# Can I eat spinach on a low oxalate diet? Source: https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/ep/can-i-eat-spinach-on-a-low-oxalate-diet/ Published: 2024-04-23 --- [![Kidney Stone Diet Podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Kidney-Stone-Diet-Podcast-1-1024x1024.jpg)](https://kidneystonediet.com/preview/podcast/) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v92mLimO-lY)[Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/can-i-eat-spinach-on-a-low-oxalate-diet/id1528474326?i=1000653339621&uo=4)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4oJHtBJpWMcRealdFqEe81)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0868148d-adfd-411d-b3f2-71a0ad1461ec) April 23, 2024 --- ![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, Jill discusses the topic of eating spinach on a low oxalate diet. Jill and Jeff start the conversation by talking about their love for art and how it brings them joy. Jill then dives into the issue of spinach and its high oxalate content, which can increase the risk of kidney stones. She explains that spinach is often overeaten and recommends taking it off the table to reduce oxalate intake. She suggests substituting spinach with other greens like kale. And, finally, she also touches on the importance of getting enough calcium and the flexibility of dietary choices. **Takeaways** - Spinach is high in oxalate and can increase the risk of kidney stones if overeaten. - It is recommended to limit spinach intake and substitute it with other greens like kale. - Getting enough calcium is important for reducing oxalate absorption. - Dietary choices should be flexible and tailored to individual needs and preferences. \ 00:00 Introduction\ 06:08 Can I eat spinach on the Kidney Stone Diet?\ 14:27 Flexibility in Dietary Choices This podcast is designed to entertain and inform — not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment. **HAVE A QUESTION? _**\ Leave us a voicemail at (773) 789-8763. \ **SUPPORT THE SHOW _** - [Join the Patreon](https://patreon.com/kidneystonediet) - Rate Kidney Stone Diet on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kidney-stone-diet/id1528474326) or [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5O9BXOJUFnnT6JSgfxramx?si=T6lIOozgTUO8K6MobpVWsQ) - **BUY JILL’S FAVORITE PRODUCTS _** - [Silk Coconut Milk, Unsweetened](https://amzn.to/3jUd9x8) - [Good Karma Non Dairy Unsweetened Flaxmilk](https://amzn.to/3vQZN7J) - [Ripple Unsweetened Pea Milk](https://amzn.to/3GOP7wB) - [Oatly Unsweetened Oat Milk](https://amzn.to/3Gvjwi2) - [Healthy ‘N Fit 100% Egg Protein](https://amzn.to/3lgfXWb) - [Fairlife Core Power Elite High Protein Shake, Vanilla](https://amzn.to/3jlVKNV) - [Hydroflask](https://amzn.to/3CAD2bU) - [TofuBud Tofu Press](https://amzn.to/3vTkxie) - [Mini Cuisinart Food Processor](https://amzn.to/3vPxtpx) - [Food Scale](https://amzn.to/42cCcgX) - [Meat Thermometer](https://amzn.to/493DGfY) - [PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter](https://amzn.to/490075q) - [Gluten-Free Oat Bran Cereal](https://amzn.to/48K9FlA) - [Apple Chips](https://amzn.to/3Ht0ryb) - [Drinking Glasses with Measurements](https://amzn.to/48IKi3D) - [Balsamic Vinegar](https://amzn.to/48JFoDr) - [Ground Flax Seed](https://amzn.to/48B9xER) - [Jill’s Go-To Tanktop](https://amzn.to/42hPCsb) - [Heart-Shaped Smoothie Straws](https://amzn.to/42a1Y5v) - [Yeti Water Bottle](https://amzn.to/49o830T) - [Overnight Oatmeal Cups](https://amzn.to/47UUp4c) - [Vanilla Bean Paste](https://amzn.to/4bjHMCC) - **WORK WITH JILL _** - [Kidney Stone Prevention Course](https://kidneystonediet.com/kidney-stone-prevention) - [Kidney Stone Diet Meal Plans](https://kidneystonediet.com/mealplans/) - [Safe Snacks and Desserts Ebook](https://kidneystonediet.com/ebook/) - [24 Hour Urine Collection Analysis](https://kidneystonediet.com/24-hour-urine-analysis/) - [Private Coaching](https://kidneystonediet.com/coaching/) - **KIDNEY STONE RESOURCES _** - [Kidney Stone Diet](https://kidneystonediet.com/) - [Kidney Stone Diet Resources](https://kidneystonediet.com/resources/) - [Oxalate Food List](https://kidneystonediet.com/oxalate-list/) - [Kidney Stone Diet Recipes](https://kidneystonediet.com/recipes/) - [Meat Protein Calculator](https://kidneystonediet.com/protein/) - [Kidney Stone Diet Podcast](https://kidneystonediet.com/podcast) - \ —— \ **WHO IS JILL HARRIS? _**\ Jill is a nurse and health coach that specializes in educating patients on kidney stone prevention. For more than 25 years she’s helped patients understand that kidney stones can be prevented with the right treatment plan. It’s one thing to be told to lower oxalate or drink more water, but HOW do you do it? That’s where she comes in. Through the educational resources at [kidneystonediet.com](https://kidneystonediet.com/), stone formers can learn everything they need to know to significantly lower new stone risk. \ —— *Some of the links above may be affiliate links which means that we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!