Harmony Hub Health
Functional Medicine, Hormone Health and Weight Loss with Michele Postol, CRNP
Harmony Hub Health
Oxalates: The Sneaky Little Crystals Messing with Your Body’s Game Plan
Superfoods might be your supervillains. That's the paradigm-shifting revelation at the heart of this eye-opening exploration into oxalates – naturally occurring compounds in many of our most celebrated health foods that can wreak havoc in sensitive individuals.
Oxalates exist as plant defense mechanisms in spinach, almonds, beets, and other nutritional darlings, designed to deter predators in the wild. While harmless to many, these compounds can trigger a cascade of mysterious symptoms in others – from kidney stones and joint pain to digestive distress and skin irritations. The culprit often remains undetected because conventional medicine rarely connects these diverse symptoms to dietary oxalates, and standard blood tests fail to capture the problem.
Functional medicine offers answers through specialized testing, particularly the Organic Acids Test (OATS) which measures specific oxalate metabolites in your urine. But oxalate sensitivity isn't simply about eliminating spinach forever. It's a complex interplay between diet, gut health, microbiome balance, and genetic factors. Deficiencies in specific bacteria, leaky gut syndrome, SIBO, mold exposure, and even excessive vitamin C supplementation can all contribute to oxalate buildup. The good news? With targeted support for your digestive system, temporary dietary modifications, and specific probiotics, many people can overcome oxalate sensitivity without permanently banishing healthy foods.
If you're struggling with unexplained symptoms that conventional medicine can't solve – especially kidney stones, joint pain, fibromyalgia-like symptoms, chronic UTIs, or digestive issues – this deep dive into the oxalate mystery might finally connect the dots. Schedule a consultation at Harmony Hub Health, either in-person in Manchester, Maryland or virtually, to discover if these plant compounds could be at the root of your health challenges.
Welcome to Harmony Hub Health, where my mission is to provide comprehensive, affordable, integrative care that addresses the root cause of health issues. At the Hub, the focus is on individual patient journeys. I strive to optimize health, vitality and longevity, fostering a community where each person can thrive in body, mind and spirit. Oxalates are a double-edged sword in the functional medicine world Naturally occurring plant compounds that can go from harmless to just havoc wreaking. Plant compounds that can go from harmless to just havoc-wreaking, depending on your gut health, your detox pathways and your diet. So today I want to break down what they are, why they matter and why an oats test might be your new favorite detective tool. So I tell everybody to stay away from processed foods, the artificial dyes, preservatives, the ultra ultra refined junk that do your health zero favors. But there's a plot twist that some people don't even see coming. Sometimes the danger doesn't come in a shiny foil wrapper. Sometimes it comes wrapped in a leaf.
Speaker 1:Plants are incredible. They feed us, they heal us, they provide the nutrients our bodies need. But plants are also survivors. They spent millions of years evolving and coming up with ways to protect themselves from insects, from animals and, yes, even from us. So one of those defense strategies are oxalates.
Speaker 1:Oxalates are natural compounds found in many leafy greens, nuts, seeds and vegetables. They're part of the plant's built-in security system, so it's a way to discourage overgrazing and predators In the wild. This helps the plant survive, but in the human body it can sometimes backfire. When oxalates build up, they can bind to minerals, they can form crystals, they can trigger inflammation, pain and a whole list of symptoms that most people won't immediately connect to their superfood smoothie. That's why functional medicine takes oxalates seriously, because healthy is only healthy if your body can actually process it. Normally, oxalates bind to calcium in the gut and it gets flushed out through your stool. But when there's too much in the diet or the gut isn't functioning well, oxalates can bind to minerals like calcium and magnesium. It can rob your body of these nutrients. It can form crystals like calcium oxalate that can lodge in tissues, joints and kidneys and it can trigger inflammation, pain and oxidative stress. And why are these oxalates a problem? Well, in functional medicine we see elevated oxalates that are connected to kidney stones. The most common is that calcium oxalate. It can cause joint and muscle pain. It can cause vulvodynia and pelvic pain syndromes, fibromyalgia-like symptoms, skin rashes, even burning sensations. Also neurological irritation, especially with those that have autism or are on the spectrum.
Speaker 1:When I suspect this, one of the best tools that I have is the OATS test. The organic acid test looks for specific oxalate metabolites in your urine. That includes glyceric and glycolic acids. These are elevated when oxalates are high due to genetic enzyme deficiencies or poor diet, and it also shows oxalic acid. This is the direct measurement of oxalate excretion. When these markers are high on the oats test, it's not just telling you to stop eating spinach. It's a flag that your gut, your liver, your kidneys and your microbiome need some attention.
