How much oxalate is in peeled potatoes?

The following is designed to entertain and inform, not provide medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting a new treatment.

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. Let's go, baby!

Let's go, baby. Let's go.

And you know I'm partial to black hoodies, so the black kidneystonediet.com hoodie, really like it. It's looking good. You know, I had to get it for you.

And then I got a lightweight one, too. So, it's a little lighter weight, which I- the first thing I got, I put it in the wash and I wore it, and I don't know where the hell it is, so I got a heavy one on, but I'm like, you know, you know, first of all, people always- you know what else I'm going to get? Oh, there's a new secret one.

I just- I was at a- I was at a, I was at a thrift store the other day, as I always am, because one of- I've been working on meal plan recipes, and so I was going to get new plateware, because I get sick of doing, and so I was going to my thrift store, and I saw a mug, and it said something, and I'm like, dang, I'm going to make- I'm going to have Dave make a hoodie out of that one, because I know the- I know my Kidney Stone folks will love it.

I'll- I'll release it later, but right now I wanted a kidneystonediet.com, so when I'm doing the show, people are like, who is this broad, anyway? Oh, kidneystonediet.com. Yeah, so I got this, and then we got new Stoner shirts put out on, so if you go to kidneystonediet.com/shop, you can see our t-shirt, hoodie, mug, water jug, our whole merch, merchandise selection.

And the reason, first of all, we make about 60 cents off these products. We don't make money off this. I want to make you guys understand that.

I want you to understand that. We had so much- we had so many people saying it would be great if you had merch, that our- the our other partner, Dave, he, put all- I told him, these are things that I think would- people would like. They love the Stoner one.

Some people don't like that because it references pot, which is not a big deal in my book, but, some people don't like it. And, but a lot of people do like that one. So, Dave created a lot- the logos and stuff, and so there's hoodies, and all kinds of things at the shop.

And, like I said, we use a third-party vendor, so they really make all the money, not us. We really make less than a dollar off each of these things. So, we did them because you, as audience members, kept asking us for them, so there they are.

Whole shop, a whole line, all kinds of stuff. So, there you go. I got a hat, too, but I haven't worn it.

I should, because I need to dye my hair, but that's a whole different video.

No, I loved the…

You know, I didn't- I didn't spray it today.

I loved the one Short you did, though, about your hair. That was really funny.

You know, the things that people- and I sprayed my hair on camera, brown. You know, I mean, people just say funny things. I once had a therapist that just said, "Jill, just people are funny." So, anytime people say mean things about me behind the scenes, or just kind of rude, I just say, "People are funny." And then I do a video about them.

Yeah.

I never use a person's name, though. You got to make light about it. You have to, and being- being on social media is just part of it.

I think the other day on TikTok, I was talking about corn, right? And I, and accidentally I said corny. Well, I- I don't- I just misspoke, and boy, did I get- I got it from TikTok for that.

It's like, you know what? I'm human, just like everybody, and, one of my teachings is, we're- we're not here to be perfect, folks. We're messy, we're human beings, we make mistakes, we're not perfect, and I would never want to hang around a perfect person.

First of all, there's no such thing, but they're really boring. So, you know, it- it's just what happens when you're on social media, but it's like, really? Give me a break.

I misspoke. It is what it is. It is what it is.

What are you going to do, right?

Yeah, everyone just wants attention for something and that's low-hanging fruit to try.

Absolutely, and it's- yes, and it's real easy to do when you're behind a computer and nobody, you know, nobody would say that to my face, right? Of course. It's just, it's the way it is.

You get used to it. That's it.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, sadly, it's just a- a fact of life now. But what do you say we dive in?

Should we dive into the question this week?

All right, let's do it.

So, again, the number is 773-789-8763 if you have a question, and here's our question from Carol.

Hello, my name is Carol Jernigan and I'm calling from Montgomery, Alabama. I just wanted to know if you take the skin off a red potato, how low in oxalate, is that and is- would it be safe enough to eat? All right.

Yes, that was Carol. That is a good question.