* ## Chapters - 00:00:00 Podcast Overview and Initial Catch Up - 00:01:43 Personal Joy and Art Appreciation After Illness - 00:07:01 High Oxalate Content in Spinach and Almonds - 00:10:35 Cultural Popularity of Spinach and Dietary Variety - 00:13:03 Intermittent Fasting and Meal Planning Flexibility - 00:16:57 Kidney Stone Prevention Resources and Community Support ## Transcript ### Podcast Overview and Initial Catch Up 00:00:00 Jeff Sarris This week on the podcast, can I eat spinach on a low-oxalate diet? 00:00:05 Jill Harris The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any treatment. 00:00:15 Jeff Sarris Spire 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. 00:00:34 Jill Harris And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. Nurse, nurse. Nurse. Hi, Jeff! 00:00:40 Jeff Sarris I like that! That's what we need to put as your little your little tagline below your name. Just nurse, nurse, nurse. 00:00:46 Jill Harris Nurse, nurse, nurse. Nurse, nurse, nurse. I You know, we're it's a Saturday. It's a Saturday sometime in April and it's beautiful outside. And so, here we are taping. But, you know what? I love I love working on the weekend. I think cuz, you know, we own our own businesses, we can work whenever we want. So, it's kind of fun to work on the weekend when most people aren't. I always feel kind of special. I don't know why. I mean, it's kind of silly, but I do. Oh, go ahead. What were you– 00:01:16 Jeff Sarris Well, and I think that I think that plays to the exact mirror image of it, too, because going out and doing things during the week versus the weekend is always so much more satisfying. I don't know why. 00:01:28 Jill Harris Because you feel like you're playing hooky, and also, you know, living in a city, it's it's less busy, so you can do errands, you know. It's just easier. It's just easier moving around in a in a highly populated place, right? So, yeah, it's amazing. Last night, I went to an art opening. ### Personal Joy and Art Appreciation After Illness 00:01:43 Jeff Sarris Oh, nice. 00:01:46 Jill Harris And it was I you know I love my art, right? So, I just love looking at what creatives are doing in the world all over the country, all over the international people were flown in. It was a lot of fun. 00:02:00 Jeff Sarris That's cool. 00:02:00 Jill Harris That's wonderful. Yeah. 00:02:02 Jeff Sarris Yeah, you can– 00:02:03 Jill Harris Well, and I heard you're going to Italy. Go ahead. 00:02:04 Jeff Sarris Yeah, we're going on Monday. I was going to say you can kind of see some of your art behind you, but yeah, like your place is just like filled with like awesome, beautiful pieces that you've found, and it's not that it's famous pieces. It's like these are things that you've found just in your in your travels, and you're just going around and spotting it, which I really like. It's it's curated by you, which makes it so much more special than any, you know, any like this is the That piece, you know. 00:02:30 Jill Harris Yeah. Yes, I get. So, after I was sick, I was never somebody that cared about art, not that I didn't care. It just wasn't on my radar, you know. Also I owned homes, and I hated putting nails in my walls. I mean, honestly, that's why I'm like I don't want to, you know, cuz I'm always buying and then selling, buying. Now, I live in an apartment, and my landlord's not going to be happy. There are nails all over my wall. But you know, after I got sick, I was like I want to wake up and see things on my wall that bring me happiness. So, a lot of patients, cuz they've seen in pictures, they're like, "You have a lot of weird art up, like." It's all different, like there's different themes in my bedroom, in my bath. It's all different kind of crazy art and a lot of animation. There's a lot of different things. And I So, people are like, "What Why do you choose the pieces you do?" And if I can envision myself looking at it every morning and feeling joy, it's going on my wall. That's how I do it. And so, it just you know, I don't know what to tell you. There's It just brings me so much joy. So, it's not like this stuff is expensive, but, you know, local artists, I'm always really interested in that, local pieces, and so it has brought me so much joy. And I know people are like, "We don't care about your art and joy. We want to talk about spinach." Okay. 00:04:00 Jeff Sarris But yeah, like I can totally relate to that, too, because like completely at the edge of the frame on the wall back here You can't see it because it's just like It's out of focus. But there's a piece from a photographer that I just love. His name's Jeremy Cowart. He does He's done like famous people and things, but he did this entire series where he took pieces of like famous people, like photos he's taken in the past, and he calls these Block Queens. So, he takes eyes, he takes a face, he takes a background, he takes all these different things and makes a completely new, really artistic representation of like a person that doesn't and couldn't exist, cuz it's like different eyes, different mouth. But it's so cool! And he did a digital version and then I ended up printing it, but his digital version will expand, so you can do this and see the layers separately. It's brilliant! It's just something that, I don't know, I just I see it every day and I just love it on the wall. It just, I don't know, it makes me happy. 