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Nutrition contradictions! Help!

Posted by nannygoat5 @nannygoat5, Feb 2, 2025

Hi there! Sadly new to the group. Hoping to get help with dietary contradictions. I’ve been doing a little Dr Google research on best ways to help bones. Cleveland Clinic touts the benefits of dairy (of course) but also foods like almonds and spinach. Contrarily I’ve read these food actually inhibit calcium absorption from dairy etc. they have oxalates. They also inhibit magnesium absorption as they bind. So WHAT TO DO? Eat nuts and greens and beans or not? Honestly if I have to live on dairy, salmon and broccoli for the rest of my life I’ll be super sad. I love greens and legumes and nuts and a variety of foods
🙁

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hollymarie54 | @hollymarie54 | Feb 3, 2025
In reply to @teb "Yep, collards are fantastic! I eat a cup and a half every morning with my eggs...." + (show)
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Yep, collards are fantastic! I eat a cup and a half every morning with my eggs. They are very low in oxalates and very high in calcium, the highest of all greens. And don't discard the stems like you would on kale. They are very tasty, a little sweeter than the leaf. I'd forgo the spinach entirely as a calcium source as you won't get much from it but instead, you'll get a high dose of oxalates. Just have spinach on occasion if you like it but try to get your calcium elsewhere.

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I’ve also heard argula is great for calcium and oxalates also not an issue.

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teb | @teb | Feb 3, 2025
In reply to @hollymarie54 "I’ve also heard argula is great for calcium and oxalates also not an issue." + (show)
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I’ve also heard argula is great for calcium and oxalates also not an issue.

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arugula has some calcium but not a whole lot, around 32 mg in a cup. I think the difference is that arugula is eaten raw vs. collards are consumed cooked so you eat a larger quantity. A cup of cooked collards is around the equivalent of the calcium in milk. If you cook arugula down, you'll be consuming more and so, there will be a greater volume of calcium though I don't think it would rival collards. Sauteed arugula is delicious with a little olive oil and garlic. An entire bag of it cooks down to nothing so you can eat quite a lot of it cooked.

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ChristyJ | @christyj | Feb 3, 2025

Spinach is indeed high in oxalates, at 755 mg per 1/2 cup cooked and 656 mg per 1 cup raw, respectively. 30 mg per serving is considered high. When I eat high oxalate foods I do not take a calcium supplement at the same meal.

Source of the oxalate data: Harvard Medical School 2002, see attached file for more details

Shared files

2024_TheKidneyDietitian_OxalateList (2024_TheKidneyDietitian_OxalateList.pdf)

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hollymarie54 | @hollymarie54 | Feb 3, 2025
In reply to @teb "arugula has some calcium but not a whole lot, around 32 mg in a cup. I..." + (show)
Profile picture for teb @teb

arugula has some calcium but not a whole lot, around 32 mg in a cup. I think the difference is that arugula is eaten raw vs. collards are consumed cooked so you eat a larger quantity. A cup of cooked collards is around the equivalent of the calcium in milk. If you cook arugula down, you'll be consuming more and so, there will be a greater volume of calcium though I don't think it would rival collards. Sauteed arugula is delicious with a little olive oil and garlic. An entire bag of it cooks down to nothing so you can eat quite a lot of it cooked.

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Thank you for this!

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suehall | @suehall | Apr 8 1:14pm

Thanks for this discussion.
My recent Dexa says I'm a whisker away from osteoporosis (the curve has taken a downward curve every 2 years since menopause).
- - - - - - - - -
Turns out I probably hastened that downward decline because I didn't KNOW about phytates, oxalates, and how they bind to calcium in foods. I'm a healthy, active vegetarian and for decades have subsisted on beans, dairy, lots of greens (esp. spinach in salads--it has calcium in it!) and other vegetables, fruits, my own whole wheat bread, whole grain pastas, oats and oat bran. Not knowing any better, I also took a calcium citrate AND a magnesium supplement with meals. And I put chia seeds and/or ground flax seeds in my daily yogurt. It seems that I've been doing the opposite of what I should have been doing for calcium absorption, and I am trying to educate myself.

Some of my rabbit hole questions:
1/ If a food contains calcium (like spinach, chickpeas) do the phytates and oxalates bind to its own calcium AND the calcium in the dairy it's served with?
2/ How can such foods be considered a calcium source if the phytates and oxalates bind to its own calcium?
3/ I know that soaking dried beans reduces the phytates/oxalates but we use canned beans; I cannot find info on whether the process of canning them reduces the anti-nutrients.

Has anyone found a reliable source for info for all this?

Thanks!

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nannygoat5 | @nannygoat5 | Apr 8 9:00pm
In reply to @suehall "Thanks for this discussion. My recent Dexa says I'm a whisker away from osteoporosis (the curve..." + (show)
Profile picture for suehall @suehall

Thanks for this discussion.
My recent Dexa says I'm a whisker away from osteoporosis (the curve has taken a downward curve every 2 years since menopause).
- - - - - - - - -
Turns out I probably hastened that downward decline because I didn't KNOW about phytates, oxalates, and how they bind to calcium in foods. I'm a healthy, active vegetarian and for decades have subsisted on beans, dairy, lots of greens (esp. spinach in salads--it has calcium in it!) and other vegetables, fruits, my own whole wheat bread, whole grain pastas, oats and oat bran. Not knowing any better, I also took a calcium citrate AND a magnesium supplement with meals. And I put chia seeds and/or ground flax seeds in my daily yogurt. It seems that I've been doing the opposite of what I should have been doing for calcium absorption, and I am trying to educate myself.

Some of my rabbit hole questions:
1/ If a food contains calcium (like spinach, chickpeas) do the phytates and oxalates bind to its own calcium AND the calcium in the dairy it's served with?
2/ How can such foods be considered a calcium source if the phytates and oxalates bind to its own calcium?
3/ I know that soaking dried beans reduces the phytates/oxalates but we use canned beans; I cannot find info on whether the process of canning them reduces the anti-nutrients.

Has anyone found a reliable source for info for all this?

Thanks!

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@suehall I’m avoiding oxalates as well! I’m getting my calcium from milk and especially kefir and not eating almonds and spinach anymore. I think it’s helping as my DEXA improved

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