Does calcium cancel out oxalates?

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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.

Hi there. So, today we are talking about calcium. We're diving right in with another question.

We have a whole batch of them because we appreciate everyone who's who's calling in, and we want to get to as many of your questions as possible. And, again, if you're out there, the number is 773-789-8763 and we'd love to feature you as well. But let's dive right in to Joyce's question.

Hi, my name is Joyce, and I'm calling from Detroit area in Michigan, and I have two questions. I just heard your podcast on plant-based milks and their oxalate content and so on. And my question is related to those, like Silk almond milk, for example, or other foods that are high in oxalate, but also very high in calcium.

Does that calcium, just like extra calcium, would bind with oxalates that we eat so that they are removed through the not into our urine, other exit points. I'm wondering when with Silk, for example, does that calcium, which is a lot, it's like almost 500 milligrams, does that not sort of cancel out or bind with the oxalate, and therefore the milk becomes sort of a non-issue?

Same thing with poppy seeds, which I happen to bake with a lot. They're like 1,620 oxalates, milligrams of oxalate in 100 grams, but they have 900 milligrams of calcium. So, how do those two things Does the body process them like oxalates, but also calcium that is binding and removing a lot of the oxalate?

My second question is when eating foods with oxalates in them, higher oxalates, and if I'm adding extra calcium, which I would I get from coconut milk that has almost 500 milligrams in it, do I need to drink that at the same time I'm eating the high-oxalate food, for example a snack, or is it if I just have three cups a day of that of that coconut milk with that's fortified with calcium, is that going to cover me for the whole day?

I hope that makes sense. So, does it need to be eaten at the same time as the oxalate or can it just be over the course of the day that you have sufficient calcium?

And I'll cut it right there, just because she left her phone number, but, yeah, I think that's a wonder- wonderful two-parter, but they really fit together, sort of like one question.

Yeah, they do. Okay, so we'll attack the first one. So, Joyce is asking, "Listen, Sissy, I'm having the coconut milk." This is what I'm gathering from all her words.

"I'm having the coconut milk 'cause I hear you say stay away from almond products. But what about all the calcium in that almond milk? Why can't I just have my almond milk back 'cause there's a ton of calcium in it?

Isn't that canceling out the oxalate that the almond milk has?" Yes, it is. Yes, Joyce, it is. It absolutely is.

It will lower the oxalate. But here's what I'm So, so I blanketly say, and she says she's listened to podcasts before, so I say, "Get away from almond products." You can't eat this bowl, honey, not now. "Stay away from almond products and spinach, and rhubarb for all those of you who are eating rhubarb every day 'cause it's super high in oxalate." There's some foods, like miso, it's very high in oxalate.

So, but most people were overeating spinach and almond products before they met me. So, I just say, "Let's get rid of almond products." Could you, ideally, have the almond milk still, Joyce? Yes, you could.

My question would be, I'd push back and say, "Is that where you want to waste your oxalate budget when you could easily go get Ripple, pea milk, or flax milk, or coconut milk that we know is lower in oxalate?" So, I would do that because, basically, all those plant milks taste junky anyway. They're watered down, nasty. They're just not good.

It's not like everyone's like, "Man, I love it! I love it." Now, out of all of them, Joyce may say, "I hear you, Jill, but out of all those plant milks I'm eating and drinking, I do like the almond milk best." So, Joyce, you may say, as a matter of fact, Jill, it is worth me having that oxalate in that almond milk. It is!

I'll minus that from my 100 milligrams of oxalate day bank account. Fine. It's anywhere between 27 and I think 49 milligrams of oxalate per cup.

I would not waste it on there. Keep having that the coconut milk. But is it going to take away some oxalate, that calcium?

Absolutely. Do I know exactly how much? No, I do not, 'cause everyone absorbs things differently, so I don't know how much it would lower it by, but would it?

Yes, it would. The other question she has, "Do I need to have calcium-containing foods or beverages with the high-oxalate food?" Yes, you do, because all this stuff is going down your pipes the same time. If you have something that's higher in oxalate and then you have milk two hours later, that food of your oxalate's already down yonder by the time you're drinking that milk, okay?

So, yes, you do need to have it at the same time. So, what that means is, say you wanted I always use sweet potato for some reason, 'cause I still eat sweet potatoes. My family has kidney stones.

I don't want them. I haven't had one yet, and so I do have higher-oxalate foods, but I always pair my calcium with it, and they're not really high-oxalate foods. So, sweet potatoes.

