Oxalates don't just come from food

People eat low oxalate to avoid symptoms like aches and pains, kidney stones, carpel tunnel syndrome, restless legs, air hunger and much more.

While we all need to be careful about not overdosing on oxalates and other plant anti-nutrients – and most oxalates in our body are consumed directly via our food – should those people need to eat low oxalate for the rest of their lives?

Not necessarily. This is because

It depends on what the root cause is
Your own body (liver cells), yeast and mould can also raise your oxalate levels

I'll give you some examples of other factors that may influence oxalate levels in someone

Oxalobacter formigenes and other gut bacteria help break down oxalates. If they're low or non-existent (they're antibiotic sensitive), this may raise oxalates in your body
If you have a yeast/fungal infection (very common), this can increase oxalates in your body and needs to be dealt with. Such infections are often systemic and require the right approach ie supplements that don't also eradicate the good stuff in your gut
Your genetics may or may not influence how your body deals with oxalates and whether you have a tendency towards kidney stones, although genes are not deterministic and most can be switched on or off via diet and lifestyle
Are you exposed to excess Aspergillus, a mould that directly causes high oxalates in your body
Do you have enough quality bile acid for your body to stop calcium – which reduces oxalate absorption – from binding with fats, indirectly making more oxalates available
Do you have sufficient vit B6 needed to stop excessive oxalate conversion in your body?

Remember, when trying to reduce high oxalate foods, do it slowly to avoid oxalate dumping symptoms like pain, inflammation and even kidney stones.

Also, the calcium/magnesium ratio in a food can impact how many oxalates are available to your body.

And build up your good gut microbes that crowd out gut infections and help reduce oxalates from food using fibre.