Certified Holistic Nutritionist: nutrient dense, low oxalate. 1 size fits all doesn’t - it’s what's right for you. Change your diet; change your health!
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Mar 11, 2023 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Have been reminded again about the obsession in the nutrition world with chia seeds. Look - seeds don't *want* to be eaten unless your digestive tract is a way to get them planted and germinated. Period. Otherwise, seeds are as uninterested in being eaten as anything else.
With this in mind, I offer the oxalate level in chia seeds. They were tested by the Trying Low Oxalates group (where I'm on the senior team). These things are a whopping 94.8 mg for a tablespoon (just under 10 grams). This is not "gut friendly".
Aug 31, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
This. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
It’s a similar issue with oxalate. It is found in plants (not animal products); our increased consumption and focus on the highest oxalate plants as “healthy” has unnaturally skewed our intake much higher. No seasonality to protect us against oxalate either.
Note that increasing levels of fructose in our diet leads to higher endogenous (metabolic) oxalate production as well. We do know that kidney stones are higher risk when people are overweight or obese. Could fructose intake be part of that risk? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20842614/
Jan 22, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
If you really want a superfood, eat liver! It has no plant toxins (oxalate, phytate, lectins, etc) and is packed with bio available nutrients. This is nature’s multivitamin. 👍🏻
Nothing is as nutrient dense, bite for bite, as animal products and liver (as well as other organ meats) is an overachiever among animal products. Just keep in mind that serving size matters and you don’t want too much. Too much can be as bad as too little.
Jan 13, 2022 • 5 tweets • 5 min read
@chuksolisaeke@keto_canadian@DaddyOh It may help - but the evidence at this point is not compelling. Might depend on the individual and what is triggering the kidney stones though. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34293376/@chuksolisaeke@keto_canadian@DaddyOh From the discussion of the study: "Prior studies have demonstrated that vinegar prevents urinary calcium oxalate crystal formation through its influence on urinary citrate and calcium excretion and may be associated with decreased risk of stone formation."
Oct 15, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
From the conclusion of the article: “Oxalate is a terminal end product of metabolism in humans with no known role”. In other words, you can’t use it; oxalate is an end product you need to get rid of. mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9…
Another quote: “It is predominantly eliminated by the kidneys through glomerular filtration and tubular secretion. Intestinal secretion of oxalate also contributes to its elimination, but to a much lesser extent.” In other words, you can get rid of it in stool.
Oct 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
@mickbabesandy@deNutrients We don’t have people looking at oxalate accumulation until kidneys are damaged. So there are so many ways our testing may not reflect risk or health issue - because we aren’t looking for it! We also don’t test blood levels: we only test urine (again, unless kidneys are damaged).
@mickbabesandy@deNutrients But there is research that is starting to turn up where “hidden” oxalate problems are being recognized as a potential cause of disease that we hadn’t considered before. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Aug 18, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
"Differences in total oxalate content is variable among cultivars, season, and growing conditions. For example, among 310 different cultivars of spinach, oxalate concentration ranged from 647.2 to 1286.9 mg/100 g FW, with an average of 984 mg/100 g [59]." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Further from the section on oxalate: "Horner and colleagues found over a two-fold difference in oxalate values among 116 cultivars of soy, ranging from 82 to 285 mg/100 g dry weight [60]. Time of harvest can have additional impacts on oxalate concentrations [61]."
Aug 5, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I know I'm usually the "all oxalate, all the time" gal, but I saw this and it really got me thinking. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26404362/
From the abstract: "In humans, digestion of bovine A1 beta-casein, but not the alternative A2 beta-casein, releases beta-casomorphin-7, which activates μ-opioid receptors expressed throughout the gastrointestinal tract and body."
Jul 17, 2021 • 5 tweets • 4 min read
@MartynChilvers@1GarethWynJones Plant based diets are extremely high in oxalate. Oxalate can chelate minerals (like zinc) and deplete your levels. That’s problem 1.
@MartynChilvers@1GarethWynJones Problem 2 is protein. People who have tried to go plant based for their health make up the vast majority of my clients. Eating a low oxalate but plant based diet is extremely challenging, especially with such poor sources of protein available to them.
Jul 11, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Do you know that if your B6 is low, and you have a rich source of hydroxyproline in your diet (like bone broth), you could be making oxalate endogenously. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17200872/
Given the current obsession with bone broth for gut healing, the irony that your consumption of it could drive oxalate production - which can drive inflammation via the inflammasome - is not lost on me. What if the gut ends up more inflamed?
Jun 27, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Such a great thread on the importance of magnesium - and why you might want to supplement it! 👍🏻
Note that magnesium is a 2+ cation; it’s also one of the preferred targets of oxalate chelation. (Oxalate is a 2- ion). So eating a high oxalate diet is a 2 for 1 impact on magnesium levels, with less in the plants to begin with and then chelation of what’s available by oxalate.
Jun 22, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Oxalate triggered the innate immune system via CaOx crystals. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23221343/
From the abstract: These data demonstrated that CaOx crystals trigger IL-1β-dependent innate immunity via the NLRP3/ASC/caspase-1 axis in intrarenal mononuclear phagocytes and directly damage tubular cells, leading to the release of the NLRP3 agonist ATP.
Jun 15, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Just a reminder that most nuts are NOT your friends! Nuts (and many seeds) are very rich sources of oxalate - and oxalate can impact your metabolism in a host of ways. But one of the worst can be your thyroid.
Note that calcium oxalate can turn up in the thyroid as calcifications, and these microcalcifications can be related to a number of thyroid diseases. We may not be finding these microcalcifications because frankly - we aren't looking for them. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31648281/
May 23, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I’d actually say “up cycle”. Cattle and other herbivores take low density nutrient inputs, and create high density nutrient outputs.
Their outputs are generally low to no oxalate as well. We don’t know much about the resulting outputs though if the ruminant is eating a high oxalate diet. But this study has some interesting information. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22548678/
May 16, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
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.
May 14, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
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."
May 10, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
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.
May 3, 2021 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
@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/
Apr 28, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
From the abstract: “Calcium 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).
Apr 23, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
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?)
Apr 22, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
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…
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