Is oat milk high in oxalate?

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Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet podcast, the show about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris.

And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. Hello, Jeff.

Hello! So, today, we have another listener question. We're talking about milk, and we realized we've we've done episodes on milk alternatives, but we haven't touched specifically on oat milk on its own.

So, why don't we dive right into the question, and then we will jump in?

Hi, this is Veronica, and I'm calling from Northern California, and I have a question about the oxalate levels in almond milk and oat milk. So, if you're removing dairy from your diet, and you're using these two the almond milk and the oat milk to replace your calcium levels, how does that work with almond being so high in oxalate?

Can you just give me some insight to that, please? Thank you. That was sweet little Veronica from California.

So, basically, she's saying she's saying, "Okay, I'm not going to use dairy, Jill. So, I'm in I'm in milk, almonds are high in oxalate, and I know I can use almond milk if I don't use dairy or oat milk, but I better not use almond because it's high in oxalate, right?" Basically, is that what she's saying? Because I'm…

Yeah. Yeah, basically, yeah. Just if you're not doing dairy, then how are we going to get our calcium through milks, and what milks are safe, and what can we do here?

Yeah, because it's a it's a very good question because so many of us don't do dairy for various reasons. It could be It could be by choice, but a lot of times there's lactose intolerance. There's so many different things to take into consideration, and now when we throw oxalate on top of it and almond products and things, it's, yeah, a whole additional layer to consider.

Yes. So, yes, many people don't do dairy for various reasons. So, many of my patients, what I hear all day long is, "Jill, I was drinking so much almond milk, because I, you know, wasn't using dairy." And so, we know that almond milk is higher in oxalate.

And we have, a nice little study on our website at kidneystonediet.com. You could just Google "oxalate content of plant-based milks, Kidney Stone Diet," and it will come right up. And you can see the highest one on the list is almond milk that was studied, and it is higher in oxalate.

So, it's anywhere between 27 and 50 milligrams of oxalate per cup. So, you definitely don't want to waste your oxalate budget on almond milk. Oat milk, on the other hand, Veronica, is lower, much lower.

Oat milk, if you go to kidneystonediet.com and you see the plant milk oxalate content list, you can see that oat milk is much lower in oxalate. And so, they specifically studied the Oatly oat milk, and it's anywhere between three and 1/2 a milligram of oxalate per cup. And so, you know, you may not use Oatly, but oats in general and oatmeal, that's all very low oxalate.

And if you want an oxalate list that I have trusted for 25 years and Dr. Coe has tr- trusted even longer, go to kidneystonediet.com or put in "oxalate food list" in Google search, Kidney Stone Diet, and you will get it. And the article is right there.

So, you can you can get rid of the almond milk if you've been using it, and yes, please use oat milk. Don't forget, folks, there's pea milk made by Ripple, that's one I use. I like using it because there's 8 g of protein in each cup, so my vegans and my vegetarians like to use, or people in general that don't use dairy, I suggest the pea milk because it has protein in there, because peas have protein.

So, 8 g per cup. You can use macadamia, you can use rice milk, you can use flax milk. The whole list is at kidneystonediet.com.

So, make sure you put that in, "oxalate content of plant-based milks" at kidneystonediet.com, and you can get the latest research on that. So, I would use any other milk except almond milk that's on this list. Other milks that you may see and that are a little tastier because they're creamier are the cashew.

Cashew, I would not use that, they're higher in oxalate, but pea, flax, macadamia nut milk, coconut milk. Coconut milk for a non-dairy substitute, not coconut milk that you're finding in the aisle of your grocery store, because that's full-fat, that's not that's not calcium-based. But they make non-dairy milks for with calcium milk, that's really good.

I use that sometimes. So, many other ways to get calcium needs met that is not dairy and not almond milk. Go to kidneystonediet.com.

Yeah, and you can also find, excuse me, the coconut milk, flax milk, pea milk, and oat milk that Jill likes. These, again, aren't like particular endorsements, it's just that this is what Jill uses, she likes it, she's enjoyed it, so you might as well, too.

