How Much Oxalate Is in Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh)?
mg oxalate
per serving
Serving: 1 cup (93 g)
Verdict: 🟡 Caution
Per 100g: 86 mg
Data: Harvard T.H. Chan SPH (2024)
What this means: Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh) is rated Caution (🟡). At 80 mg oxalate per serving, it's in the moderate zone (25-99 mg). It's manageable with portion awareness — try smaller servings, less frequent consumption, and pairing with calcium-rich foods. Track total daily oxalate to stay under ~100 mg.
Among vegetables, Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh) sits well above the category average of 27 mg. For context, 219 out of 271 vegetables (80%) are rated 🟢 Safe (under 25 mg oxalate/serving). The average vegetables in our database has 27 mg oxalate per serving — which means Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh) is 196% above the category norm. Within its specific category, Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh) ranks on the higher end for oxalate. This context matters because two 'Safe' foods can have very different oxalate levels — one might have 5 mg while another has 24 mg. Both are Safe, but the first gives you more dietary flexibility. Browse all vegetables rated Caution to compare within the same verdict level.
Why does oxalate per 100g matter?
Normalizing to 100 grams removes serving-size differences, so you can judge which food is genuinely denser in oxalate. It matters most when you eat a bigger or smaller portion than the listed serving. Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh) comes in at 80 mg oxalate per 1 cup (Caution) in the measured database.
How accurate is the oxalate measurement?
These values come from Harvard's 2024 ion-chromatography analysis — the gold-standard method for oxalate. Real measured data rather than estimates. Sample-to-sample variation exists, but no published source is more dependable for food oxalate. Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh) comes in at 80 mg oxalate per 1 cup (Caution) in the measured database.
How does this compare to other foods?
Anything under 25 mg per serving is Safe; 25-99 mg is Caution; 100 mg or more is Avoid. The category pages on OxalateWatch list foods side by side, so you can see where this one ranks. Applied to Bitter Gourd (Bitter Melon) (Fresh): 80 mg oxalate per 1 cup — Caution per Harvard (2024).