Beets and Oxalates: Why This Superfood Is High Oxalate, Root and Greens

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Beets have had a very good decade.

Beet juice for athletes, beet powder in smoothies, pink lattes, roasted beet salads on every menu: beets became shorthand for eating well. The deep red color reads as pure health, and the marketing leans hard into nitrates, antioxidants, and performance.

But for anyone watching their oxalate intake, beets are a problem from root to leaf, and it is one the superfood label completely hides.

This post covers how much oxalate beets actually carry, why the greens are even worse than the root, and what to roast and toss in your salad instead.

Are beets high in oxalate?

Yes, and not by a little. The beet root carries roughly 95 to 142 mg of oxalate per 100 grams, with the soluble portion, the kind you absorb most easily, running even higher.⁰ Against a daily low oxalate target of about 40 to 50 mg, a normal serving of roasted beets can blow past your whole day.¹

Beet juice and beet powder are worse, because they concentrate the oxalate. Beet juice runs around 60 to 70 mg per 100 ml, so a daily beet-juice habit, the exact thing the superfood crowd recommends, is one of the heavier oxalate sources a person can have.⁰

If you are working toward a low oxalate diet, beets are a clear food to take off the table, the same way you would spinach or almonds.

Why are beet greens even worse?

Here is the part most people never hear. The leafy green tops, beet greens, are not just high in oxalate, they are among the very highest oxalate foods that exist, at roughly 900 mg per serving.⁰ That is in the same extreme tier as spinach and Swiss chard.

So the plant is a double problem. The root is high, and the greens are off the charts. If you have been sauteing beet greens so as not to waste them, that habit alone can be a massive oxalate load. Beet greens are a flat no on a low oxalate diet.

A note from me, before we get into the swaps

I liked beets. The color, the earthiness, the way a roasted beet salad feels like a grown-up, healthy plate. So I understand the reluctance to let them go. The reassuring part is that the roasted-root experience is easy to recreate with low oxalate vegetables, and you stop feeding yourself one of the highest oxalate foods around.

What follows are the swaps I actually use, with vegetables that are reliably lower in oxalate, matched to the jobs beets were doing in the kitchen.

What can you eat instead of beets?

The swap depends on which job the beet was doing, and there are clean low oxalate options for each.

For the roasted root: radishes and turnips roast into a milder, slightly sweet, low oxalate version of that earthy roasted-root dish. They caramelize at the edges, hold their shape, and slot right into the same recipes. Carrots work too in moderation.

For the greens: skip beet greens entirely and build your salads and sauteed sides on lower oxalate leaves like lettuce, arugula, or bok choy.

For the juice or powder: there is no clean low oxalate version of concentrated beet juice. If you were drinking it for performance or nitrates, that is a conversation worth having with your provider rather than swapping in another high oxalate juice. Check any specific produce against the food look-up tool before you commit.

Can you keep any beets in your diet?

Beet greens are a clear no, with no real workaround. The root is also high, but if you are not in a strict reduction phase and your tolerance allows it, a small occasional portion can fit better with a few steps:

Keep the greens out entirely. This is the non-negotiable one. The greens are too high to manage with portion tricks.

Boil the root and drain. Boiling beets in plenty of water and discarding the water pulls out some of the soluble oxalate, the part your body absorbs most.

Watch the portion, and skip the juice. A small amount of cooked root occasionally is a different thing from a daily glass of beet juice. Keep it small and rare.

Pair with calcium. Eating beets alongside a calcium source helps bind oxalate in the gut so less of it gets absorbed.⁰

How do you drop beets?

1. Toss the greens first. This is the single biggest win. Stop cooking beet greens, full stop.

2. Swap roasted beets for roasted rutabaga, radishes, or turnips. Same dish, a fraction of the oxalate.

3. Retire the daily beet juice or powder. This is often a person’s largest hidden beet source.

4. Pair with calcium during the transition, especially if beets have been a regular part of your week.

So are beets off the table?

The greens are, plainly. The root is one to set down for everyday eating, even though it is wrapped in superfood marketing. The deep red color and the performance claims do not change the oxalate, and on a low oxalate diet the oxalate is what matters.

Roast radishes or turnips instead, build your salads on lighter greens, and skip the juice. You keep the earthy, colorful, satisfying plate without the oxalate load.

Frequently asked questions about beets and oxalate

Are beets high in oxalate?

Yes. Beet root carries roughly 95 to 142 mg of oxalate per 100 grams, more than a typical low oxalate daily target of 40 to 50 mg in a normal serving. Beets are a high oxalate food to limit on a low oxalate diet.

Are beet greens high in oxalate?

Extremely. Beet greens are among the highest oxalate foods there is, at roughly 900 mg per serving, in the same tier as spinach and Swiss chard. They are a clear food to avoid on a low oxalate diet.

Is beet juice high in oxalate?

Yes. Beet juice concentrates the oxalate, running around 60 to 70 mg per 100 ml, so a daily beet-juice habit is a heavy oxalate source despite its superfood reputation.

What can I eat instead of beets?

For roasted beets, swap to low oxalate radishes or turnips. For beet greens, use lettuce, arugula, or bok choy. There is no clean low oxalate version of concentrated beet juice.

Read These Next

• The High Oxalate Foods List, The complete reference for what is high and what to limit, beets are one of many worth knowing about.
• 8 Surprising High Oxalate Foods (And What to Reach For Instead), Seven more foods that regularly surprise people, including other popular staples that fly under the radar.
• The Low Oxalate Foods List: What You Can Actually Eat (And Enjoy), What to reach for instead, a full list of foods that work with your body rather than against it.

Sources

1. Beet root oxalate content (about 95 to 142 mg total per 100 g; soluble portion about 103 to 171 mg per 100 g). Variation in Oxalic Acid Content among Table Beet Cultivars, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. journals.ashs.org
2. Beet greens are among the highest oxalate foods (around 900 mg per serving); a low oxalate diet targets about 40 to 50 mg per day; calcium taken with meals binds oxalate. Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation; University of Chicago Kidney Stone Program. ohf.org
3. Beet juice oxalate content (about 60 to 70 mg per 100 ml). The oxalate content of fruit and vegetable juices, nectars and drinks. sciencedirect.com

The information on this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Oxalate sensitivity and related conditions vary significantly between individuals. Always consult your healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes or starting any supplementation, especially if you have kidney disease, a history of kidney stones, or any other diagnosed health condition. Read our full medical disclaimer for more information.