It's a great question, and I often get this. I'm just searching something since I see this. Since, okay.

All right. Now, so she's asking, Carol from Alabama is asking a really nice question, and I get this often. "Jill, what about if I peel the potato?

Can I eat that? Is it safe? Will it have less oxalate?

How much less oxalate will it have?" I don't know. I don't know. I do know this, Harvard says this, folks: One baked potato with skin, one medium baked potato with the skin is 97 milligrams of oxalate, okay?

If you have one mashed potato, 1 cup is 29 milligrams of oxalate. So, typically if someone's having mashed potatoes, they did take off the skin. I recognize that maybe some of you leave it on, but, yes, it seems the skin will have a lot more oxalate.

Does that mean Carol can never have a baked potato with the skin on? And I think she specifically asked about red potatoes. Potatoes in general have higher oxalate.

They just do. If the skin is on it, it seems that they have more oxalate. Could she have her red potatoes if she took the skin off?

Yes. Could she have her red potatoes if she left the skin on? Yes.

Why, Jill? It's higher in oxalate. Although it is, it doesn't mean Carol can never have a red potato with skin on it.

It could be, though, Carol wants to eat red potatoes all the time. In that case, I would say, take the skin off, okay? Whether you're having it with skin or not, please pair that meal with some calcium-based beverage or food.

So, maybe you want to get some Greek yogurt and use it as sour cream, put some little chives on it, put it with the sweet- with your red potato. If you don't want to drink milk, or, an alternative milk like coconut milk, and coconut milk is the non-dairy beverage, not coconut milk in a can. Or flax milk, or pea milk, those things that are not dairy, but do have calcium in it.

But I- if I do have a potato, I do, sometimes I do have half a baked potato, and I do leave the skin on. So, like Harvard says, a medium baked potato is 97 milligrams of oxalate, but if you have half, it's half. Pair that with a- a non-dairy milk or regular milk, or like I said, use Greek yogurt as a sour cream alternative, and you can definitely have it.

It's what we do every single day in the quantity we do it along with, perhaps, the most important thing, not getting any calcium. So, that's so very important, because calcium and oxalate bind together in your intestine, leave through the colon, in- through the stool, okay? So, if you don't have calcium at the same time you have the really high-oxalate food, that oxalate food gets metabolized, gets down to the colon.

Oxalate doesn't see his friend calcium, and he's like, "Well, actually in the small intestine, I don't see calcium, I'm going to get reabsorbed back into the system," and then that's how you get higher oxalate. So, you want to leave the oxalate out the back door, literally, in your stool. So, please have calcium with the higher oxalate food.

So, Carol, to sum this up for you: Of course you can have your red potatoes, of course. Have them once, maybe even twice a week. Make sure you pair them with calcium.

Notice the portion you're having. I would only have a cup or so. They're not the healthiest things in the world anyway, right?

'Cause it all breaks down into sugar. So, if you're diabetic, of course, carbs, you want to watch that. But maybe you're not diabetic, so I just wouldn't do a large portion of those for other reasons, not just oxalate, okay?

So, if you're like, "Girl, I really like the skin on my potato," please enjoy them, know it's higher in oxalate, pair it with calcium, have a cup of potatoes, and get on your way, okay? But you can take the skin off. I personally think they're less enjoyable, but they'll also have less oxalate.

How much exactly? Well, mashed potatoes 1 cup has 30, about 29 milligrams, so probably right around there. So, it's still pretty high in oxalate, skin or no skin, so mind your portion with potatoes in general, okay?

That's my advice. Get your calcium whenever you're ever having potatoes. I don't consider potatoes a free food, meaning they're- they're- you definitely have to watch your portion anyway, 'cause there are a lot of calories, typically, and it all breaks down into sugar.

So, just- you can have them, of course, just portions. Free food meaning eat as much as you want, don't do that. Not that Carol is, but I'm just trying to cover all my bases here.

Does that make sense, Jeff?

