# Why do oranges have more oxalate than orange juice? Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/ep/why-do-oranges-have-more-oxalate-than-orange-juice/ Published: 2021-02-23 --- [![Kidney Stone Diet Podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Podcast-1-1024x1024.jpg)](https://kidneystonediet.com/podcast/) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4NyphEyEU)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-do-oranges-have-more-oxalate-than-orange-juice/id1528474326?i=1000510331472&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2loPwdsFuwMtc5h3BbfHNV)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) February 23, 2021 --- ![Jeff Sarris](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Jeff-Sarris-150x150.jpg) Jeff Sarris Host ![Jill Harris](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Jill-Harris-150x150.jpg) Jill Harris Host In this episode of the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast Jill Harris answers a question about oranges and oxalate.\ \ Have a question? Leave us a voicemail at (773) 789-8763.\ \ • [Kidney Stone Diet](https://kidneystonediet.com/)\ • [Kidney Stone Prevention Program](https://kidneystonediet.com/kidney-stone-prevention)\ • [Oxalate Food List](https://kidneystonediet.com/oxalate-list/)\ • [Free KSD Resources](https://kidneystonediet.com/resources/)\ \ Find the full transcript at [BYLT.co/show/kidney-stone-diet](https://bylt.co/show/kidney-stone-diet) ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Oxalate Levels in Oranges Versus Orange Juice - 00:02:03 Daily Oxalate Limits and Calcium Fortification - 00:03:42 Calcium Supplements Versus Fortified Non-Dairy Milk - 00:06:25 Properly Distributing Calcium in Fortified Beverages ## Transcript ### Oxalate Levels in Oranges Versus Orange Juice 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris SPYR Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet podcast. The show about reducing your risk for kidney stones and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris. 00:00:23 Jill Harris And I'm Jill Harris, and I'm so happy that you're here with us. 00:00:29 Jeff Sarris Yeah, so we are going to have another listener call in. We have a voicemail here and why don't we just dive right into Joe's question? 00:00:39 Jill Harris Let's go. 00:00:41 Jeff Sarris Hi, Jill. This is Joe from Long Island, New York. I have a question. Why is it that oranges are much higher in oxalate than orange juice? I'm not too sure. I'm sure you could answer that. Thank you. Love your show. Bye. That's really sweet, ending with "Love your show." I don't know, we don't really hear from people. 00:01:08 Jill Harris No, I just I was so excited to hear that. Not only that, Joe, but I'm originally from New Long Island, too, Bay Shore, New York. So, there you go, a fellow Long Islander. This is a very common question, and I'm super happy that Joe answered it. So, orange juice, asked it. What did I say? Answered it. 00:01:28 Jeff Sarris You know what? Wait till you're frigging 57. You'll see the shit that comes out of your mouth. I'm just saying. All right. Anyway, I'm glad he asked it because so oranges, they have more oxalate because you're dealing with the pith in there, and the skin parts inside the orange. As far as orange juice, it's really diluted, or there's a lot of water in it. There's no fiber in it. There's no there's no skin stuff, pith, you know, that white junk that everyone tries to peel off cause it's yucky. I personally eat it, but then I'm a freak. But, you know, so that's the reason. ### Daily Oxalate Limits and Calcium Fortification 00:02:03 Jill Harris Also, please know, a lot of people come to me and there many people come to me, and I find that my job is so often bringing healthy foods back to people. So, you know, they'll see on the Harvard list that Harvard said it's high. And that is why I made the safe list. It is also the Harvard list, but I took away the adjective so patients can just see the oxalate amount and the portion amount of the food that they studied. So, people can see even though oranges are listed as high, you have 100 mg unless your doctor has told you otherwise to eat every day. So, you can, of course, have an orange. I do, and I follow everything I ask you guys to do. So, don't worry about that. I'd rather people, I know that there's a lot of people using orange juice to get their calcium needs met, but the orange juice, first of all, I have found that the lower sugar orange juice has less calcium. So, always turn it around, bus it around, and make sure you're seeing if you're getting calcium in that orange juice. Not all of it is fortified with calcium. And then the other thing is you get some fiber with the orange, right? So, I'd rather you have the orange than orange juice, but I just want to say I do understand that people use orange juice to get their calcium. Diabetics obviously watch for all the sugar in orange juice if you are trying to get your calcium that way. 00:03:31 Jeff Sarris And, generally, you don't promote taking a calcium supplement or other supplements like that, but when