure water to keep the kidneys well-flushed, as preventative measures. In short, while it is possible that your friend has developed kidney stones as a consequence of consuming excessive amounts of foods high in oxolates, I would not be overly concerned for your own diet, provided you eat sensibly, keeping the above factors (and others you may read of) in mind.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that, at least in the case of spinach (a firm favourite of mine, I might add!), the mature crops are higher in oxalic acid than the baby leaves, so you would be wise to choose baby leaf whenever possible. Another excellent way to ensure good greens intake without relying to heavily upon mature greens (although there are plenty that do not contain high levels of oxolates) is to sprout your own - green pea shoots, buckwheat and sunflower sprouts, and wheatgrass (juiced) are all well-known options and are bursting with life since you can eat them quite literally while they are still growing, rather than shop-bought greens which may have been on the shelves for up to a week or more by the time you buy them. Ensure a healthy rotation of types, as focusing on buckwheat sprouts, for example, can lead to skin photosensitivity (sensitivity to sunlight). Everything in good rotation and you'll be a very healthy individual with little or no worries about kidney stones.

Kidney stones take quite some time to develop - if they remain a concern for you, then you might even consider doing a bi-annual natural kidney cleanse.


J.

[Davylp25]

SIMPLE... If you eat those foods, add Fresh Lemon Juice. I read from a site about the topic, cant remember where though.

[Tirza]

Arky;
Thanks for the informative reply. I must confess that I was especially concerned about this because I was the one who recommended a daily green smoothie for my friend and I have been the one making them for him. He comes by and picks it up every morning, and now this.... He has been getting them for a few months now. I wonder how long it could have taken to form small stones? He is almost 60 and is very healthy and active.
I have actually been making him 2 each day.

One is the "Energy Soup" by Ann Wigmore, with a pineapple juice base, an apple, a banana, half an avocado, parsley, cilantro, spinach, with some dulse, sunflower sprouts and alfalfa sprouts.

The other is basically a cold borscht with tomatoes, beets, garlic, lemon juice (from 1/2 a lemon) parsley, cayenne pepper, turmeric, spinach and/or kale.

He gets them each in a 2 cup container. That is a fair amount of spinach, along with parsley as well. But there is the lemon juice in the second one....

His doctor told him that he should drink a lot of water, but my friend told me that he thinks he gets enough liquid with the smoothies. I told him I strongly disagreed with that and that he should be getting much more water.

[Arky]

He should definitely consume additional water, as you rightly contend.

The kidneys benefit from pure water intake to flush and hydrate the system effectively.


J.

[Conscious Midwife]

60 years old?
Hmmm those stones have probably been forming all along especially if he eats meat.

My guess is that in the next 2-5 years we are going to see and abundance of Kidney stone folks thanks to the high animal protein Atkins diet.