I'll have some. I definitely make sure I am pairing my calcium there, and then maybe I won't have a calcium-containing beverage with my snack later 'cause I already just had some with that sweet potato. So, arrange your calcium products with your higher-oxalate products, and say you're not having something for lunch that's high in oxalate, maybe you don't want to waste any calcium there, but later on, you're going to have a loaded half sweet potato as a snack, which is in my meal plan.

It's delicious, by the way. You or sometimes I have that for dessert. So, and then that's where you want to pair your calcium.

Or, a great example, sometimes I have 5101 cereal at night 'cause I'm looking for something crunchy before bed. And that's a little higher in oxalate, so I make sure I save my milk for that then, okay? So, I know I'm going to have something higher in oxalate right before bed, or sometime in the evening.

Typically, that's a dessert for me, and I know you're like, "Ooh, living it up! 5101 cereal for dessert." But I like it. So, I'm going to save my calcium beverage for that later on.

So, you can work it any way you want. Some people are like, "That's all too much figuring out, Jill. I'm going to have calcium for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and call it." And you can do that, too.

So, however it works for you is how I want you to do it. So, to answer, to sum up your hoosies, your answers: yes, you have to have the calcium at the same time you're having the high-oxalate food, and if you wanted to minus all that oxalate from that almond milk, the calcium of the almond milk is going to help bind that oxalate, but how much, I don't know.

Let's just say this: a lot of people were drinking almond milk when they saw me, and they had a lot of kidney stones, so there's that. So, I If I were you, I certainly don't touch any almond milk. It's not in my house.

If I were you, I wouldn't think about bringing it up. If you wanted to have it once a week 'cause it's it's something you really loved, sure. Every day?

No. I would say no, not if you're a kidney stone former. Just keep you safe, Joyce.

Yeah, that's what's tough, because it's They're both important to consider, but the oxalate portion feels just that magnet, the strength of that magnet, of sorts, is just so heavy and strong when we're talking almond and spinach. Magnet isn't the right word, but…

Yes! And when you have other choices, why wouldn't you just go to those other choices that we do know are safer? I mean, you know, that's how So, that would be my advice to her.

Of course, you know, I give advice, but everybody can make up their own decisions. If she wanted to have, you know, if, you know, she wanted to add that to her diet and really watch everything else, to me, it wouldn't be worth that excess oxalate. It just wouldn't be.

I'd rather use my oxalate on a sweet potato that I'm going to get a hell of a lot more nutrition from. You know what I mean? Overall nutrition, yeah.

Yeah, sure.

That's how I look at it.

Yeah, and if you're looking for other milk alternatives, you can check kidneystonediet.com, you can look through the this feed, this podcast feed, either the video on YouTube or in the podcast, and we've done episodes specifically on milks. We actually have some linked in the description, too, like every episode, all of Jill's favorite products.

This isn't These aren't endorsements or sponsors or anything in any way. These are just things that Jill actually likes. And if you click those links to go through to purchase them, there's a tiny commission that comes through because that's just how linking to like Amazon and stuff works.

That's why you see a lot of a lot of links going out to products like that, but it's pennies on the purchase.

Yeah, yeah, what do we make, like five cents? It's hilarious.

Yeah, it is so tiny. But, yeah, it's just to say, just so everyone knows, that is something that does happen, but we appreciate when people do go through there because if you click any of those Amazon links in the description, we do get a commission on your total purchase. It's tiny, but all every little bit helps support the channel, which is also why we have a Patreon as well.

The Patreon doesn't have extra content, but for those of you out there who had asked, we appreciate. You've several of you have signed up just to support the show, no additional anything, but it's just patreon.com/kidneystonediet if you're out there and you're interested. And I guess with that, if you have any questions, the number is 773-789-8763 and we'd love to feature your voice on a future episode, or you can send a voice memo if you're outside of the US.

It's just a voice memo to [email protected]. Yeah, everything you could possibly want Kidney Stone Diet related, you can go to kidneystonediet.com. Any questions, you can work with Jill directly, you can work on your own.

We have a lot of a lot of different paths you can take, but we appreciate each and every one of you who spend your time each week with us on the show. It really means a lot. It helps us reach more people.

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Joyce, thanks so much. Great questions, very good. Thank you.

And rate a comment, guys. If you have any questions below, please comment. Happy to answer them.

Everybody have a great day.

[laughter]