it's fortified, it is similar to a supplement, so how does how does that sort of jive? ### Calcium Supplements Versus Fortified Non-Dairy Milk 00:03:42 Jill Harris Yeah, I just explain it as it's it's just broken down already in the in the liquid as far as opposed to a big giant pill, and your body has to work to do that. It's still the least desirable way. I'd rather people get it through dairy, but a lot of people don't want to do dairy or cannot do dairy, so, and, you know, ever since almond milk made such a big giant splash and everyone was buying it, hence, that's why there's a lot of stone formers, too, all the almond products from keto and paleo and everything, so the coconut people, the rice people, the pea people, they're all making, you know, all these substitute milks. So, again, I don't want to shy people away from using those. I have many, many patients who use non-dairy milks, not almond or cashew, not the nut milks, and they do very well with their calcium on their urine collections and they're doing great. So, I don't want to scare anybody off from using them. I'm just saying, you know, those still are supplemented, but they do not increase your stone risk, so I know that probably was a little confusing. It's fine if you do non-dairy milks that are fortified with calcium. Pills have been studied, calcium supplements in pill form have been studied and they have shown to increase stone risk. So, we ask, "Please don't do that," unless a doctor has asked you to take calcium supplements by pill because, again, bariatric patients and people who have malabsorption issues may need to do that, okay? So, I say a lot of stuff, but if you hear yourself going, " that's not what my doctor told me," okay, I would because you may have a medical condition that warrants a different thing, okay? But most of you are going to be very safe with the guidelines of the Kidney Stone Diet. Does that make sense, Jeff? 00:05:31 Jeff Sarris Oh, yeah, it does. It's very important, too. Yeah, because you're not You're not trying to supersede any sort of doctor recommendations. This is only to help people on their journey as a supplement to or say, alongside what they've already been advised by their doctors. 00:05:47 Jill Harris Exactly, exactly. So, you know, as a nurse, I legally can't do that, of course, but I don't want to confuse anybody if a doctor has told them something, so I want to just make sure that's clear. 00:06:00 Jeff Sarris Yeah, absolutely. Well, yeah, I think that's great. And, it also makes sense just to swing back around to supplements for a second. Like you mentioned, it's already broke down in the orange juice. It's sort of also thinking like you could take supplements anytime of the day. We might not be taking them with food, and if they're not with food, it is calcium or vitamin D or vitamin C bomb that's hit in your system, that, yeah. 00:06:23 Jill Harris Yes, absolutely. 00:06:24 Jeff Sarris Yeah, it's not being distributed. ### Properly Distributing Calcium in Fortified Beverages 00:06:25 Jill Harris Yes, and when you're Yes, and when you're drinking those non-dairy milks or orange juice where calcium has been added, I always tell my patients, "Please shake that bottle up before," because all that stuff settles to the bottom, so you want to make sure you're getting what you're supposed to be getting, so shake up. I shake up my coconut milk and my son's orange juice. He shakes it up now, too. He's like, "I know. I know, shake it up." Yeah. I did. I did, Mom, I shook it. Okay. 00:06:53 Jeff Sarris Perfect. Yeah, that's a really great recommendation. I didn't even think about that, like Yeah. We tend to maybe shake it a little bit, but thinking that, yeah, it will settle. Like it is something that's been added, so. 00:07:02 Jill Harris Right. Jeff, I am such a freak. I mean, I'm you It's like I'm doing a dance cuz I, you know, you could see me, I'm a very dramatic person, so I'm like this and this. So, I really if I am using something that has been supplemented, I definitely give it a good shake cuz I want to get what I'm supposed to be getting, you know? 00:07:20 Jeff Sarris Yeah. Well, that makes sense. So, I think that's a good place to wrap. Thank you, again, Joe, for your question, and for anyone else who has a question that they want answered on the show, the number is 773-789-8763. That's 789-8763. I want to be sure I'm saying it correctly because that would be unfortunate to be giving someone else a bunch of voicemails about kidney stones. 00:07:44 Jill Harris Oh, my god, yes, and say the area code again because you didn't say that again. Say it again. 00:07:49 Jeff Sarris Yeah, it's 773-789-8763. And you'll find that in the show notes and everywhere, but Great. I think this was a great. 00:07:58 Jill Harris And, Joe, thanks, man, a fellow Long Islander. Thank you for that question. It was a great question. 00:08:04 Jeff Sarris Yeah, so, I think we will wrap there, and I totally hit the outro music too soon. So, we'll just play it now here. But yeah, thanks for listening, and we'll see you again next week. 00:08:16 Jill Harris Bye, everybody!