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Comment by bergenty | Hacker News Reader

This entire article could have talked about only oxalic acid and it would be a better article. It’s basically what all plants have to make themselves largely inedible and it the most common toxin in plants. You can eat all of the above but oxalic acid is just not good for you even small quantities. We’ve managed to get oxalic acid out of everything we’ve domesticated.

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> oxalic acid is just not good for you even small quantities. We’ve managed to get oxalic acid out of everything we’ve domesticated

Doesn't sound right. WP has this table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid#Content_in_food_it.... I see a lot of commonly eaten foods with at least a small amount of it.

By not good for you I don’t mean it will have immediate effects but you will have to deal with kidney stones down the line.

"deal with kidney stones down the line" isn't compatible with "not good for you even small quantities"

Some of those vegetables are staples in vegetarian cuisines like here in India. There would have to be a huge epidemic of kidney stones if the latter claim was true.

Cooking greatly reduces oxalate content. In Indian cuisine, greens are generally cooked, not served raw.

Also it seems there is a huge oxalate absorption difference from person to person. Some people may not be affected at all.

You're correct that many of those things have a lot of oxalic acid, but that domestication often reduces it -- but quite a few of our domesticated crops still have a large amount. We haven't gotten rid of it! The spinach, brassica, and carrot families are high in oxalic acid and/or oxalates, as are a bunch of fruits. And rhubarb is absolutely loaded with it, of course. All things to avoid if you have a family or personal history of kidney stones...

The other big toxins that come to mind are cyanogenic glycosides, lectins (improperly cooked kidney beans can kill!), and phytic acid. Those are well represented across a huge number of domesticated crops. But again, we use cooking and/or moderated consumption to deal with it.

Is that why I hear about stories of people eating too much spinach or drinking too much tea and getting mineral stones that form from oxalic acid?

been there, not recommended

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