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Yes, I’ve had calcium oxalate kidney stones. I’ve also put a lot of effort into studying stone-forming conditions; as I’m sure you know, once you’ve had one kidney stone, you’d do just about anything to avoid another one!

Your diet is moderately important, but it’s not worth stressing yourself out over. It sounds like you’ve gotten a list of foods containing calcium oxalate. The goal here isn’t to totally deprive yourself of all oxalate-containing foods. (It’s a good thing, too - there sure are a lot of them, aren’t there?!) What you should do, though, is remain aware of which foods are on your list and try to restrain yourself. Having a candy bar or little spinach dip isn’t going to automatically create another kidney stone. You’ll just want to keep an eye on your oxalate intake so that you aren’t getting a whole lot of it. I’m the first to admit that I eat foods with oxalate - I just try to make sure that I don’t eat them all the time.

When you do eat an oxalate-rich food, compensate by drinking an extra glass or two of water. Oxalate binds with calcium in your urinary tract - and the compound calcium oxalate can form crystals which eventually grow into stones. If you’re flushing your urinary tract enough, stones are much less likely to form. If you’re going to do only one thing to prevent future stones, it should be increasing your fluid intake.

I do want to correct you on one point, though. Cranberry juice is not your friend! Cranberry juice is great for things like urinary tract infections and it can help with some of the rarer types of stones, but it can actually make calcium oxalate stone production increase! For one thing, cranberry juice has an acidifying effect on your urine, and to prevent oxalate stones, you want to go the opposite way. In fact, a common prescription for calcium oxalate stone formers is Urocit-K, which is a potassium citrate supplement that gives you more alkaline urine. For another thing, cranberries actually contain a small amount of oxalate themselves! Instead, drink lemonade. What you’re aiming for is an increase in your citrate intake (which is probably why the orange juice was recommended), but lemonade has far more citrate than orange juice does. Here’s an article about cranberry juice and stones.

If you want to learn more about kidney stone conditions, I’d really recommend getting the book below - it was co-authored by a urologist and a lay person who suffers from kidney stones, and it provides a lot of great information in easy-to-understand language. And as far as your diet goes, continue to eat healthy (even if your diet occasionally contains foods from your list), drink lots of water and lemonade, and meet with a urologist to discuss medical treatments (if you haven’t already). In addition to Urocit-K, many urologists recommend taking magnesium citrate (which serves the same purpose as the Urocit-K and is available over the counter) and/or hydrocholorthiazide, which is a water pill and serves to increase urinary volume. Your urologist can tell you more about all of these and help you determine if they're right for you. And if you’re looking for a good reference on which foods are especially rich in oxalates, here’s a good chart.

Best of luck!

Calcium Oxalate Kidney Stones and the Mini-Gastric Bypass

Kidney stone crystals, SEM Photo Mugs Kidney stone crystals, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Kidney stones are usually formed by the precipitation of the mineral salt calcium oxalate from the urine. The resulting hard, round stones (calculi) may cause severe pain, especially as they pass down the urinary tract. Large stones may need to be surgically removed or broken down using ultrasound therapy.....

Kidney stone crystals, SEM Photo Mugs Kidney stone crystals, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Kidney stones are usually formed by the precipitation of the mineral salt calcium oxalate from the urine. The resulting hard, round stones (calculi) may cause severe pain, especially as they pass down the urinary tract. Large stones may need to be surgically removed or broken down using ultrasound therapy.....

Kidney stone, X-ray Photo Mugs Kidney stone. X-ray of a stone (white, upper right) in the kidney of a patient. Such stones are usually formed by the precipitation of the mineral salt calcium oxalate from the urine. The resulting hard, spherical deposit may cause severe pain, especially when it passes down the urinary tract. A small stone may be passed out of the body spontaneously, but a large stone may block the flow of urine ...

Chanca Piedra, Kidney Stone Crusher $26.99 Kidney Stone Symptoms: Severe pain in side and back, below ribs Pain spreads to lower abdomen & groin Pain on urination Pink, red, brown urine Nausea, vomiting Persistent urge to urinate Fever and chills (if infection present) Kidneys filter waste, extra water from blood. This sent to bladder as urine. A kidney stone is a solid piece of material, forms from substances in urine. Types of ...

Native Remedies Kidney Stone Clear (50ml) $31.46 Homeopathic remedy dissolves and clears kidney stones, plus relieves pain, nausea and vomiting...