Sally K. Norton - Toxic Superfoods: How Oxalate Overload Is Making You Sick—and How to Get Better

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, my deepest gratitude to the founder and executive director of The Vulvar Pain Foundation, Joanne Yount; researcher and advocate Susan Costen Owens; and her champion and cheerleader, Edythe Pumfey Steffens. These pioneers clued me in to a solution to my pain when no one else could. Their work essentially saved my productive life.

Joanne Yount and Susan Owens not only rediscovered the healing power of low-oxalate eating, but their fresh insights and the resources they created made it possible for me and many others to find our way back to health. Joanne Younts foundation (VPF) has pioneered systematic and extensive food oxalate content testing, and since 1993, VPFs newsletters provided a treasure trove of information on oxalate illness and the use of low-oxalate eating to reclaim health.

Thanks to crucial support from Pumfey Steffens, Susan Owenss Autism Oxalate Project (AOP), and the Trying Low Oxalates (TLO) community that formed around it, which have created a worldwide opportunity for sharing knowledge, experience, and practical wisdom about oxalates.

This book is my contribution back to both those communities: I hope it helps many more people see the value of oxalate awareness. If readers find value in this book, I encourage them to support those organizations.

In practice, low-oxalate eating would be nowhere without the hundreds of food oxalate content tests performed and reported by Dr. Michael Liebman and his colleagues on behalf of VPF and AOP. Joanne Younts and Susan Owenss work was launched with the research and educational support of the late Clive Solomons, Ph.D., who recognized that oxalate was a concern after helping one woman. He went on to conduct thousands of urine tests, which provided the initial evidentiary basis for the emerging modern understanding of oxalates and health, and developed support therapies such as the use of calcium citrate in an effort he called the Pain Project.

Thanks also to Dr. Susan Marengo and Dr. Tanecia Mitchell for talking with me about their research on oxalates. Their work helps to explain the mechanisms of acute and chronic oxalate toxicity.

Hundreds of people have shared their stories of suffering and healing with me over the past nine years, propelling me to understand the nature of this disease by relating their experiences of oxalate overload and recovery. They have taught me just how widespread oxalate overload is and how much it can mean to find a path to recovery. I love you all. You too helped make this book possible. I hope our collective years of suffering and healing can also help others avoid needless pain.

Many special folks quickly saw the wisdom in what I shared with them and supported and encouraged me to continue to get the message out and create tools for their friends and family. My thanks to Kathleen Rose, Judy Hart, Cheryl Dingman, Jackie Dean, Rick Medley, Mary Ann Boyd, Jeannie DeAngelis, and many others who have passed this message forward and cheered me on.

A special shout-out to my low-oxalate support groupsthe loyal in-person Richmond, Virginia, crowd who so believed in this work and showed up every month for five years, and the global community that formed when I took the support group online. Thank you to everyone who corresponded with me or who participated in interviews.

Thank you to the many readers who peeked at my drafts at every stage and were willing, patient, and encouraging (if not adequately critical!), but especially to Diane York and Tom Keeler.

Karin Wiberg kept me moving forward, taught me valuable new writers tricks, sharpened my eye for punctuation and clarity, and helped with the book title. Many thanks to Donna Loffredo and the Harmony/Rodale Books team for helping to bring this book to the world.

To John Looseman, the middle school science teacher who inspired my choice of profession. To the memory of my loving father, Malcolm, who never doubted that my health problems were real. And to my husband, Jeremy Raw, who helped me discover the VP Foundation and its messagewithout his unfailing support, this book would not exist.

Kenneth Brayden Matthews

About the Author

Sally K. Norton, MPH, received her bachelors degree in nutritional science from Cornell University and her masters degree in public health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Resources

Here are three tools to assist you through your oxalate-aware transition and beyond.

Self-Quiz: Risks, Symptoms, and Exposure

To help you determine if oxalate is already a factor in your health status and inspire insights and motivation for starting and maintaining oxalate-aware eating for the long-term.

The Swap Chart

Dosing Estimates for Selected High-Oxalate Foods

Self-Quiz: Risks, Symptoms, and Exposure

The inventory wont tell you conclusively if you have an oxalate problem, but if you are wavering about your need for a low-oxalate diet it may give you the nudge you need to try it.

Complete the three sections to identify (1) your major risk factors for oxalate toxicity; (2) symptoms you may have from chronic oxalate exposure; and (3) your major dietary sources of oxalate. Another feature of oxalate illness is that the symptoms may appear and disappear with no obvious trigger. Circle symptoms that you have only sometimes experienced.

Part 1. Risk Factors

Instructions: Check any rows that apply to you. Each factor increases the likelihood that your high-oxalate diet may be leading to oxalate overload.

To download a PDF of the following chart, go to http://prhlink.com/9780593139592a002.

Part 2. Symptoms or Existing Diagnoses

Instructions: Circle all symptoms that you have experienced (not necessarily severely) either continuously or periodically over several months or more. No single symptom is indicative of oxalate overload. Symptoms often occur in different body systems, but some people experience only a limited number of problems unique to them.

Connective Tissue Problems

Joint pain, aching, or weakness

Swelling or inflammation around joints

Arthritis or gout

Tendinitis or joint weakness

Carpal tunnel pain impacting the wrist, elbow, or neck

Plantar fasciitis of the foot and heel

Cracking or noisy joints

Muscle knots, pain, aching, or weakness

Muscle or tendon stiffness or tenderness

Adhesions or fibrosis

Osteopenia or osteoporosis

Bone pain or fractures

Injury prone

Slow or incomplete healing

Tenderness at old injury sites

Low muscle mass

Dental cavities or loose teeth

Digestive Problems

Gastroenteritis

Bloating

Diarrhea and/or constipation

Reflux

Excessive belching

Rectal burning or pain

Calcifications

Dental tartar

Salivary stones

Thyroid stones

Bone spurs

Calcified arteries

Metabolic Problems

Generalized malaise

Chronic fatigue

Thyroid disease

Cold hands and feet

Yeast infections

Hormonal issues

Sugar addiction

Fainting or dizziness

Chemical sensitivity

Eye or Vision Problems

Red eyes

Dry eyes

Eye irritation

Watery eyes

Eye grit

Eye sties

Lost visual acuity

Cataracts

Neurological Issues

Mental fatigue