What are oxalates?

Some of the highest oxalate foods, in no order:

Beans (most of them)
Soy
Almonds, Cashews, Peanuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts, Sesame, Walnuts
Black and Green Teas
(Coffee and Herbal Teas are fine)
Beet Root, Juice and Beet Greens
ALL Chocolate (white is fine)
Blackberry, Elderberry, Gogi, Raspberry, Strawberries
Grapefruit, some Oranges
Apricots, Unripe Avocados, Figs, Guava, Kiwi,
Plantain, Pomegranate, Prunes, Star Fruit,
Unripe Banana (and Chips)
Swiss Chard, Dandelion Greens, Microgreens and mixes, Sorrel, Spinach
Carrots, Parsnips, Celery, Rhubarb
ALL Potatoes, including Sweet Potatoes
Eggplant, Heart of Palm, Okra
Some raw Sweet Peppers
Grains: Bagels, Breads, Pastas, Spaghetti, Quinoa
Flours: Wheat, Rye, Soy, Buckwheat, Almond, Bean, Cassava, Pecan, Potato
Ensure, Powdered Drinks, Hemp Protein Powders
Almond Milk, Cashew Milk, Soy Milk
Cereals: Whole Grain, Bran, Chex, Grape Nuts, Shredded Wheat, Special K
Seasonings: Celery Seeds, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cumin, Curry Powder, Citrus Peel, Black Pepper (white is fine), Poppy Seeds, Turmeric

Oxalates, or oxalic acid, are a type of plant-based compound that acts as a "chemical cleaner" for plants, PROTECTING them from PESTS. Oxalates are basically weapons for plants.

Oxalates are like snowflakes, coming in ALL shapes and sizes — as depicted on these photos along the side.

All of these oxalate shapes are like shards of glass floating through the bloodstream. And, what the body cannot get rid of, when we eat an overabundance of them, it will store them in every nook and cranny of the body.

Just like animals have teeth and claws to fight back, plants have anti-nutrients to fight off predators, so they can reproduce.

There are quite a few anti-nutrients in plants, like tannins, phytates (phytic acid), lectins, but oxalates (oxalic acid) are the worst of them.

Oxalates are classified as anti-nutrients, because they bind to minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, potassium, but they will bind to any mineral, which reduces the bioavailability and absorption of those minerals in the body.

And, when oxalates cannot find minerals from the food(s) we eat, they will rob the minerals from our bones, anywhere in our skeletal system.

When humans eat oxalates, they usually pass through the body harmlessly. However, in today’s diet, humans are eating high oxalate foods in EXCESSIVE amounts. Basically, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is a toxic cesspool of high oxalate foods.

In some individuals, oxalates bind to calcium in the kidneys and turn into painful, tiny crystals—kidney stones, but as Sally Norton, the oxalate education queen, has said many times, there are more people who never experience kidney stones than do experience that horribly painful symptom.

BUT, if you have had kidney stones, I would definitely be looking at your diet — and your doctor should be explaining the foods to avoid.

Beyond kidney stones, oxalates can cause ALL kinds of health challenges, as the body stores them just about everywhere, when we eat too much of them.

It’s been said that a “healthy” body can handle 150-200mg, but the American diet is WAY beyond that, in most cases.

Examples of oxalate content in some popular everyday foods:

> 1/2 cup of boiled Red Kidney Beans = 60mg
> 1 oz of raw or roasted Almonds (about 23 Almonds) = raw 120mg, roasted 130mg
> 1 oz of Chia Seeds (whole) = 190mg
> 2 Tbsp of Peanut Butter = 50mg
> 1 1/2oz of Lindt Dark Chocolate = 170mg (ALL chocolate is extremely high)
> 3oz of fresh Blackberries (about 9-12 berries) = 25mg
> 1 cup of raw Swiss Chard = 620mg
> 1/2 cup of raw Spinach = 150mg
> 30 French Fries = 35mg
> 1 Baked Yam (w/o skin) = 180mg

I am not even getting into grains, cereals or breads!

Add up ALL the oxalate foods one eats in a day — and it’s easy to see the American diet is high oxalate.


Health issues connected to oxalates:

Brain (oxalates are known neurotoxins) —
depression, anxiety, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ADD/ADHD, migraines
Heart Disease —
irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), fibrosis, heart attacks
Stomach —
indigestion, reflux, bloating, belching
Colon —
constipation, IBS, lupus
Cancers —
especially breast and uterine, oxalates can contribute to the development of fibroids
Eyes —
eye grit in the morning (oxalates), floaters, links below showing reversal of many eye problems
Joints —
arthritis, gout, osteopenia, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, bone fractures, joint replacements, carpal tunnel
Skeletal —
foot pain (like walking on glass), fractures, brittle bones
Dental —
sensitivities, gum damage, cracked teeth
Urinary —
UTIs, stones in the urine, bladder pain, pelvic pain, urinary urgency
Kidney —
Kidney stones, Chronic Kidney Disease

Below is the link for Sally Norton’s website. I would HIGHLY recommend her book “Toxic Superfoods,” as well as her “Data Companion” book, with categorized tested food lists, color-coded from Very Low to Extremely High.

https://sallyknorton.com/

TIP #1 — do NOT eliminate all oxalates from your diet, rather keep some low oxalate foods to wean yourself down, so as not to throw yourself into oxalate dumping.  Give your body time to gently release the stored oxalates SLOWLY.

TIP #2 — lemon in your water helps dissolve oxalates (check my “Recipe” page).  This is super important, especially when you think your body is dumping oxalates too fast, or to keep it from dumping.


SOME SUGGESTSED VIDEOS: (I have over 160 of them saved. Just do a search in YT.)

Will always be my favorite, my first introduction to Sally Norton —
Elliot Overton interviews Sally Norton explaining what oxalates are and what they can do to the body.
The Hidden Dangers of Oxalates — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APlwdX3urgU&list=PLr1LydnmJrR-c7F-gkB-zDpqPo530TjRf&index=6&t=279s

A very good video for women.  I had cystitis in my early 20’s.  My daughter from an early age dealt with constant UTIs, which we finally connected to gluten — and now I know oxalates go hand-in-hand with gluten —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ni2k5K8jw&list=PLr1LydnmJrR-c7F-gkB-zDpqPo530TjRf&index=38&t=2744s

Sally goes into detail about her health struggles, along with this Nutritional Practitioner —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCwST1Uqg88&list=PLr1LydnmJrR-c7F-gkB-zDpqPo530TjRf&index=122&t=1319s

Toxic Superfoods with Sally K Norton with Primal Foundations (new favorite interview) —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncDo3BZOB0g&list=PLr1LydnmJrR-c7F-gkB-zDpqPo530TjRf&index=144

Toxic Superfoods: How Oxalates Are RUINING Your Health with Jesse Chappus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PK7cFLlUjE&t=926s

Sally Norton with Healthy AF, Healthy After 50
Are Plant-Based "Superfoods" Making You Sick? Deep Dive with Sally K. Norton, MPH, on Oxalates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVX1mvmD-5I&list=PLr1LydnmJrR-c7F-gkB-zDpqPo530TjRf&index=147