A reminder that spinach may be a problem in your diet. While some people seem to consume lots of it and do fine, it is possible that oxalate (which spinach is rich in) could be affecting us in ways we are not looking for. This study is perspective. sciencemadness.org/talk/files.php…
The study is deceptively simple: use a baseline diet for two groups of lab animals; manipulate oxalate such that one group gets turnip greens to supply calcium, and one group gets spinach to supply calcium.
While using spinach to supply calcium might be a surprise to some, spinach does have a lot of calcium. The problem is that the calcium in spinach is bound to oxalate. This study showed that perhaps 35% of it is available to be absorbed. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3183773/
The combination of low bioavailability + oxalate had devastating effects in the Kohman study. From the discussion: "...spinach is added to the extent of about 8% to supply 60% of the calcium, a high percentage of deaths occurs among rats fed between the age of 21 and 90 days."
Further from the discussion: "Reproduction is impossible. The bones are extremely low in calcium, tooth structure is disorganized and dentine poorly calcified. Spinach not only supplies no available calcium but renders unavailable considerable of that of the other foods."
So, what do you do? Don't rely on spinach alone; consider other greens (like turnip greens) which deliver minerals that are more bioavailable. Need some high iron, low oxalate plant foods? Red lentils are a great choice! White mushrooms are also good source.
As for greens, you have lots of low oxalate options! My personal favourite: arugula. Makes a great spinach sub. And the humble collard greens are an excellent source of minerals. foodsforbetterhealth.com/what-are-colla…
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More from @LowOxCoach1

14 May
Could healthy vitamin c - taken in large amounts - be part of your issue? From the abstract: "The breakdown of AA is non-enzymatic and results in oxalate formation." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27002809/
Also from the abstract: "The exact amount of oxalate formed has been difficult to ascertain primarily due to the limited availability of healthy human tissue for such research and the difficulty in measuring AA and its breakdown products."
Here's the problem though: "The breakdown of 60 mg of AA to oxalate could potentially result in the formation of up to 30 mg oxalate per day." So if you are taking 1000mg of vitamin C, you could be potentially forming 500mg of oxalate! (That's a lot.)
Read 5 tweets
10 May
Where does oxalate go in the body? Research link here, looking at how "a soluble oxalate-rich diet induces stable stages of CKD in male and female C57BL/6 mice." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26764204/
Two things here:
1. The oxalate source in the research was the DIET.

This is not genetic hyperoxaluria. In genetic hyperoxaluria, the oxalate is being made by the body. This is also called "endogenous" oxalate production.
2. Oxalate affects the lab animals SYSTEMICALLY. From the abstract: "Within 3 wk, the mice reproducibly develop normochromic anemia, metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, FGF23 activation, hyperphosphatemia, and hyperparathyroidism." None of that is good news.
Read 6 tweets
3 May
@kauk @practicalbob @BetterLowOx Thanks for tagging me! And yes - I've seen gout be related to oxalate. I've had what was called "pseudo-gout" when oxalate was mobilized out of my body. Joints are a possible location of oxalate-based crystals. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23666469/
@kauk @practicalbob @BetterLowOx There does also seem to be a relationship between gout and kidney stones. I've had the issue with pseudo-gout myself and oxalate; but note - never any kidney stones. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19779706/
@kauk @practicalbob @BetterLowOx As for what oxalate mobilization (called "dumping") can do to you - the problem is that oxalate drives inflammation. So if you have a location in the body that is prone to inflammation for whatever reason, oxalate can also be contributing to that.
Read 4 tweets
28 Apr
From the abstract: β€œCalcium oxalate is a major component of renal stones, and its urinary concentration plays an important role in stone formation. Even a small increase in urinary oxalate has a significant impact on calcium oxalate saturation.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11071450/
The problem is that this remains true even if the oxalate in your urine originates in the diet - but our bias in diagnosing hyperoxaluria is two fold:

1. Oxalate doesn’t matter unless you have kidney stones

2. Oxalate is only an issue otherwise if you produce it (endogenous).
While primary hyperoxaluria is a serious disease, there is absolutely evidence that we can be sick with oxalate from the diet and in other locations in the body than the kidneys. Here’s one: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26493452/
Read 6 tweets
23 Apr
Number 15 and the final entrant in my Oxalate Clean Fifteen is garlic and the onion family. Most members of the family are low, although a couple are medium oxalate. We normally eat the seed/ root of the plant, but green onions, chive and leek have us enjoying the stems too!
Each garlic clove you add to a dish is a mere 0.3 mg oxalate. So use it ad libitum! (After all, if a recipe specifies only 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, have you really added garlic at all?)
Another favourite of mine is chive. Chives are so low in oxalate, you could have 100g of the green stuff and only add just over 4 mg oxalate to your dish. Chives grow so well, my garden plot comes up with large swaths of it every year and every year, we have to thin it.πŸ˜‰
Read 6 tweets
22 Apr
Number 14 in our Oxalate Clean 15 is watercress. This is a powerhouse of a nutritional green, and often overlooked when we think of greens. It has been traditionally eaten to treat mineral deficiency - and there's a reason why. webmd.com/diet/health-be…
Watercress is an excellent source of three key minerals: calcium, magnesium and potassium. Low in electrolytes (because oxalate has been chelating them)? Why not try some watercress soup? Here's a low carb version with zucchini and watercress. food.com/recipe/watercr…
You don't have to cook it! Watercress can be eaten raw; it's is a wonderful addition to a salad to increase nutrient density. And here's an idea: how about a salad with bacon? But leave out the sugar in the dressing or use monk fruit extract. yummly.com/recipe/Wilted-…
Read 5 tweets

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