Is Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked) Safe for Kidney Stones?
mg oxalate
per serving
Serving: 1/2 cup (75 g)
Verdict: 🟡 Caution
Per 100g: 116 mg
Data: Harvard T.H. Chan SPH (2024)
The bottom line for Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked): Caution (🟡) at 87 mg oxalate per serving. It's the middle of the road — usable, but with guardrails. Half portions, occasional frequency, calcium pairing, and watching your total daily intake keeps it workable.
Putting Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked) in context: it lands well above the category average of 27 mg. In the database, 80% of vegetables (219 of 271) fall in the 🟢 Safe group (under 25 mg oxalate/serving). The typical vegetables here averages 27 mg oxalate per serving, so Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked) runs 222% above that baseline. That places it on the higher end for oxalate in its category. Why this matters: the gap between two Safe foods can be wide — one may hold 5 mg oxalate while another sits at 24 mg. The lower one leaves more room in your day. See all vegetables rated Caution for a full side-by-side.
Why does the safe threshold matter?
The 25 mg cutoff comes from clinical guidance for stone formers. Below it, a food's oxalate contribution is small enough not to move the needle for most patients. Harvard's 2024 lab data sits behind these figures — direct measurements, not estimates. For Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked), the measured oxalate value is 87 mg per 1/2 cup (Caution).
Can I eat this food every day?
For Safe foods (under 25 mg/serving), daily use is generally fine. Caution and Avoid foods work better as occasional items — rotate them with safer options so no single high-oxalate food becomes a habit. Applied to Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked): 87 mg oxalate per 1/2 cup — Caution per Harvard (2024).
Where does the oxalate data come from?
The numbers come from Harvard T.H. Chan SPH's 2024 laboratory measurements, published through the OHF database. Direct lab analysis, which is why they're treated as the reference values for food oxalate. For context, Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked) measures 87 mg per 1/2 cup, rated Caution.
Should I also check sodium and calcium?
Definitely. Oxalate is only part of the story — high sodium raises calcium in urine, and dietary calcium (from food, not pills) binds oxalate in the gut. The food's main page lists both, so it's worth checking before you plan around it. For Nopal (Prickly Pear) (Cooked), the measured oxalate value is 87 mg per 1/2 cup (Caution).