Hip
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I have been following an easy-to-do low oxalate diet for the last few weeks, and have noticed significant improvements in fatigue, brain fog and mental health that appeared after just 3 days. I read that for people following a low oxalate diet, it is common for benefits to manifest quickly like this.
Given how easy this diet is to follow (the way I do it imposes minimal restrictions on what you can eat), ME/CFS patients might like to experiment with this diet, to see if they benefit.
I'd read discussions on low oxalate diets on this forum in the past, but never really gave the idea much credence. However, I started to notice that the day after eating spinach (which is super high in oxalates), I would often have a strong anxiety attack that lasted all day. This delayed adverse reaction to spinach alerted me to a possible issue with oxalates, and so I decided to give a low oxalate diet a go.
Oxalates are natural toxins present in many plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits and nuts) but not present in meat, fish or dairy. Oxalates have toxic effects on the nervous system, and are toxic to mitochondria. Plant don't want to be eaten, so make toxic oxalates in part to defend themselves against herbivores and pests.
Low oxalate diets are actually a standard medical treatment for people susceptible to kidney stone formation, as dietary oxalates promote kidney stones. But this low oxalate diet is also reported to sometimes help those with arthritis joint pains, muscle pains, brain fog, insomnia, and digestive issues.
Most people consume around 200 to 300 mg of oxalate daily in their diet. A low oxalate diet aims for no more than 40 to 50 mg daily. I have not been so strict, and on my own low oxalate diet, I am probably eating around 80 mg daily. Because I am not that strict, following this diet involves very little changes to what I normally eat.
What I have done is simply avoid the foods that are particularly high in oxalates, such as the following (whose per portion oxalate content is given in brackets): spinach (547 mg), Heinz baked beans (96 mg), carrots (30 mg), oranges (23 mg), beetroot (38 mg) wheat bran (36 mg), dark chocolate (34 mg), peanut butter (19 mg), cashew nuts (64 mg), kiwi fruit (27 mg), and a few others.
Apart from avoiding these foods, I am still eating pretty much the same diet as I was before.
Although potatoes (26 mg) and wholemeal bread (14 mg per slice) are highish in oxalate, removing these from my diet would be more difficult, so I am still eating potatoes and wholemeal bread (I may switch to white bread, which only has 4 mg per slice). Though if you want to be stricter, in your meals you can swap potatoes for white rice, which is only 4 mg per portion.
My trick is to take a 400 mg calcium tablet with each meal. Calcium binds to the oxalates in the gut, and stops them being absorbed. A glass of milk will contain a similar amount of calcium. So by taking calcium with each meal, you can be less strict with your low oxalate diet.
And interestingly, I learnt that vitamin C may metabolise into oxalate in the body. One study says the breakdown of 60 mg of vitamin C could potentially result in the formation of 30 mg of oxalate in the body. So I now avoid high dose vitamin C supplements.
It's hard to get reliable information on the oxalate content of foods, because websites sometimes have contradictory information. But I read that the recently-updated Harvard list is considered the most reliable (in that weblink you can download the "Oxalate Table" as a spreadsheet).
Some food items are not in the Harvard list, so then I used this source and this source to obtain the oxalate content data.
I then compiled my own food list, based on some of the foods I usually eat, using the Harvard source where possible. Below is my list, giving the oxalate in a single portion of various foods, with the highest oxalate content foods at the top of the list.
Oxalate Content in a Single Portion of Various Foods
Given how easy this diet is to follow (the way I do it imposes minimal restrictions on what you can eat), ME/CFS patients might like to experiment with this diet, to see if they benefit.
I'd read discussions on low oxalate diets on this forum in the past, but never really gave the idea much credence. However, I started to notice that the day after eating spinach (which is super high in oxalates), I would often have a strong anxiety attack that lasted all day. This delayed adverse reaction to spinach alerted me to a possible issue with oxalates, and so I decided to give a low oxalate diet a go.
Oxalates are natural toxins present in many plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits and nuts) but not present in meat, fish or dairy. Oxalates have toxic effects on the nervous system, and are toxic to mitochondria. Plant don't want to be eaten, so make toxic oxalates in part to defend themselves against herbivores and pests.
Low oxalate diets are actually a standard medical treatment for people susceptible to kidney stone formation, as dietary oxalates promote kidney stones. But this low oxalate diet is also reported to sometimes help those with arthritis joint pains, muscle pains, brain fog, insomnia, and digestive issues.
Most people consume around 200 to 300 mg of oxalate daily in their diet. A low oxalate diet aims for no more than 40 to 50 mg daily. I have not been so strict, and on my own low oxalate diet, I am probably eating around 80 mg daily. Because I am not that strict, following this diet involves very little changes to what I normally eat.
