Food – The Detox Depot

For an issue found underlying in so many auto-immune and chronic problems, there is precious little knowledge of oxalates. A Pub Med article about reducing oxalates ultimately concludes that what is known is nearly negated by what isn’t.

Oxalic acid is a dianion with 2 carbon and 4 oxygen molecules expressed like this C₂O₄^-2. Because of the negative charge, it will attract positively charged ions in the body such as calcium, potassium, and sodium forming oxalic salts.

Potassium oxalate and sodium oxalate are soluble in the blood, but calcium oxalate is not. Being insoluble, calcium oxalate can get taken up in the bloodstream and deposited all over the body into organs, even the thyroid and eyes, causing cell death, inflammation and pain in muscles, joints, and urinary tract. Crystallized calcium oxalates are hard, pointy, razor sharp, and visible like sand in feces. They are the precursors to kidney stones.

If you are dealing with auto-immune conditions like leaky gut, autism, IBS, or Crohns you are more likely to suffer from oxalates because the body is simply not able to effectively get rid of these toxins. In fact, it really isn’t known which came first, the chronic condition or the oxalate problem. That is to say, some believe the oxalates are the cause of the problem.

So far, the best way to prevent calcium oxalate crystals is to avoid high oxalate foods like nuts, chocolate, buckwheat, bran cereals and whole-wheat products, beans, green leafy vegetables, many kinds of berries and citrus peels. We should instead focus on low-oxalate foods like bananas, melons, cherries, lean meats, corn-based cereals (non-GMO), cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, kohlrabi, mushrooms and citrus juices. This is not going to thrill those who believe in the keto-diet because many of the foods on the latest fad list are high oxalate foods. Same story for those who are juicing to ‘detox’ – many of those detoxifiers are chalk full of oxalates.

An organized chart of low, medium, and high oxalate foods can be found here, but I definitely recommend comparing several sources because of conflicting information and new research being published. For example, kale is high in oxalate, but recently it was found that dinosaur kale is not near as high. Potatoes are high; however, red potatoes are much lower. Harvard found Brussels sprouts to be low in oxalate while many other sources say they are medium or high. Some say you can cook or boil oxalates out, but highly regarded sources say that is not true. So, be sure to research several resources and keep a food journal.

Something I found so intriguing from the Pub Med article referenced in my first paragraph is that an undamaged gut biome naturally contains Oxalobacter formigenes, a good bacteria that both decreases oxalate absorption and promotes intestinal oxalate secretion. In a gut biome that is destroyed, as with leaky gut, autism, IBS, food allergies, etc – this bacteria isn’t found. Surprise, surprise, surprise; another massive train wreck fail from the overuse of antibiotics, GMO foods, and glyphosate literally scorching our guts and ruining our immunity. Unfortunately, the production of the natural probiotic is taking the pharma route, so who knows when it will be available, how much it will cost, or if it will be effective in properly reseeding the gut.

We have battled oxalates for a very long time and we have the most success by indeed, following a low ox diet and we do experience pain if that diet is altered. I have found that filtered water, lemons, baking soda, and calcium and magnesium supplement (without D3) with meals have helped to keep oxalate issues at bay. While it seems the calcium would be counterproductive, it’s not. It helps to bind the oxalates and move them out. For us, supplemental vitamin C increases the oxalate problems, so we get that from food sources only, and supplement with a different anti-oxidant, Alpha Lipoic Acid, instead.

A great source for all kinds of oxalate and kidney research is Pub Med. Other very helpful websites I have found are these:

OxVox.com This site is a must. Michelle has thoroughly researched and provides a ton of information. She also has a support group online as well.
https://carnivoreaurelius.com/oxalates/
LiveStrong.com

Healing from auto-immune disease could be thought of as a three legged stool because organ support, detox, and diet all need to happen equally and simultaneously. The diet leg is often thought to be the most challenging.

It truly isn’t.

There is no leviathan list to which you must adhere or succumb to a dire fate. Yes, there are a few obvious no-no’s but sticking to what you can have automatically saves you from what you can’t. The rest of the food ‘sins’ are based on personal reactions so unless you enjoy giving yourself hives, kidney stones, or anaphylaxis, you already naturally steer clear. So instead of scaling an impossible cliff, embrace a simple menu of foods:

Meats, vegetables, fruits, and filtered water.

Keep it simple. Enjoy what you can have, protect yourself from what you can’t.

The imagined difficulty really stems from deep-rooted, criminal programming hard driven into our psyche. Overcoming the indoctrination is where the hard work lies. For most this means unlearning everything core to our beliefs and traditions and getting rid of food addictions that are killing us.

