Oxalates and your gut

In the first part of a series I'm doing on food sensitivities, I'm kicking off with oxalates.

Sometimes with an ongoing health issue, taking a specific dietary approach for a period of time can take the pressure off the body to allow it to heal.

Reducing a class of foods such as oxalates when they occur in otherwise healthy foods, should only be a short-term measure. Getting to the root cause of the intolerance and resolving this should allow most people to return to balanced eating.

In terms of oxalates, when people shift to a more plant-based diet, they may be consuming too many oxalates.

Or perhaps they've been on antibiotics for a while, which has killed off their natural oxalate-degrading but microbes?

Here are some healthy swaps for high oxalate foods. But lower oxalate foods slowly to avoid 'oxalate dumping'.

• Raw spinach and mixed greens FOR romaine, butter, boston lettuce

• Dark chocolate or carob FOR white chocolate or fresh fruit

• Cooked spinach, chard, beet greens FOR cabbage, mustard greens

• Carrots and celery FOR cucumber and radishes

• Nuts and all nut products like milks or cheeses FOR sprouted seeds such as pumpkin and flax, coconut or high-quality raw milk and cheese (if tolerated)

• Most whole grains or whole grain flour (including wheat, bran, quinoa, amaranth) FOR coconut, chestnut, potato starch, rice starch flour, pearl barley

• Potatoes (all types, including sweet potatoes) FOR mashed cauliflower, squash, zucchini

• Soy, soy products and most legumes FOR pasture-raised meats, low-mercury fish, green peas, black-eyed peas.

Also, did you know your gut microbiome can convert vitamin C (ascorbic acid) into oxalates when consumed in higher amounts?