Re: A low risk treatment that shows promise... in addition look at oxalates

January 28, 2011

Hi,

yes the information on oxalates below is correct but outdated. Dr Owens a

Defeat Autism Now Research Doctor has been researching and implementing a low

oxalate diet with some children with autism. Dr Owens is also researching all

the old medical information on oxalates that has been disregarded because it was

thought that the oxalates were not doing any other damage than one type of

kidney stone and vulvadinia (I won't explain what this is please google if you

want to know). However, oxalates are in abundance in our diet, especially the

healthy foods like nuts, seeds, grains and very high in leafy green vegetables.

Oxalates have no role in our body and are also made in our liver, and it is

thought the way the body gets rid of the oxalates is by ferrying them to the gut

and then there are bacteria in the bowel called Oxalobacter formigenes whose

only food source is oxalates. But many antibiotics kill off this bacteria and

therefore other bacteria such as lactobacillus can eat these oxalates however

they are not their preferred food. So a loss of this bacteria is one of the

conditions which contribute to oxalates entering the body. Please refer to

pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC124017/

The other condition for oxalates to enter the body which have been ingested is

altered gut permeability ie. leaky gut. If the gut is leaky then these oxalates

enter our body and because there is no mechanism to deal with them the oxalates

are deposited throughout our body and brain causing many symptoms including pain

and brain fog. They cause large amounts of oxidative stress therefore delplete

glutathione. They are now starting to realize the wider implications of leaky

gut and oxalates from our food and suspect they could be the cause of many

chronic illnesses including cfs and osteoporosis. The reason they are implicated

in osteoporosis is that oxalates bind with minerals in our gut especially

magnesium and calcium. These minerals are used in our body to regulate our blood

pH level and when oxalates are binding up these minerals the body takes them

from our bones. What has been recommended in order to supplement the body with

magnesium and calcium is to take these away from meals with fat soluable

supplements such as D an A, omegas etc. Then at meal times supplement with

calcium citrate and magnesium citrate to bind up the oxalates in the food, they

are then excreted in our urine chelated to the mag and calcium citrate without

entering the body. Also taking asorbic acid is turned into oxalates in the body

and therefore vic C supplementation needs to be restricted.

A low oxalate diet is quite restrictive and similar to counting calories in that

oxalate intake for a day is recommended to be below 60mg of oxalates. To give

you an example one tblspn of seasame seeds has over 342mg of oxalates. I have

purchased The Low Oxalate Cookbook by the Vulvadinia Foundation and in it it

lists the oxalate levels of food. More examples of oxalate levels are almonds

1/2 cup 424mg,

1/2 cup spinach steamed 697mg, chard 1/2 cup steamed 487mg.

So as you can see if we have leaky gut, and most with cfs do then we are

ingesting large amounts of oxalates and not getting our magnesium and calcium.

They are having good success with autistic children on a low oxalate diet.

I have a leaky gut, very leaky. Also I have high oxalates in my urine as per

Great Plains Lab Organic Acid Test. I have put myself on a low oxalate diet and

I have had a significant improvement in my health and energy.

I think that my cfs has actually been caused by oxalates and perpetuated also by

the oxidative stress caused from these oxalates. I have been on many many

antibiotics even as a child for many years. These antibiotics set up the

conditions of low good bacteria and leaky gut.

I highly recommend looking at the files in the group Trying Low Oxalate

and land reading the many documents put there by Dr Owens to help people

understand the significance of oxalates in the diet, also there is a document

listing which antibiotics kill the oxalabacter formigenese. Also the nutrionist

s has a very good set of videos

http://www.righthealth.com/topic/The_Low_Oxalate_Diet

also a posting I found

http://www.prohealth.com/me-cfs/blog/boardDetail.cfm?id=774553

I think oxalates could be behind a subset of cfs sufferers and warrants a closer

look by anyone with cfs and researchers, I have approached from the

CFSYasko group requesting him to look at Dr Owens Research and await his

reply. I think her work could be another peace of the cfs puzzle.

>

> What are oxalates? spinach? thanks joyce

>

> {Moderator: Don't forget to google what is unfamiliar.}

>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalate

>

> Physiological effects

>

> In the body, oxalic acid combines with divalent metallic cations such as

calcium (Ca2+) and iron(II) (Fe2+) to form crystals of the corresponding

oxalates which are then excreted in urine as minute crystals. These oxalates can

form larger kidney stones than can obstruct the kidney tubules. An estimated 80%

of kidney stones are formed from calcium oxalate.[4] Those with kidney

disorders, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, or certain forms of chronic vulvar pain

(vulvodynia) are typically advised to avoid foods high in oxalic acid. Methods

to reduce the oxalate content in food are of current interest.[5]

>

> Occurrence in nature

>

> Oxalate occurs in many plants, where it is synthesized via the incomplete

oxidation of carbohydrates.

>

> Oxalate-rich plants include fat hen ( " lamb's quarters " ), sorrel, and several

Oxalis species. The root and/or leaves of rhubarb and buckwheat are high in

oxalic acid.[2] Other edible plants that contain significant concentrations of

oxalate include—in decreasing order—star fruit (carambola), black pepper,

parsley, poppy seed, amaranth, spinach, chard, beets, cocoa, chocolate, most

nuts, most berries, fishtail palms, New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia

tetragonioides) and beans.[citation needed] Leaves of the tea plant (Camellia

sinensis) contain among the greatest measured concentrations of oxalic acid

relative to other plants. However the infusion beverage typically contains only

low to moderate amounts of oxalic acid per serving, due to the small mass of

leaves used for brewing.

>

January 28, 2011

Hi

here is a good document on oxalates and autism. Are oxalates having a role in

your cfs?

http://www.developmentalspectrums.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=\

124 & Itemid=100

> > >

> > > Borody uses faecal transplants to cure people infected by the

superbugClostridium difficile, and to alleviate chronic constipation. Over the

past decade, Borody has noticed that some of his patients also see improvements

in symptoms of their other diseases, including Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis

(MS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and rheumatoid arthritis. " Some CFS

patients, given a faecal transplant, will regain their energy quite

dramatically, and their foggy brains will get better, " says Borody.

> > >

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927962.600-faecal-transplant-eases-sympt\

oms-of-parkinsons.html

> > >

> > > As always, getting MD's assistance may be the challenge...

> > >

> >

>

February 9, 2011

I am also LOD and have been following it strictly since 12/20. Sadly I have

seen no im0provement in my fatigue. My vulvodynia is gone ... although I also

started femdophilus and stretching exercises at the same time. I will stick

with the LOD though as the science presented by Owens is sound and I have

been exposed to many antibitoics. I am so glad it is helping you.

> >

> > What are oxalates? spinach? thanks joyce

> >

> > {Moderator: Don't forget to google what is unfamiliar.}

> >

> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalate

> >

> > Physiological effects

> >

> > In the body, oxalic acid combines with divalent metallic cations such as

calcium (Ca2+) and iron(II) (Fe2+) to form crystals of the corresponding

oxalates which are then excreted in urine as minute crystals. These oxalates can

form larger kidney stones than can obstruct the kidney tubules. An estimated 80%

of kidney stones are formed from calcium oxalate.[4] Those with kidney

disorders, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, or certain forms of chronic vulvar pain

(vulvodynia) are typically advised to avoid foods high in oxalic acid. Methods

to reduce the oxalate content in food are of current interest.[5]

> >

> > Occurrence in nature

> >

> > Oxalate occurs in many plants, where it is synthesized via the incomplete

oxidation of carbohydrates.

> >

> > Oxalate-rich plants include fat hen ( " lamb's quarters " ), sorrel, and several