
Oxalates are produced in small amounts as a waste product of human metabolism but occur in very large amounts in some plants. Oxalates occur as a combination of oxalic acid with a mineral such as calcium and can cause pain, kidney stones and other issues over time. Some of the most popular and healthy foods are high in oxalates so we should understand how to deal with them.
In humans oxalic acid is produced as a result of the breakdown of amino acids and is excreted in the urine. Oxalic acids has various uses in plants.
Plants make and use oxalic acid in a different way. Oxalic acid is formed as part of photosynthesis to regulate minerals but also as a defence mechanism against predators. Oxalic acid forms to protect from predation like animals, insects, and fungi. Animals that eat too much of it die unpleasantly unless they have well-developed oxalic acid detoxifying systems.
Humans on the other hand produce 10-30mg per day but don’t have much of it in bigger amounts. However we can invest through certain compounds such a spinach several hundreds of miolligrams . You could even ingest a thousands of milligrams of oxalates from a green smoothie! In sensitive people, even small amounts of oxalates cause burning in the eyes, ears and much more. People who eat large quantities of raw vegetables may be particularly susceptible. Approximately 75% of all kidney stones are composed primarily of calcium oxalate.
Symptoms can vary as oxalate crystals can be deposited into almost any part of the body. Joint, tissues, cells !
The most common condition associated to oxalates is kidney stones, but the symptoms can vary a lot. Here are only some
Unfortunately high sources of oxalate are some very popular and keto friendly foods. From highest to lowest, – buckwheat, black pepper, parsley, poppy seed, rhubarb, amaranth, spinach, chard, beets, chocolate, most nuts, most berries, and beans. Others include kale, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, parsley, black pepper.
Nine types of raw and cooked vegetables were analyzed for oxalate using an enzymatic method. There was a high proportion of water-soluble oxalate in most of the tested raw vegetables. Your beloved spinach and kale green smoothies may be causing more harm than good! You could be easily take 1000mg in one take.
There are also sources which are low in oxalate, although there is a lot of variance. In general cabbage and lettuce are low in oxalates.
With some green vegetables in focus in this article, it’s also important to acknowledge steamed veggies provides a wealth of vitamins to support good health and performance.Green veggies like kale have a high concentrations of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and K. Just one cup of chopped steam kale contains 885 mcg of vitamin A. It also helps protect against infection from pathogenic organisms. The vitamin C found in kale facilitates tissue repair, boosts the immune system, and provides antioxidant protection against pathogens and toxins. Kale is also incredibly rich in vitamin K and suppr a wide variety of bodily functions, including normal blood clotting, antioxidant activity, and bone health.Because veggies like kale contain an abundance of health and performance optimizing vitamins, you should keep them in your diet but only if you take action against its built-in problems.
With the above in mind here are some suggestions.
Keep the amount oxalates per day to around 100mg. Avoid having big amounts of high oxalate foods in one meal.
Boiling markedly reduced soluble oxalate content by 30-80% and was more effective than steaming (50%). The losses of insoluble oxalate during cooking varied greatly, ranging from 0 to 70%. Because soluble sources of oxalate appear to be better absorbed than insoluble sources, employing cooking methods that significantly reduce soluble oxalate may be an effective strategy for decreasing oxaluria in individuals predisposed to the development of kidney stones.
Boiling your vegetables will cause the oxalate to “leach” out of them. Leaching is the extraction of certain materials from a carrier (in this case, your vegetable) into a liquid (the boiling water). A study of this process found that boiling fresh New Zealand grown spinach reduced the amount of soluble oxalate by more than 60%. (Plants carry both soluble and insoluble oxalate; it’s generally harder to reduce insoluble oxalate.) To leach your leafy greens, you can boil them in water for about 6-10 minutes, depending on the type of green. Once you have boiled and drained your greens, be sure to season them to taste with some spices, like garlic or mustard.
In general there is a big variance reported in how much oxalate is reduced by boiling/steaming, so don’t over-consume them.
Many vitamins and micronutrients are fat-soluble, meaning they are not well absorbed without the presence of adequate fat. One study showed that people who consume salads with fat-free salad dressing absorbed far less of the helpful phytonutrients and vitamins from spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots than those who consumed their salads with salad dressing containing fat.
Because oxalic acid binds vital minerals in the gut, long-term consumption of foods high in oxalic acid can lead to nutrient deficiencies. When calcium supplements are taken with foods high in oxalic acid, the oxalic acid actually precipitates in the gut and drastically reduces the levels of oxalate absorbed by the body. Some cases show as much as a 97% decrease in oxalate levels.Additionally, a 1997 study showed that “mineral water containing calcium and magnesium deserves to be considered as a possible therapeutic or prophylactic agent in calcium oxalate kidney stone disease”. The best way to calcium load is not to take pills or drink water, but to toss your calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide supplements in the blender with your kale. Let the harmful oxalic acid precipitate out in the blender, so your body can filter it out when you drink it. If you allow free oxalic acid into your body without minerals at the exact same time, it will absorb into your body, then, depending on your genetics, infections, history, and your oxalate load, it can form crystals in your muscle tissue and/or kidneys.
Lightly steaming cruciferous vegetables for up to 30 minutes (far less helps) also significantly reduces the amount of goitrogens. In the same way lightly cooking vegetables also helps break down the cellular structures to increase the digestibility and nutrient absorption of nutrients in the vegetables. Nutrient absorption is also important in terms of the amount of energy your body is actually getting from the food you eat.
Always add lemon juice and/or apple cider vineger (ACV)
Oxalate dumping is the process of removing of oxalates from the body through urine,stool, sweat or any other way the body can find. This is a healthy process but can mean there are side-effects which you need to be aware of
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