Green leafy vegetables and other plant foods are popular with health-conscious people.
However, many of these also contain antimicrobials called oxalate (or oxalic acid).
This article will tell us what oxalate is and its health effects.
What is oxalate?
Oxalate or oxalic acid is an organic acid found in many plants.
These include green leafy vegetables, general vegetables, fruits, cocoa, nuts and nuts .
Your body can produce oxalate or take it from food. Vitamin C can also turn into oxalate when it is metabolized .
When consumed, oxalate can form minerals to form compounds such as calcium oxalate and iron oxalate. This phenomenon usually occurs in the large intestine, but can also occur in the kidneys and some other parts of the urinary tract.
For most people, these compounds will then be eliminated through solid waste or urine.
However, for susceptible people, a diet high in oxalate will lead to an increased risk of kidney stones and other health problems.
Crux Oxalate is an organic acid found in plants, but the human body can also synthesize itself. Oxalate is associated with minerals and is associated with kidney stones and a number of other conditions.
Oxalate can reduce mineral absorption
For example, spinach contains a lot of calcium and oxalate prevents calcium absorption by the body .
Eating fiber with oxalate can interfere with the absorption of nutrients . However, keep in mind that only a few minerals in the food you eat daily can bind to oxalate.
Although the amount of calcium absorbed from spinach is reduced, the amount of calcium absorbed from milk is unaffected by eating spinach and drinking milk .
Crux Oxalate can bind to intestinal minerals and interfere with the absorption of certain minerals, especially when used with fiber.
Oxalate can contribute to kidney stone formation
However, sometimes they also precipitate into crystal form. In some people, these crystals can lead to kidney stone formation, especially when the amount of oxalate is high and the amount of urine is low .
Small kidney stones often do not cause any disease but large kidney stones can cause pain, spasms and bloody urination as they move through the urinary tract.
Although there are many types of kidney stones, about 80% are due to calcium oxalate .
For this reason, people with stage 1 kidney stones should minimize the consumption of oxalate-rich foods .
However, limiting the total amount of oxalate is no longer recommended for people with kidney stones. That's because most of the oxalate found in urine is produced by the body itself, not absorbed from food .
Most urologists nowadays often give patients with high levels of oxalate in their urine to eat less oxalate (less than 50 milligrams daily) .
Therefore, sometimes you should go to a doctor to check the amount of oxalate in your urine for a proper diet
Crux : Foods with high levels of oxalate increase the risk of kidney stones and there are also recommendations for patients based on urine.
Does Oxalate cause any other disease?
Others say oxalate can lead to disease The characteristic of this disease is unexplained chronic vaginal pain.
Based on the research results, the researchers believe that not due to dietary restriction of oxalate causes this disorder .
However, when 59 women with chronic vaginal pain applied a low-oxalate diet and reduced calcium supplementation showed nearly ΒΌ for marked improvement. .
The author of the study concluded that oxalate in vegetables may worsen the disease rather than cause disease.
There are a few online stories that say oxalate causes people to have autism and chronic vaginal pain, but only a few studies talk about the relationship between oxalate and these diseases, so they need to be studied. more.
Crux : Some people believe that consuming oxalate-rich foods can lead to autism and chronic vaginal pain, but there is not much evidence for these claims.
Most foods containing oxalate are very healthy
Some suggestions of low oxalate diets suggest that people should stop eating oxalate-rich foods, as they may have negative health effects.
However, the problem is not so simple. Many oxalate-rich foods contain important antioxidants, fiber and nutrients.
Therefore, stopping consumption of oxalate-rich foods is probably not a good idea.
Crux : Foods containing oxalate are delicious and also beneficial to health. Not everyone needs to limit oxalate intake and reduce oxalate levels may be harmful to the body.
The amount of oxalate absorbed depends on the intestinal activity
One of them is salt oxalobacter formigene (Used to treat, prevent, improve syndromes, diseases such as kidney stones) actually use oxalate as an energy source. It helps significantly reduce the amount of oxalate your body absorbs .
However, some people do not have many of these bacteria in their gut because antibiotics reduce the amount O. formigene .
Moreover, research indicates that people suffer higher risk of kidney stones .
This is partly because they cannot control the amount of oxalate they absorb.
Similarly, large amounts of oxalate are also found in the urine of those who do or other operations that alter the function of the intestine .
This shows that for people who use antibiotics or have intestinal dysfunction, the oxalate it is better to apply it.
Crux : Most healthy people can consume oxalate-rich foods without worrying about other diseases, but those with bowel dysfunction need to limit the intake of oxalate.
Oxalate-rich foods
Oxalate is found in most plants, but some plants are rich in oxalate, while others contain very little. Food derived from animals contains only a small amount of this substance.
Foods rich in oxalate (100-900 mg per serving) include:
- Sugar beet leaves (beetroot)
- Rhubarb tree
- Spinach
- Sugar beet
- Rainbow cabbage (Swiss cabbage)
- Bitter melon (endive)
- Cocoa powder
- Kale
- Sweet potato
- Peanut
- Turnip leaves
- Fruit
To learn more, this is This provides oxalate content in many foods.
Crux : The amount of oxalate in plants can be very high or very low and foods that are rich in oxalate provide between 100 and 900 mg per serving.
How to apply a low-oxalate diet
People with kidney stones follow It is often recommended to eat less than 50 mg of oxalate per day.
Here are some tips to give you a low oxalate diet:
- Limit the intake of oxalate to less than 50 mg daily: Choose to eat animal foods and nutritious foods from the list
- Boil the oxalate-rich vegetables: Cooked vegetables can reduce oxalate content from 30% to nearly 90%, depending on the different vegetables .
- Drink a lot of water: Drink at least 2 liters of water a day. If you have kidney stones, drink enough water to produce 2.5 liters of urine daily .
- Provide enough calcium: Calcium binds with oxalate in the intestine and reduces the amount of oxalate your body absorbs. So give your body 800-1200 mg of calcium daily .
Foods rich in calcium and low in oxalate include:
- Cheese
- Yogurt without sugar
- Canned fish with bones
- Spoon cabbage
- Broccoli
Crux : Diets of less than 50 mg of oxalate per day are very balanced and nutritious. Calcium may also help reduce the intake of oxalate.
Should you avoid eating oxalate-containing foods?
People with kidney stones should eat a low oxalate diet.
However, healthy people should NOT avoid eating all kinds Nutritious food This is only because they contain lots of oxalate.
Because it is simply not a nutritional concern for most people.
