How Much Oxalate Is in Lima beans?
mg oxalate
per serving
Serving: 1/2 cup (94 g)
Verdict: 🟢 Safe
Per 100g: 2.1 mg
Data: Harvard T.H. Chan SPH (2024)
What this means: Lima beans is rated Safe (🟢). At 2 mg oxalate per serving, it's well under the 25 mg safety threshold. You can include it regularly in a kidney stone diet. Pair it with calcium-rich foods (dairy, fortified plant milks) for additional protection, and drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Among vegetables, Lima beans sits well below 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 Lima beans is 93% below the category norm. Within its specific category, Lima beans ranks among the lower-oxalate options. 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 Safe to compare within the same verdict level.
Why does oxalate per 100g matter?
The per-100g number lets you compare foods on an equal-weight basis, regardless of serving size. It's useful when two foods have very different typical serving sizes, or when you eat more or less than a standard serving. Lima beans comes in at 2 mg oxalate per 1/2 cup (Safe) in the measured database.
How accurate is the oxalate measurement?
Harvard's 2024 analysis used ion chromatography — the gold standard for oxalate measurement. These are direct lab values, not estimates or database calculations. Variability exists between samples, but this is the most reliable reference available. Applied to Lima beans: 2 mg oxalate per 1/2 cup — Safe per Harvard (2024).
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. For Lima beans, the measured oxalate value is 2 mg per 1/2 cup (Safe).