00:05:01 Jill Harris That's how you pick art. And, you know, a lot of people will say, "Well, I feel like I don't know about it." You just pick it because it makes your heart feel happy, right? And, again, envision yourself waking up. So, there's sometimes I'm like I look at something and I'm like, "Eh, do I want to see this every day? No." Then I'm not buying it, right? But if it just If it just grabs me and, you know, I'm actually pretty quick, I know what I like, you know. So, it's It's just a wonderful thing. It's kind of like theater to me because, even if the play wasn't that great, the fact that somebody was on stage live and performed for me, for an audience, is I feel so privileged. And when somebody makes art, it's coming just from this creativity, from their brain, and now I get to have it. I just feel so privileged that I get that. You know what I mean? So, yeah, it makes me so very happy. So, this at this art at this art show last night, there were just so many really interesting pieces and just talking to the artists and it was amazing. Just doesn't even cost It was 20 bucks. There's a whole night of really just joy and enjoyment, you know? So, loved it. Loved it. 00:06:10 Jeff Sarris There's so many awesome things So many awesome things like that are outside of the norm, like not just going out to drink or going to a movie, like those things are fun, but it's like when you get that novel experience, it means so much more sometimes. 00:06:21 Jill Harris Oh my god, and it's so inspiring and, I don't know, it just fills me up. I just love it. And, you know, now that Nate's going to NYU, I mean, you know, all the art and all the crazy stuff there, I mean, that's going to be so amazing. And one of the artists that I bought a couple of pieces from last night, he's based in New York. So, I'm like, "Oh, I will be visiting you there, don't you worry about it," you know. So, yeah, really exciting. That's That's my life right now. Yeah, it is. 00:06:47 Jeff Sarris That's awesome. Well, yeah, so should we dive right in to spinach? We realized, like, we talk about spinach a lot. We talk about oxalate, but we don't really have something specifically dedicated to spinach itself. So, before we started, we were just sort of like, "Oh yeah, why don't we start there today?" ### High Oxalate Content in Spinach and Almonds 00:07:01 Jill Harris I mean, the number one thing is always spinach. "Jill, I can't have spinach anymore." So, there are two things that I take away, and then everything else is back on your tables, folks, is spinach and almonds. Those are the two things I take away. Spinach because it's if, you know, on the Harvard list, cooked spinach, which winds up being about a 1/2 a cup, a 1/2 a cup cooked is 755 mg of spinach. And so, the deal is, nobody's having 1/2 a cup. Who the hell's Nobody's getting spinach. You could put a whole saute a whole pan of spinach, and when you're done with it, you have about as much as your eyeball. I mean, it's so little, right? So, the reason We can't just blame spinach, folks, too, on, you know, "You made a stone because of just spinach." If you had a spinach salad once a week, would you have gotten a kidney stone? Question mark. If you had gotten calcium, if you were getting your calcium needs met every week or every day, would you have gotten a kidney stone by eating that one spinach salad once a week? Probably not. What I hear all day long, what I hear all day long in the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, in the private calls, in my group calls: "Jill, I was eating spinach every single day. I got diabetes. I was told to eat some almonds. Spinach is great. I was drinking spinach smoothies. Spinach, spinach, spinach." It is because people overate spinach. That's the problem. Along with getting absolutely no calcium. So, because spinach is so high in oxalate for such a small amount, I take it off the table because the oxalate We give the goal of 100 mg of oxalate a day. We want you to stay under 100 mg. That's the goal in the Kidney Stone Diet goals. So, I mean, you know, 1/2 a cup of spinach is 7- almost 800 mg of oxalate, that's off. Right? So, that's the issue. I'm always careful about saying this publicly. If you ate a spinach salad once a month, are you all going to get kidney stones? Most likely not. But I don't know of one kidney stone former that's going to do that because they're so petrified of ever getting another kidney stone again. So, I just take it off. I just take it off people's menu. I take almonds off their menu. And that's how we roll. Remember, 100 mg of oxalate or less a