Speaker 1:And usually when I tell somebody that it probably is oxalates, the first question is well, can you do a blood test for that? And the short answer is no. The long answer is also no. But here's why you know oxalates move through your bloodstream very quickly before being filtered by your kidneys. By the time your blood is drawn, oxalates have usually either bound to minerals or exited through your urine. So serum levels rarely tell the whole story, and that goes for a lot of your minerals. This is why traditional labs will report normal results, even in people with significant oxalate related symptoms. There are some hints that I can see it doesn't confirm it. But some of the things I see in standard blood tests that make me recommend the oats is if you do have low calcium or magnesium, they can be minerals bound up by oxalates. If you have a low vitamin B6, this increases oxalate production. If you are deficient, if you have an elevated creatinine or BUN, they may indicate kidney stress from all the oxalates. If you have a high uric acid, this is crystal formation risk that can run alongside oxalates, and if you have low urinary citrate, this makes oxalate crystals form easier and faster.
Speaker 1:So the gold standard for oxalate testing in functional medicine is the organic acids test, known as the OATS test because of what it measures. Now there is a 24-hour urine oxalate. It is useful for those that do have kidney stones, but it does miss the oxalate overload from microbiome, mold or diet-driven causes. And then there is the genetic testing. So there are some variants in the AGXT, or I call it the HOGA1 gene or the GRHPR. They all make oxalate processing less efficient and I even do see it a lot with MTHFR. So blood work can whisper clues about oxalates.
Speaker 1:But it's the oats test, a very targeted urine test, or those genetic tests that shout out the real answers, some of the high oxalate foods that you need to know about, because these are health foods. They just become less healthy when you have high oxalates. So for vegetables and greens, it's spinach, it's beet greens, swiss chard, rhubarb, okra, celery and parsley. For nuts, it's almonds, cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds. For legumes, it could be soy, that's tofu, tempeh or soy milk, black beans, navy beans, and then grains like buckwheat, quinoa, whole wheat fruits it's in figs, kiwi, blackberries and raspberries, and it's also found in dark chocolate and cocoa powder and black tea and sweet potatoes.
Speaker 1:So oxalate overload, though, is not always just a diet problem. You know functional medicine. We do need to dig a little bit deeper. The biggest issue that I see is gut dysbiosis. So if you have low oxalobacter formagenes this is a bacteria that breaks down oxalates. You know, if it's low after antibiotics or just because you have a microbiome imbalance, then this can cause elevated oxalates. If you have a leaky gut, this allows oxalates to pass into your circulation instead of coming out of your stool. People with gallbladder issues or irritable bowel, celiac or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, any unabsorbed fats that bind calcium these all free oxalates to be absorbed. So anytime you have a fat malabsorption issue. You're going to have elevated oxalates If you have high vitamin C intake.
Speaker 1:Excessive ascorbic acid can convert into oxalates in your body. A lot of people were taking like emergency and they were overloading on it during viral seasons and they noticed a high spike of kidney stones during that time as well. And then mold toxicity there's a certain mold that can increase internal oxalate production as well and again those genetic factors like the AGXT gene. It really impairs the way your body can metabolize oxalates. Fungi can produce oxalates directly and I will say this is one of the two of the reasons why I came up with the talk about oxalates this week. One of my oats tests last week one of them was positive for extremely high oxalates, but the oats test also showed a heavy yeast burden in the gut, so that caused it. The other one was from other things, but candida and yeast overgrowth definitely can produce oxalates on their own.
Speaker 1:Okay, the first thing to do would be to identify and treat the root cause. So if we need to do gut healing, if we need to do mold remediation, bile support for fat absorption or adjust the diet, you want to reduce high oxalate foods just temporarily. You want to support mineral binding. So you want adequate dietary calcium with meals to bind oxalates in the gut and the use of probiotics, especially oxalobacter formagenes, lactobacillus plantarum and bifidobacterium lactis. These are the probiotics that are going to help lower oxalates. And then what I've been talking about forever is just optimizing detox pathways. You want to make sure your liver, your kidneys and your lymph that they are all supported.
Speaker 1:So oxalates aren't inherently evil, but in the wrong gut environment or at the wrong dose they can be serious health disruptors. And your OATS test isn't just data. It's a roadmap showing whether oxalates are a food issue, if it's a gut issue or a systemic imbalance. So address the why and you may not need to banish every leafy green from your life. So the patients that I recommend an OATS test to check for oxalates are individuals with kidney stones. You know high oxalate levels are a major contributing factor to the formation of calcium oxalate kidney stones. If someone has recurring kidney stones, an OATS test can help assess oxalate levels and determine whether oxalate metabolism is a contributing factor. These people will have painful urination or blood and urine or pain in their back or that flank pain area.
