Loohan Forums

Loohan

Administrator

Registered: 2014-10-31

Posts: 32,762

autoimmune issues and oxalates

The Damaging Effects of Oxalates on the Human Body
https://www.urologyofva.net/articles/ca … human-body

I developed ECZEMA about 2.5 years ago. TCM helped to some extent. Limiting consumption of histamine-rich foods helped. But histamine is not the cause, merely a factor which aggravates the symptoms. Many desirable foods such as fermented products are rich in histamines. I gave up kefir. Eating a single small homemade pickle could cause an outbreak.

Then a few months ago i read an article somewhere that oxalates are not only a risk factor for kidney stones, but can cause many diverse issues such as AUTOIMMUNE issues, JOINT problems, and SLEEP disturbances. I had also recently developed issues with my shoulders for the first time, and more recently, had lost the ability to sleep except in brief shallow dozing episodes.
I was ripe for a change.

Now, by cutting back on oxalate-rich foods my eczema is virtually gone. I can bring it back a bit by pigging out on oxalate-rich foods, then it goes away in a day or so if i abstain. And i can eat histamine-rich foods again with no particular consequences. And my shoulders and sleep have gotten much better.

One problem with this is that lists of oxalate-rich foods often contradict each other to some extent. But certain foods definitely seem culpable.
I had been eating large quantities of cacao paste (chocolate liqueur) for many years. I cut back to about 1/3 of my former consumption. Another item is almonds and almond butter. Also spinach and chard. I do not like spinach much but do grow and eat chard. Closely related and also bad are beets and beet greens. I have stopped eating these for now.

It is not necessary to eliminate all oxalate-rich foods as many can be prepared so as to mitigate the anti-nutrients.
According to the Weston Price Egyptoids, almonds should be soaked in salted water overnight, then slow-dried in an oven. I do not find this nearly as tasty as almond butter, however. Chard and other oxalate-rich greens should have the pot-liquor discarded, as the discarded anti-nutrients would cause more deficiency than the loss of a few of the nutrients.
Others simply blanch greens etc (scald them in boiling water to dissolve the soluble oxalates) then cook normally. What i do is pour scalding water over them and let them sit a while to partially cook. Then pour off the water and finish cooking normally.
KALE has some oxalates. Curly kale significantly worse than lacinata (dino) kale, according to some sources. Unfortunately i have not found any of the latter with much flavor, and have given up on that.

BEANS have become a central staple in my diet ever since i developed a craving for them after fasting a year ago. I pre-soak them with a bit of baking soda for about 24 hours, changing the water at least once, then pressure-cook them for like a half hour. When i was in VA recently there was no pressure-cooker so  i cooked them for hours at low heat (though i have read that they should also be boiled at a higher temperature for 15 minutes to deactivate a certain toxin).

Beans are the primary source of starches in my current diet. It used to be summer squash, fresh or dried, but i cut way back on that as squash SEEDS are supposedly high in oxalates (hence winter squashes are preferable as the seeds are removed).
In fact all seeds, such as BEANS, grains, nuts, etc have significant oxalate. I eliminated grains years ago. And later, potatoes, another rich source.
I do eat a fair bit of tahini, but that is OK as it is made from hulled seeds.

Anyway, a healthy person can handle some oxalates. When i was in VA for a month and a half recently, i ate plenty of yoghurt. I still eat a fair bit of almond butter. I have played around with how much oxalate i can eat without symptoms. By cutting back on certain items, and preparing others differently, eczema has become a non-problem.

And one other factor of major importance! Last fall i read that STINGING NETTLE leaf clears oxalates from the body. As it happens, i had saved a bunch of dried as well as fresh-frozen nettles for the winter, so i had a fairly decent stash. I add some to beans or greens when cooking. I add some to my morning mate' tea. This seems to help a lot. And this year i will save even more, as i have plenty growing here.
Nettles do contain some oxalates, and the stingers contain histamine! Yet they help the body remove these substances. By removing both oxalates and histamines, they enable one to have a broader diet without consequence.
BTW i have found that drying them does not remove all the sting, contrary to some claims. Cooking does though.

Also LEMON is supposed to clear oxalates. So now i squeeze some into my salad dressings, and occasionally drink water with some in it.
It will, of course, dissolve your tooth enamel if sucked on.

Loohan

Administrator

Registered: 2014-10-31

Posts: 32,762

Re: autoimmune issues and oxalates

Pardon me while i wax more eloquent on this highly nutritious plant which has been a favorite of mine for a long time; STINGING NETTLES.

Although it grows all summer long, if your summers are hot, you want to harvest all your stash in the early spring. Later the leaves get smaller, tougher, drier, less tasty, and more oxalate-packed. The stems get more woody so they are harder to pluck. Instead in the past, at this stage, i would strip the leaves and maybe seeds off, leaving the stem. These days i do all my harvesting earlier.

I just noticed that some of my plants, those in areas where the soil is richer and moister, are already at an optimum stage for harvesting. I just plucked a half-bushel of choice tops in a few minutes' work, and have them drying now. I put them on a window screen laid horizontally in a dehumidifier-equipt room, with a small fan under the screen.
Here the pickings should be great for the next month or so. Soon, butterflies will start commandeering the tips for cocoons. These are desirable pollinators so i just work around them. Eventually they may take over most of the plants, but by then the plants will be past their prime anyway.

I just put on leather gloves and pluck 4" or so of the top off each plant.

The seeds are reputed to be very nutritious. Years ago i cooked and ate them sometimes. But they are bound to be loaded with oxalates.
Interestingly, if deer are hungry enough, they will eat these dry nettle tops loaded with seeds, even though they sting.