day. Get your calcium needs met every single day. For men and women, 1,000 mg of calcium a day. If you're a woman no longer gets her period, up to 1,200 mg of calcium a day. This helps lower urine oxalate, too. So, that's the story. I take spinach away. It's just too high in oxalate. Why chance anything? End of story. Substitute kale. And people are like, " kale's terrible." I know, it's not the same as spinach, folks. It doesn't have that sweetness spinach does. Also, kale is rough, so you have to massage it, massage it if you're having a kale salad. But you get used to it. You can use other greens. But spinach off the table. Go ahead, Jeff. ### Cultural Popularity of Spinach and Dietary Variety 00:10:35 Jeff Sarris But isn't it funny? Like spinach was always the cliché like that no one wanted to eat spinach. It's like, "Oh, it's disgusting," and it's like boiled or whatever. But we've sort of culturally, I think, like we just collectively maybe, not culturally, we collectively decided like spinach is healthy because there's a lot of things about it that are good. So, then we've decided and sort of reformatted our brain to be like, "I like spinach now." But then this major part, this major issue that it sort of presents with the enormous amount of oxalate now throws a little monkey wrench into our like collective shift over there. It's kind of funny. 00:11:12 Jill Harris It's, you know, it's very interesting and it's a very good point, Jeff. You're absolutely right. I remember back in the day watching Popeye cartoons. And every time he was eating spinach, all the kids were like, "Ew, that's disgusting!" You know. But, yes, I mean, it has become such a cultural I do think it's a cultural thing. Our culture, it's very common. You If you Google green smoothies, spinach is going to be the star in each one of those smoothies. Absolutely. And so, whenever I'm seeing not only seeing, but hearing, my patients will say the number one and two foods that they were overeating were almonds and spinach because, "Man, I got diabetes. My dietitian said," and nothing against dietitians, of course, but what we healthcare professionals tell a patient, you've got to be really specific cuz, you know, maybe somebody says, "You know, have spinach, have almonds." Well, human beings take that to a whole new level and they overeat it, because if something's healthy, if I eat more of it, that's going to be even more health. Well, not in the kidney stone world. So, I'm always talking about eating a wide variety of foods, you know. Don't eat the same foods over and over every day. People hate that advice. People don't like when I say that. I get it. People want to eat their oatmeal with blueberries for 20 years straight, because they don't want to think about food. But I push back and I'm like, "You tell me, I don't know what else you want to think about. I think food is really important, and how you nourish your body is a very important thing to think about. So, I'm not saying you have to have 15 different breakfast choices. I'm just saying, can you have an egg sometimes? Can you have avocado toast? Something a little bit different for breakfast? That's all I'm saying." What do you do for breakfast, Jeff? ### Intermittent Fasting and Meal Planning Flexibility 00:13:03 Jeff Sarris So, I don't tend to eat breakfast too much. I'll have coffee sometimes. Sometimes, I'll add a little oat milk to the coffee, but a lot of times, yeah, I don't eat until like a lunch or a dinner. And that's actually been a challenge– 00:13:13 Jill Harris Are you doing a fast? Are you still fasting these days? 00:13:15 Jeff Sarris Yeah, generally. Yeah. Like my goal, like what I've what I generally feel best with is a 16:8 fast, so 16 hours of fasting, not eating, and then 8-hour window of when I can eat. But we're so busy now traveling and doing all these things that's really up in the air, and nothing is they're not a hard it's not a hard-and-fast rule for me. It's more just I know if I do that, I feel a little better. Just for me, it works for me, and that's what we have to figure out for all of us. And like that's really the thing, the having the same thing all the time, it's one more decision that we can pull away. It's like on this show, I have been wearing this shirt for near- not this exact one, I have like five of them, but I've been wearing this simple black tee on almost every single episode cuz that's that's an area where I decided I don't want decisions. I want to take it away from there, and then I have a little more energy, say, to make decisions on the things that matter to me most. And health, I think, is that thing for me that really does matter, so I want to put my mental energy there along with the other things. 