If you have ever tried doing something healthy for your body but felt worse in the process, you know how frustrating this must be! This is exactly what happened to my client Robin and was this week's mystery.
She was having aches and pains, stomach issues and unexplained bladder issues that felt like a UTI but it wasn't an actual infection (she kept getting urine tests and they kept coming back negative).
Interestingly, much of this worsened after she started to follow the medical medium and eat a lot more spinach, drink celery juice and remove some grains. While this can be a great thing for some, we are all so different and a one size fits all approach rarely works.
Do you have any idea why these foods made Robin feel worse?
I discuss this in detail in this week's episode -
How Very Healthy Foods Create Aches, Pain and UTI symptoms.
As always, if you like to listen, you can listen on the
website,
itunes,
stitcher and
spotify and here is a brief summary if you prefer to read.
The answer to this was oxalates!
What are Oxalates?
Plants are made up of compounds and oxalates are one of these compounds. Under a microscope, oxalates appear to look like tiny razor blades – they are very sharp molecules. Certain plants have a high number of these compounds which serve as a defense mechanism for the plant. Foods that we consider to be very healthy, could be high in oxalates like spinach, beets, rhubarb, sweet potatoes, and almonds. Oxalates can also be created by our bodies and some fungal species may create oxalates in the body. While many people are able to metabolize these compounds without any issue, there are also many that may not.
The Risk of Elevated Oxalates in the Body
Some people struggle to process these oxalates and this can be due to many things and the oxalates build up. The immune system wants to get rid of this excess which results in inflammation. Overtime, this can become chronic and cause other health issues including kidney stones. However kidney stones are just the tip of the iceberg and oxalates have also been associated with thyroid issues, autism, endometriosis, bladder issues, vulvodynia, PCOS, diverticulosis/diverticulitis,
breast cancer, osteopenia and osteoporosis.
Causes of Elevated Oxalates
One of the causes of elevated oxalates is eating a diet rich in foods with high levels of oxalates. There are a few other factors that can cause elevated oxalates.
- Genetics
There are four genetic predispositions that may make someone more susceptible to developing an issue with oxalates.
- Vitamin Deficiency
A deficiency in B1 or B6 can cause an issue with oxalates
- Leaky Gut
When there is a break in the intestinal lining, oxalates can move into the bloodstream and to muscles, joints and even bone, potentially causing many issues.
- Mold Toxicity in the Body
Exposure to mold can result in that mold colonizing in the body, which demands a lot from the immune system and can make it difficult for the body to deal with oxalates. Additionally, its possible the dysbiotic bugs may produce even more oxalates to add to the load.
Symptoms of Elevated Oxalates
Kidney stones are often noted as a key symptom but only 1% of people experience these. More often, it’s seemingly unassociated symptoms that are hard to nail down like fibromyalgia, joint pain, joint issues, visual problems (including cataracts), lung issues (including asthma), vertigo, urinary tract issues (pain and burning during urination as well as urgency that present like UTIs but no infection is present), and vulvodynia (stinging, burning, and irritation of the vulva).
Mystery Solved
In Robin’s case, we found a high level of candida, a B6 deficiency and high oxalate markers through an organic acid test. My suspicions were confirmed. And, it made sense because she was drinking celery juice, putting tons of spinach in her shakes and salads, and eating more nuts in her effort to eat fewer grains. All of which lead to high oxalate intake.
We started by lowering the high oxalate foods in her diet like spinach, sweet potatoes, almond products, and celery juice a little at a time. We added calcium and magnesium citrate with her meals to help her excrete the oxalates.
At the same time, we worked on candida eradication with natural antifungals (I used some of my favorite go to’s
GI MicrobX,
FC Cidal and
MicroGone along with
enzymes and
Probiotics and then used
GI Revive and
Enteroite to heal the gut and diversify the microbiome.
She felt a difference in her digestion and urinary symptoms in just 2 weeks! Her joints took a bit longer to improve but in about a month she felt less pain and in 2 months her pain was about 75% better.
She continued to lower oxalates over the course of 6 months, after which she was really in a good place.
I hope this was helpful and would love to hear what resonated with you and how I can help! We can continue the conversation over email or on
Instagram where I have been much more active these days!