When people first learn about oxalate, it often becomes the center of everything. Every food gets judged by a number. Every meal starts to feel like a math problem. And before long, people are avoiding foods that were never the issue in the first place, like herbs and spices.
This is where I want to shift your thinking.
I have been looking at 24-hour urine collections since 1998. That is decades of real patients, real labs, and real outcomes. And I can tell you this with complete confidence—oxalate is not the main driver for most people once you take away the obvious high-load foods eaten in large amounts day after day.
In fact, during my consults, patients are shocked to see how many foods they stopped eating I bring back to their table!
When someone regularly eats large portions of spinach, almond products, or other very high-oxalate foods, yes, that can raise urine oxalate levels. That matters. But once those patterns are corrected, oxalate stops being the star of the show.
What matters more is what you do next.
Calcium is not the enemy. In fact, it is one of your best tools. When you eat calcium with your meals, it binds to oxalate in the gut and helps carry it out of the body through the stool instead of sending it to your kidneys. That means less oxalate reaching your urine, which is exactly what you want.
So instead of trying to count every milligram of oxalate in every bite of food, your energy is much better spent making sure you get enough calcium throughout the day and spread it out across meals.
This is where people go wrong. They restrict, restrict, restrict, and then wonder why their numbers don’t improve. It’s because they’re focused on the smallest lever instead of the bigger ones—like fluids and salt.
Portion, NOT Perfection
The same idea applies to herbs and spices. Yes, herbs and spices contain oxalate. But portion matters. The amounts you are using are small—teaspoons, not cups. That is not enough to meaningfully raise your urine oxalate. It is not moving the needle.
If you want a practical tool to help you see foods in real-life portions rather than extremes, use the oxalate food list. But I warn you: Harvard did not study all herbs. Get your Harvard oxalate food list here.
That list is meant to guide you, not scare you.
Let’s Talk Spices
Turmeric and cinnamon do contain more oxalate than many other spices. But again, portion matters. Using turmeric in cooking—adding small amounts to a dish—is very different from taking large doses or using it multiple times a day. The same goes for cinnamon. Baking with it or sprinkling some into your oatmeal is absolutely fine, but this is not a “shake it as you please” situation. Be purposeful and keep it to small amounts, about a teaspoon or less.
This is where people get tripped up. They hear something is “healthy” and start using it all day long—cinnamon in oatmeal, in coffee, in yogurt, in baking, every single day. Now the portion adds up, and that’s when it can start to matter. It’s not the cinnamon itself; it’s the amount and the frequency. This is the case in most cases of the higher oxalate levels I see in urine collection results.
So use it, enjoy it, but respect the portion.
A note on supplements: Do not take turmeric or cinnamon in capsule form. That’s where people can run into trouble, because supplements concentrate what would normally be a small, occasional amount into something much larger and more frequent.
This is why I always bring you back to portion, not perfection. Food is not eaten in lab measurements. It’s eaten in real life, and real-life portions change the impact.
Making Low-Sodium Food Actually Taste Good
When you lower your sodium intake, food can taste flat at first. Most people are used to salt doing all the heavy lifting. When you reduce it, you need something to replace it, or you won’t stick with it.
That’s where herbs and spices come in.
I use fresh herbs and spices in my own meals every single day, and I use them in my Meal Plan service. Parsley, basil, cilantro, mint, chives, dill, along with spices layered into dressings and cooked dishes—these are flavor builders. They bring freshness, depth, and brightness to food without adding sodium.
This is one of the biggest reasons people love my meal plans. The salads are not boring. They’re full of fresh herbs, balanced flavors, and simple combinations that make the whole dish feel alive. When your food tastes good, you don’t feel like you’re missing something. And when you don’t feel deprived, you stay consistent. And THAT is the secret of keeping a healthy lifestyle.
And that is what changes your labs. It’s not perfection, it’s not fear, and it’s not cutting out every tiny source of oxalate—it’s consistency. Shift your focus away from obsessing over every milligram of oxalate and instead pay attention to what actually moves the needle. Take away the biggest offenders if they’re part of your routine, make sure you are getting enough calcium with your meals, and use herbs and spices so your food actually tastes good. When your food tastes good, you stick with it, and when you stick with it, that’s how you lower your risk over time.
The bottom line
Herbs and spices may contain oxalate, but the portions you use are too small to matter. Getting enough calcium and building a sustainable way of eating will always be more important than chasing perfection with oxalate.
Your friend,
Nurse Jill
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