Oh, yeah, definitely. And then how much is that, debit card on oxalate every day? 'Cause we talk about that a lot.

Right. So, I always give, unless you have malabsorption issues, everyone gets a bank account of 100 bucks of oxalate, and then your debit card, you get that, too, because you're all grown and you know how to subtract. So, you figure out, if you want some mashed potatoes at a half a cup, you're taking about 30 milligrams out of your bank account, you got 70 bucks left.

So, there's plenty of oxalate in your bank account if you mind your portions. Stay away from almond products and spinach and you can totally fit things into your- into your diet. Also, if you wanted to have, Carol, one medium baked potato at 97 milligrams of oxalate, folks, remember, nobody made a stone because they had one baked potato a week.

It's what we do every single day, day in and day out, the quantity we're doing it along with not getting our calcium needs met. That's how we get kidney stones, calcium oxalate ones. There's other reasons, but that's a big one, big reason.

Yeah. Yeah, that's so important, and the freedom there is very valuable, I think, because it's not just everything's gone. It's other than almonds and spinach, maybe, but everything else is basically still on the table for the most part.

Yes. You know, as a matter of fact, I had a patient today that said to me, "Jill…" You know, and I have worked privately with him going over his urine collection results two times now, and he said, "You know, I was so busy paying attention to oxalate that now my- now I just made a uric acid stone, because I was overeating meat protein, I was overeating protein, and so now I formed a different type of stone." So, that's why the Kidney Stone Diet is all about all of these goals.

It is so little about oxalate once you get this down. For those of you who have malabsorption issues, yes, you are special. It's very- it's a very low percentage, but I want to acknowledge you.

I see you, I hear you, and they are a different- they are different. But for- they are different, but most kidney stone formers can easily have the 100. And one of the things he said is, "I- I know you've always said that, but I've just been so very nervous." I'm like, "Yeah, but here's the deal.

You've done like 10 urine collections. Your oxalate has never been high, ever. So, you see what I'm saying works, but, you know, people, the reason I'm- I'm saying that is because people are so nervous about the oxalate, because if they Google anything, anybody is going to talk about oxalate, and they're going to really go, you know, a little crazy about it, when I'm telling you after 25 years of doing this, coming in October, I'm looking at these urine collections every day.

So, I understand there's one bucket, people are anxious because they've just been through hell, but then look at my bucket and what I'm looking at every day. I'm looking at thousands of urine collections a year, and so based upon the advice I give them, unless you have malabsorption issues and you follow the advice I'm giving, people, they- their oxalate just remains under 30, which is where we want it to be.

It's not a problem. But because people are so focused on the oxalate, I'd rather all of you be super hyper-vigilant about the salt and added sugar, and getting fluids, and the calcium, all of that, more than the oxalate. Take away spinach and almonds, you'll work on the oxalate, but it's not going to be a problem.

Most of you got the high oxalate levels, too, because of all the calcium you didn't have. Nobody's getting enough calcium, so that's a bigger problem, you know. But, you know, it's hard, Jeff, because for being a sick person, for somebody who's had a lot of illness in her life, I so get that bucket of people that are like, "Jill, I'm still freaking out, even though what you say, I know you're not lying to me, but I'm anxious." And believe me, the anxiety I have to this day with not just food, but because of my bowel issues, I need to go here in an hour, or I need to shoot the podcast with Jeff in an hour, I can't eat until now, you know, later in the day, because if I eat I may have too many bathroom issues.

So, I'm always like anxious, because can I eat now? Should I wait? Should I do- can I- and sometimes, folks, I'm fucking hungry!

But depending upon the business of my day, I may have to wait an extra two hours to get a meal in. The reason I'm sharing that with you is, God knows I understand the anxiety that any of you have, because I do have it with my illness. It brings on a lot of anxiety, and so then we're trying to manage that, too.

It's not easy. And so, although sometimes I may come off as, "Oh, just do what I say,!" or I sound glib, I promise you, it goes on 25 years of experience seeing these urine collections every day and having so many successful patients, and also I- I- I understand the anxiety, so I would never steer you wrong, is I guess what I'm trying to say.