00:14:22 Jill Harris I think that completely makes sense, and people say, "Oh, Jill don't want us to do intermittent fasting." That's a bunch of bulldoo. I don't care if you guys do IF. That's absolutely fine. I do worry you may have a hard time getting all your calcium needs met, and then, you know, in that little window, but look, there's nothing special, and Jeff, I love that you do IF. Everybody, and that's why the KSD, the Kidney Stone Diet, is just a set of goals because everyone's going to do what works for them. You all have different medical conditions, you all have things that you enjoy. Some people don't like breakfast, so I don't care. I didn't eat breakfast, actually, till I was in my 50s. I never liked breakfast. I just wasn't hungry in the morning. So, and then one day, and also, I want people to understand that they can be flexible. Like, one day you may wake up, and I did, I'm like, "Damn, I want some breakfast." And I've been eating it for the last, I don't know, 7 years, 7 years, I think. And now it's one of my favorite meals, and I also like to have, typically, a little larger breakfast, a little larger lunch, and now a lighter dinner. And that I just started maybe a few weeks ago. So, I'm always tweaking what works for me because of all my bowel issues, my schedule, everything, and that's perfectly okay. Nobody's married. I like to say I'm just a flexitarian. No one's married to one diet. If you are, that's awesome, but just think outside of the box sometimes, cuz as we age, we may have different needs, as we get more medical conditions, we may have different needs, so that's what I love about lifestyle. That's what I love about nutrition. Number one, there's always a million different things to learn that are new cuz nutrition is such a newer thing to study. And, also, I mean, it's just fun to tweak things and think outside of the box and try new foods and try new ways of fitting it in, you know. I don't know. I'm a nerd that way and it's what I do for a living, so I enjoy thinking about: How am I going to nourish my body? How am I going to move my body differently this week? Like, I like that. And when people push back and say they don't want to think about these things, I'm like, "Listen, man, you don't want to get sick." And I'm not saying everyone who has a poor diet or doesn't move their body gets sick, but you don't feel your best, that I know for sure, 100%, right? So, where else do you want to put your time? Because illness is going to take it somewhere along the line. So, why not be proactive? That's what, you know, that those are my thoughts after being very, very sick in my life. I like to be proactive, you know. It's really important to me. So, ### Kidney Stone Prevention Resources and Community Support 00:16:57 Jeff Sarris Absolutely. Well, I think that's a perfect note to wrap on for this week. 00:17:01 Jill Harris Me, too. 00:17:01 Jeff Sarris If you're out there with a question, the number is 773-789-8763, because we'd love to feature your voice on a future episode. So, you can just leave a voicemail there, or you can always record a voice memo on your phone, email that to podcast@kidneystonediet.com, because we know we have some international listeners, and that's just a better way to reach us there. And if you want to support the show, people have asked, we have a Patreon, and it's just for the people who wanted to contribute, and that's just patreon.com/kidneystonediet. You can find that in the link in the description below this video or podcast or what- however you're consuming this. And I just wanted to say thank you to Stephen, who joined Patreon this month for the support. It's We really appreciate it. It means a lot, because we want to reach as many people as we can in an absolutely free way, because this is meant to help as many people as possible. So, those who support really mean a lot. But if you want to dive deep and you want to have some of the premium content, the Kidney Stone Prevention Course, which has completely been re- just updated recently, all new videos, and yeah, it's just We leveled up the production quality because I have fun with that, so it was it was time, you know? And yeah, so that's all new. You can find the Kidney Stone Diet meal plans and everything at kidneystonediet.com. 00:18:26 Jill Harris Yeah, Stephen, thank you so much for joining the Patreon. Everybody, please subscribe. We're almost at 10,000. We're trying so hard. We're at like 9,500 and something, so we're working really hard to get 10,000 subscribers. And the meal plan, is We have so many new recipes in there, and I just came up It's not in there yet, but it's going to be in there soon: a gluten-free, vegetarian, high-protein, low-net-carb pizza coming your way, folks, at the meal plan. So, yeah. Thanks, Stephen. That's so kind. I didn't know. I didn't know that. That's so nice. 00:18:59 Jeff Sarris Yeah. Yeah, and that is the pizza recipe, too, we were talking about before, but that has me very excited. I'm excited to get that out there and also to make it for ourselves because, yeah, we're gluten-free, and that'll be nice. But, yeah, I think with that, we'll wrap. Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time. 00:19:18 Jill Harris Bye, Jeff! 00:19:19 Jeff Sarris See ya!