{"id":15498,"date":"2015-05-21T18:12:50","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T23:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=15498"},"modified":"2015-06-11T09:09:43","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T14:09:43","slug":"kale-sheds-bum-rap-on-kidney-stones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/kale-sheds-bum-rap-on-kidney-stones\/","title":{"rendered":"Kale sheds bum rap on kidney stones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Angela Barnes<\/p>\n<p>Kale is one of America\u2019s current health food crazes. Studies show the trendy veggie is exceptionally rich in nutrients, antioxidants and other cancer fighting properties.<\/p>\n<p>But now some critics are warning the ubiquitous leafy green super food may pose a risk. Website articles and health gurus are warning that eating too much kale can cause kidney stones.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Kale sheds the bum rap on kidney stones\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/128539701?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Fear not! Those claims are baseless, according to University of Chicago kidney specialist Dr. Fredric Coe, a professor of medicine who built and has run the university&#8217;s kidney stone prevention center for 45 years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Kale offers all the benefits of dark green vegetable but it ranks really low in oxalate,\u201d said Coe. \u201cThere\u2019s only 17 milligrams of oxalate in a hundred grams (about 3 ounces) of kale.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo in every three ounces of kale you get nothing\u201d in terms of oxalate, added Coe. \u201cEssentially, it\u2019s about impossible to eat enough of kale to cause kidney stones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oxalate in higher concentrations is linked to a chemical cascade that can result in kidney stones.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oxalate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So what is oxalate? Oxalate is a molecule that\u2019s a waste product of metabolism. Plants use it to store energy.\u00a0 All the physical and chemical processes in the body that use energy &#8211;\u00a0 for example breathing or digestion &#8211; need oxalate, according to the National Institutes of Health website.<\/p>\n<p>So why is oxalate a problem? Even though our bodies need oxalate, the foods we eat that are high in it can cause kidney stones.<\/p>\n<p>But kale is not one of those foods. According to Coe, it just resembles another green food that\u2019s dark in color. \u201cKale gets a bad rep because of the way it looks,\u201d said Coe. \u201cIt looks like spinach and spinach has an enormous amount of oxalate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So how much oxalate is in spinach? \u201cSpinach has hundreds of milligrams\u2026hundreds in a single serving,\u201d said Coe. \u201cIf you eat a lot of it, yes, you can get kidney stones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spinach Concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So kale is off the hook: it only contains 17 milligrams of oxalate to spinach\u2019s hundreds of milligrams of oxalate. Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables like Swiss chard are oxalate dense vegetables. These green foods, although with healthy benefits, are the ones to be concerned about over-consuming. Coe says you can find a list of vegetables that\u2019s high in oxalate at <a href=\"https:\/\/regepi.bwh.harvard.edu\/health\/Oxalate\/files\">Harvard Medical School<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So why is kale so good for us? It contains micronutrients, vitamins and lots of fiber. Jill Harris, certified health coach, says fiber is really important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA diet high in fiber is going to really help prevent disease,\u201d said Harris. \u201cIt makes us feel full so we\u2019re not eating mindlessly throughout the day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can even eat the stem if you like, according to Harris. Some people, like myself, don\u2019t like the stem because it\u2019s fibrous and somewhat bitter tasting. But it\u2019s definitely safe to eat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Juicing Problems<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are many ways you can eat kale and still reap all of its rich benefits: in salads, soups, raw and smoothies. But there\u2019s one way you may want to reconsider\u2014juicing. Harris says you\u2019re losing some important nutrients when you juice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference with juicing is you\u2019re stripping away all the fiber,\u201d said Harris. \u201cSo you get the benefits of the micro-nutrients in juicing but you lose all the fiber.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So is there a difference between juicing and smoothies? It turns out, there is.\u00a0 With smoothies, \u201cyou\u2019re not breaking down all the fiber,\u201d Harris said. You\u2019re still getting your fiber. But with juicing, a lot of the skin (that contains the fiber) is left in the blender and not in your drink.<\/p>\n<p>Fiber is so important for our diet and many of us fail to consume the required amount.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of us are getting 12 grams a day and we should be getting 25-30,\u201d said Harris. \u201cThis would avoid a few things: colon cancer and bowel disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There you have it &#8211; kale is still one of the number one super foods. We can eat it in various ways and not worry that too much of it will cause kidney stones.<\/p>\n<p>A few tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you\u2019re lacking in fiber, try not to juice as often.<\/li>\n<li>For those who love spinach, Swiss chard or other vegetables high in oxalates, just be judicious with your consumption.<\/li>\n<li>Always check out the health benefits when introducing any food into your diet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Healthy eaters stock up on kale but are worried about health reports linking the trendy veggie to kidney stones. (Angela Barnes\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Angela Barnes Kale is one of America\u2019s current health food crazes. Studies show the trendy veggie is exceptionally rich in nutrients, antioxidants and other cancer fighting properties. But now some critics are warning the ubiquitous leafy green super food may pose a risk. Website articles and health gurus are warning that eating too much [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":15500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452,28,29,436],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-15498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-chicago","category-general-interest","category-health-and-science","category-spring-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kale sheds bum rap on kidney stones - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/kale-sheds-bum-rap-on-kidney-stones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kale sheds bum rap on kidney stones - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Angela Barnes Kale is one of America\u2019s current health food crazes. 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