I mean, I don't want people to think I lie. You come in my fridge, I'm wearing my thermal underwear, and you will see right here, people, Ripple, Ripple, Ripple, Ripple.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's not a sponsor in any way, it's just what Jill likes and uses.

Yep, 8 g. I get it because it's protein, and I'll tell you what, a lot of the patients I'm talking to all the time, they're not getting enough protein, especially if you're vegan, because, and we have lots of content on kidneystonediet.com, the blog, we have I have a lot of patients that are vegan, they're not getting enough protein because now they have to slow their roll on eating all those eating all those beans, and that and eating all the tofu.

You can still have soy products if you'd like, they're a good source of protein, just don't eat them every day in any quantity you want, but a lot of vegans get a little, they're like, "Oh my god, I need more protein." So, I always suggest the Ripple, because, you know, if you're getting if you're using a couple cups a day of that, that's what, you know, 16 g of protein right there for you, so it really helps when you're when you're really low in protein.

And by the way, folks, and then I'll be quiet, as we get older, we really need to maintain our muscle mass, because it decline- it declines after the age of 30, by the way. So, you know, we got to get enough protein, and many people don't, so it's super important. He's just dying to come up here.

Yeah, for anyone listening and not watching on YouTube, you get to see Finn right now just on Jill's lap. He's, yeah, he's ready to play, ready to have some fun, I think.

He's like, "Mama, you've been on this show too long, taping all these shows today.".

Yeah. But I really love that all of his fur, I know I brought it up last time, but he's back to how he's back to himself again, now with all of his fur grown back in after the little the mishap at the groomer.

Thank God! He was bald! Oh God!

It was so funny. But, anyway, yeah, thank you so much for the question, and all around, I know this wasn't a vegan-specific question, but you mentioned that, and yeah, we were talking about doing some more things specifically for people who are vegan to ensure that they're getting all the info they need and being able to approach the Kidney Stone Diet in the way that best suits them.

So, yeah, just…

Yeah, calcium. Yeah, we're going to be doing a some things for vegans. Getting enough calcium, getting enough protein, these are things they struggle with, so, yes, we'll we'll be helping them out.

Yeah, definitely. So, yeah, anyone else with a question, the number again is 773-789-8763, or you can email a voice memo to [email protected]. And again, everything can be found at kidneystonediet.com, where you find the meal plans, where every week you get inspiration for what you can eat throughout the week to showcase just how much and how diverse of a diet you can have while still meeting all of your needs within the Kidney Stone Diet.

You can find that, the prevention course, the group calls with Jill, which are now separate from the course, so you can sign up for the group calls whenever you feel like it'll benefit you. But we like the longer term. Like habits are formed over weeks, months, years, even.

It just makes up who we are. So, we're trying to just help with that habit formation a little more through these group calls in a in a way a little different than before, just offering it to everyone.

Yes, and I can't tell you how many people lose weight through that group, you know, 50 lbs, 90 lbs, 80 lbs, I mean, a lot of weight. And so, it's a way it's a very, very affordable way to stay accountable to the Kidney Stone Diet goals, and when you are, you will lose weight, right? But, you know, we all need support, and there's a lot of things that go on in our lives that will lead us to fall off the wagon, myself included.

So, in that group that I lead, we are a total community, a family that comes together and say, "Let me tell you what happened to me and now what I've done, and I've gained some weight," and we motivate each other to get back on the wagon. It's a true, loving, supportive, safe space, and people do amazing work there. You have a, you know, a lot of us are around the same age, too.

So, you know, we're losing parents or we're caring for parents, we're still caring for kids, and it's like, how do you balance all this stuff up and stuff and take care of yourself? It's It's nearly impossible. So, it helps patients and students keep accountable to the Kidney Stone Diet so they can just live their best life, right?

Yeah. So, if you want to find that and everything else, all the different ways you can you can work with Jill, again, that's kidneystonediet.com. So, thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you all next week.

Thanks, Veronica, great question. Everybody, have a good day.