What I have done is simply avoid the foods that are particularly high in oxalates, such as the following (whose per portion oxalate content is given in brackets): spinach (547 mg), Heinz baked beans (96 mg), carrots (30 mg), oranges (23 mg), beetroot (38 mg) wheat bran (36 mg), dark chocolate (34 mg), peanut butter (19 mg), cashew nuts (64 mg), kiwi fruit (27 mg), and a few others.
Apart from avoiding these foods, I am still eating pretty much the same diet as I was before.
Although potatoes (26 mg) and wholemeal bread (14 mg per slice) are highish in oxalate, removing these from my diet would be more difficult, so I am still eating potatoes and wholemeal bread (I may switch to white bread, which only has 4 mg per slice). Though if you want to be stricter, in your meals you can swap potatoes for white rice, which is only 4 mg per portion.
My trick is to take a 400 mg calcium tablet with each meal. Calcium binds to the oxalates in the gut, and stops them being absorbed. A glass of milk will contain a similar amount of calcium. So by taking calcium with each meal, you can be less strict with your low oxalate diet.
And interestingly, I learnt that vitamin C may metabolise into oxalate in the body. One study says the breakdown of 60 mg of vitamin C could potentially result in the formation of 30 mg of oxalate in the body. So I now avoid high dose vitamin C supplements.
It's hard to get reliable information on the oxalate content of foods, because websites sometimes have contradictory information. But I read that the recently-updated Harvard list is considered the most reliable (in that weblink you can download the "Oxalate Table" as a spreadsheet).
Some food items are not in the Harvard list, so then I used this source and this source to obtain the oxalate content data.
I then compiled my own food list, based on some of the foods I usually eat, using the Harvard source where possible. Below is my list, giving the oxalate in a single portion of various foods, with the highest oxalate content foods at the top of the list.
Oxalate Content in a Single Portion of Various Foods
| Rhubarb, ½ cup, 799 mg Spinach, ½ cup, 547 mg Swiss chard, ½ cup, 293 mg Sweet potato, ½ cup, 158 mg Heinz baked beans, ½ cup, 96 mg Cashews, 28 grams (14 nuts), 64 mg Hot chocolate, 2 heaped tsp, 41 mg Beetroot, ¼ cup, 38 mg Bran flakes, 1 cup, 36 mg Dark chocolate, 20 grams, 34 mg Carrots, ½ cup, 30 mg Peanuts, 28 grams, 29 mg Kiwi fruit, 27 mg Potato salad, ½ cup, 26 mg Mange tout, ½ cup, 26 mg Dates, 5 dates, 26 mg Aubergine (eggplant), ½ cup, 26 mg Tinned tomatoes, ¼ cup, 25 mg Blackberries, ½ cup, 23 mg Orange, 23 mg Chicory, 10 grams, 21 mg Liquorice, 10 grams, 21 mg Blueberries, ½ cup, 19 mg Peanut butter, 1 tbsp 19 mg Rice, brown, 1 cup, 19 mg Bread, whole multigrain, 1 slice, 18 mg Crisps, 25 grams, 17 mg Brussel sprouts, ½ cup, 17 mg Spaghetti, 1 cup, 16 mg Tangerine, 16 mg Leeks, 1 cup, 15 mg Celery, ½ cup, 15 mg | Bread, whole wheat, 1 slice, 14 mg Green beans, ½ cup, 13 mg Tinned pineapple, ½ cup, 12 mg Bell pepper, ½ cup, 11 mg Banana, 10 mg Olives, 6 olives, 10 mg Avocado, 9 mg Tomato, ½ cup, 8 mg Red kidney beans, 50 grams, 8 mg Cup of tea, 6 mg Broccoli, ½ cup, 6 mg Asparagus, ½ cup, 5 mg Rice, white, 1 cup, 4 mg Bread, white, 1 slice, 4 mg Lima beans, 50 grams 4 mg Watercress, 1 cup, 4 mg Parsley raw, 1 tablespoon, 4 mg Broccoli, ½ cup, 4 mg Lettuce, 1 cup, 3 mg Endive, 1 cup, 3 mg Cup of coffee, 2 mg Sweetcorn, ½ cup, 2 mg Peas, ½ cup, 2 mg Cauliflower, ½ cup, 2 mg Pear, 2 mg Apple, 1 mg Strawberries, ½ cup, 1 mg Grapes, ½ cup, 1 mg Peach, 0.5 mg Cabbage, ½ cup, 1 mg Cucumber, ⅛ cup, 0.5 mg Plum, 0.1 mg |
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