How were we bamboozled into believing boxed food contained nutrition? How could we be conned that processed food-kibbles were digestible? How could we be so profoundly duped into thinking that unpronounceable ingredients were food instead of poison? How could we be outfoxed to feed garbage to our families? Thinking critically on these matters should enrage us enough that overhauling our diet and health becomes a mission.

Here are some additional ideas to ponder:

Make this about health, not weight. Think of diet as a noun instead of a verb. Diet (n) is nutrition. Diet (v) means cumbersome, faddish, expensive, shaming programs focused on weight loss. The two words are not synonymous. Good nutrition sustains a healthy immune system for life and when immunity is top priority, weight loss is the natural, effortless side effect. The Auto-Immune Protocol is an easy place to start. Here is one of my favorite sites with printable lists.

Allergy testing is a must. Continuing to ingest inflaming foods wastes every second and penny spent on detox and organ support. Functional doctors routinely test IgE, IgA, and IgG responses to allergens while allopathic, conventional allergists commonly and oddly, do not. But all three tests are necessary to root out any inflaming foods. Auto-immune symptoms, and dark rings under the eyes are classic red flags for food allergens or intolerances that may not be picked up by IgE alone. Often the foods we crave are doing the worst damage, even if it is otherwise healthy. An organic cucumber is never good for us if we are allergic to it. Positive reactions will become your own personal list of things you cannot have.

Buy organic. Glypohosate, the main ingredient in Round Up, is used in nearly all crops for weed/pest control and/or the drying process after harvest. In our experience pesticides have been a major culprit in our auto-immune disorders. Pull up the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen lists to help you know when to squeeze by with inorganic produce. For example, potatoes and apples are always dirty unless labeled organic so always buy organic. All corn is GMO unless labeled organic. Asparagus and mangoes are not common glyphosate crops so I buy regular when money is tight. Produce for sale but not in season is a red flag for genetically modified crops. Hopefully use of glyphosate will be illegal soon as it has been proven to cause cancer. Monsanto lost a lost a major case here and an even bigger one here. There are more than 11,000 cases in the wings.

Keep to the perimeter of the store where the produce, meats, and non-dairy products are shelved. The aisles in between are filled with processed junk so try to stay out of them as much as possible. Once you have healed inflammation enough to add in some organic, gluten free grains and flours you should be able to resist the packaged snacks because the cravings for sugar or crunchy carbs should be gone by then.

Keep a Food Journal. Note any reactions which could result from histamines, oxalates, phenols, salicylates, glutamates or nightshades. I’ll write about those in another post.

The List of No-No’s.

No cane sugar.
No artificial colors or flavors
No MSG
No added chemicals or unnatural preservatives
Can’t pronounce it? Don’t eat it
No soy

Cane sugar is as addictive and destructive as any drug or alcohol and high fructose corn syrup is also the devil. No artificial colors or flavors; I’ve known parents who have completely cured their children of adhd by removing these alone.

No MSG. MSG contains glutamate which is an excitotoxin. No added chemicals or unnatural preservatives. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it. All soy is GMO unless labeled organic, however, it is estrogenic and I wouldn’t feed it to children.

Read Labels. If you stick to what you can have (meats, veggies, fruits, and filtered water) you will naturally avoid the bad stuff and there are no labels to worry about. But, if you have to buy packaged goods, read labels. You should understand each ingredient, if not, leave it behind.

Natural sugar substitutes for cooking and baking are Xylitol (also good for teeth), coconut sugar, organic stevia, and even mashed bananas are excellent in recipes. Do not use NutraSweet or Sweet and Low, they are synthetic chemicals.

We are what we eat SO eat what we are. Our cells recognize meat, vegetables, and fruits as healing because we are composed of the same matter. Our cells are mystified by the indigestible, synthetic twaddle of packaged food. I extend this parallel to synthetic, suppressive pharmaceutical and OTC drugs as well.

The bottom line is frankenfood makes our cells weak, broken, and mal-nourished. How can we expect these same fragile cells to show up to the auto-immune front line and win for us everyday? That makes no sense. We will lose every time. Game over.

Fresh, organic, non-inflaming foods are the crucial tools our bodies need to fight the ongoing war at the cellular level. A strengthened and fortified immune system will battle pathogens all on its own. Healthy cells win the war and victory means life-long immunity to a horde of germs and a productive, enjoyable life.

If you are already down and out with auto-immune disease and symptoms, I feel for you. We were too. We had lost the ability to function in any sense of normal capacity. Organ support, detox, and diet dramatically turned everything around for us. We already had diets mastered years before detoxing which gave us an enormous edge to healing. If you haven’t started cleaning up your diet, don’t wait. Food is truly medicine and nourishment we need. Your cells will thank you by taking care of you the way they are supposed to. God gave us an incredible system to fight disease. The evil that wants to take us out is truly maddening.

If I can help you contact me at New Leaf Holistic!