Speaker 1:Anybody with chronic pain or joint issues, because oxalates can deposit in various tissues, including your joints, leading to symptoms that kind of look like arthritis. Elevated oxalate levels can cause inflammation and pain in the joints or soft tissues. So if you have joint pain or inflammation, fibromyalgia-like pain or chronic pain in muscles or connective tissues, individuals with digestive issues, high levels of oxalates can contribute to digestive distress. So if you're having difficulty metabolizing oxalates, they may experience symptoms related to the gut, like IBS or leaky gut. So this is abdominal pain, abdominal bloating, diarrhea or constipation, poor digestion or nutrient absorption. And anybody with a history of frequent urinary tract infections or bladder problems, because oxalate buildup irritates your bladder and it leads to frequent urinary tract infections or bladder pain. The OATS test may help identify if oxalates are playing a role in recurrent bladder infections or discomfort. So this would be anybody with pain or burning during urination, bladder irritation or frequent urinary tract infections.
Speaker 1:All of my patients with MTHFR gene mutations. You already have difficulty with proper methylation, so this can influence oxalate metabolism as well. The group of people that have MTHFR mutations are at higher risk for oxalate buildup because their detoxification pathways are just so less efficient. These people have fatigue, brain fog, difficulty detoxifying or handling toxins, and then all of the people with chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. High oxalates can contribute to fatigue and systemic inflammation. Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are often associated with unexplained muscle pain, joint pain and systemic symptoms that can be exacerbated by high oxalates. So chronic fatigue, generalized pain, muscle aches and stiffness. These are all people that I love to see on an OATS test to see what we find and when.
Speaker 1:I have patients that have gut dysbiosis or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, known as SIBO. Certain gut imbalances can affect the way the body processes oxalates. So elevated oxalate levels can lead to gut irritation and worsen the symptoms of that SIBO. So the bloating, the gas, diarrhea and constipation. And if someone has been consuming large amounts of high oxalate foods, it's not uncommon because they're healthy, right when you look at them spinach, almonds, beets, sweet potatoes I love all these things. But without adequate calcium intake or proper oxalate metabolism you can be at risk of oxalate accumulation.
Speaker 1:So the OATS test helps tell whether it's dietary oxalates that are contributing to symptoms of joint pain, skin rashes, irritation or GI issues. So if you do have skin problems like eczema or dry patches or skin rashes or itchiness, oxalate crystals can deposit in skin tissue and cause issues like that dermatitis, the rashes, the itching. If you have persistent skin issues, you may benefit from checking these oxalate levels. I had someone send me a picture this week. I'm not going to call her out, but as soon as I saw the picture I was like hmm, well, that looks like an oxalate crystal. And the funny thing is is we did an oats test and I had just sent her my interpretation talking about oxalates as well. So that was very interesting and what led to this podcast.
Speaker 1:So some autoimmune conditions like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis can also be exacerbated by high oxalates, because high oxalates contributes to systemic inflammation which may worsen autoimmune system symptoms chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease, flare-ups, joint or muscle pain. So if you are experiencing any of these symptoms that I just said, or you have risk factors like kidney stones, chronic pain, digestive disturbance, mthfr, you know, an OATS test can really help assess your oxalate metabolism and guide treatment. So elevated oxalates in the body can lead to a variety of health issues. So testing can be an important step in identifying whether they're contributing to your symptoms. If high oxalate levels are detected, dietary changes, binders and supportive supplements can really help to manage them.
Speaker 1:If you are not sure and you want a consultation, come and see me at Harmony Hub Health. You can see me in person at Monarch Beauty and Spa in Manchester, maryland. You can see me online at HarmonyHubHealthcom. I'm going to have a lot of information this week on the Facebook page of Harmony Hub Health on oxalates, because I know I had two just this past week and there's so many others that have not even heard of the OATS test. Maybe you're listening and you're like, hmm, I wonder if this is my problem. So then come and see me. I would love to help you.
Speaker 1:And, look, I'm not a doctor and this blog isn't meant to be your new medical Bible, but the info here is purely for educational purposes because, let's face it, who doesn't like to read about oxalates on a lazy afternoon? If you're actually dealing with issues related to oxalates, like kidney stones, joint pain or chronic fatigue, don't just Google it and call it a day. Come and see an actual professional, a healthcare provider or functional medicine provider who can actually help. I would love to be that person. Um, so before making any life altering dietary decisions, check with someone who's actually licensed to tell you what to do. Um, you might just find out why your oats test might be throwing shade at your spinach smoothie. I hope to talk to you soon.