I would never do that, because I have my own issues, so I so understand. Was I clear with that, Jeff? It's so very important to me that I am.

Oh, yeah, absolutely, because, yeah, you have first-hand experience. It's not- all of your experience as a professional is in kidney stone prevention. All of your experience as a patient is from your- your cancer.

So, it's- they're different, but you know then both sides as a practitioner and as the- the patient experience in this really just debilitating pain and, suffering.

Yeah. And, yes, all of it, yeah. So, you know, there's a- whenever we're sick in life, no matter what you have, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, kidney stones, there is then- you get the illness, you get the physical aspect of the illness, but you will also have the emotional aspect of all that illness, the medications, the side effects, the treatments of that illness.

You will now have the emotional side effects as well. It goes hand in hand. And quite frankly, I don't think we talk enough about that publicly.

Not we, you and me, Jeff, but the- the healthcare field. And, you know, also people are- people, especially in my generation, they may still be a little nervous to go to a therapist, they feel like, "Oh, I should be able to deal with this." The- the emotional aspect of being sick needs to be- I like to talk about it a lot, so it brings some, you know, it brings some openness, it brings some non-judgment to it, it brings some safety for those that are suffering in silence.

So, I like to talk about my illness, my anxiety that goes with it, some of the things I suffer with, because it may be hitting other people like, "Yeah, me, too." You know, and especially since people are like, "Oh, Jill's my role model." I'm not being stuck up, I'm just telling you what people think, or "Look at Jill's arms," or "She works out all the time." It's hard for me.

I'm struggling, too. So, I never want you to think there aren't the days I'm taking to my bed and going, "I can't do it." I have those days. So, on social media you're going to see the days where I am at the gym or that, but I also do all my Facebook Lives, I will do Instagram and TikToks, and I will say, "I'm having a shitty day." So, all of you who are, too, I see you.

I'm not always like, you know, an athlete over here. I'm trying to get through the days, too, and I think it's very important that social media people are very honest and frank about that. And, well, and people, I think one of my biggest things, yes, I'm talking about kidney stones all day long, but what's really important to me as a human being is that people understand that they are not alone when they are ill.

It's- it can be very isolating, it's debilitating, it's depressing, it's scary, and frightening, and overwhelming. It's all of those things. So, if I give voice to it, because I'm- I'm- I'm not a shy person, and if, you know, honestly, it's that old saying, if one person benefits from it, you're going to do whatever it takes.

And I know that we have a big audience, like on Facebook and all our social media, we have about 50, 60,000 people subscribed to some- all of our things all in. So, that's a big audience. Anything more than two people is a huge audience to me.

So, I, I really believe that everyone should see the good, the bad, and the ugly, so they can not feel alone. That's very important to me, 'cause it's, you know, we're all humans and we're all struggling, and some days are good and some days are bad, but I also think we learn the most from the bad days, and then we can appreciate the good days even more.

So, it's all about balance, and nobody here is, having good days all the time. I just want to make sure everyone understands that, too. Jeff and I struggle as well.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that's the- the perfect note to wrap on. Again, thank you for your question.

If you're out there with a question: 773-789-8763. Or if you are outside of the US, you can leave a voice memo, record a voice memo, and email that to [email protected]. But, yeah, we love featuring everyone's voice.

They, really help, keep us on top of all the questions that maybe we might not hit, 'cause you're talking to people every single day, but there's inevitably things that we haven't touched on in the show. We're 150 episodes in, and there are things we still haven't gotten to, or things that we're going to go deeper on. It's- it's just- it's never ending.

So, we appreciate everyone who tunes in. If you want to go deeper with the course or, Kidney Stone Diet meal plans or anything, that's just kidneystonediet.com, where you can find that and the email newsletter and everything else. But thanks again for listening, and we'll see you all next time.

Thanks, Carol. It was a wonderful question. We really appreciate it.

Thank you. Have a great day, everybody. Bye.

Good question.