Tracking oxalates can be helpful for people looking to reduce their risk of kidney stones. Oxalate is a naturally occurring compound found in both plants and the human body. In plants, it binds to calcium to help eliminate excess amounts, which is why many high-oxalate foods come from plant sources. While oxalate isn't a required nutrient for humans, excessive intake may contribute to the formation of kidney stones. A low-oxalate diet typically limits intake to under 50 milligrams per day.
Common high-oxalate foods include: beans, beer, beets, berries, chocolate, coffee, cranberries, dark leafy greens, nuts, oranges, rhubarb, cola, soybeans, soy milk, spinach, sweet potatoes, black tea, tofu, and wheat bran.
The app now supports oxalate tracking. However, most foods in the database do not include oxalate content, as manufacturers rarely list it on nutrition labels. As a result, oxalate values cannot be estimated for the majority of foods. While the database includes almost 2 million items, reliable oxalate data is only available for about 757 generic foods, as published by the Harvard Oxalate Database. (Disclaimer: Because most foods lack oxalate data, tracking results may be incomplete or inaccurate.)
As a workaround, you can create a custom food entry called “Oxalate” and log estimated values along with your daily food entries. Alternatively, you can set up a custom tracker for oxalates and log it manually in the Trackers section.