Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

1

I used to eat huge amounts of spinach..at least a couple cups a day and after a while I wasn't recovering from my workouts and my muscles were always sore. Google searches turned my attention to oxalates. I stopped eating spinach for a couple days and my symptoms improved drastically. Now I'm addicted to sweet potatoes and I'm getting the symptoms again...I would guesstimate I'm eating an average of 400 sweet potatoes calories per day. I just found out that sweet potatoes are high in oxalate as well?

I'm desperate.. I'm okay with eating less spinach but I'm in love with sweet potatoes and I really don't want to give them up.

Any Suggestions?

I've heard calcium supplementation can help neutralize oxalates?

flag	asked Jul 21 at 20:39 Andrew 3,075●1●4●22

	The problem probably is cruciferous vegetables. I remember getting the same symptoms from broccoli and collard greens but they are low in oxalates. My sleep improved 100% when I stopped consuming them in high amounts. – ROB Jul 26 at 0:41
	Specifically calcium citrate and magnesium citrate – CaveMan_Mike Apr 20 at 12:09
	Boiling offending veggies causes some oxalates to end up in water. Toss the water after boiling – CaveMan_Mike Apr 20 at 12:10

ROB · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-25 01:00:22Z UTC

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I had to switch from sweet potatoes to plantains for this very reason. Oxalates seem to mess me up bad (achy joints, bad sleep).

answered Jul 25 at 1:00

ROB
3,352●8●30

	whenever I cut spinach, kale, brussel sprouts, and broccoli for 1 day i feel 100% better. I'm almost certain now its the cruciferous veggies. I just ate a huge ass plate of green veggies to test my hypothesis...hopefully I feel like crap tomorrow and can confirm that this is the problem. – Andrew Jul 25 at 21:42
	and it sucks because I can't find too much online pertaining to this subject. there's a lot of sources saying too much oxalates can cause kidney stones but not much about bad sleep, soreness and fatigue. Thanks for your help. – Andrew Jul 25 at 21:45

smartcookie · Answer 2 · 2012-07-21 22:01:04Z UTC

Anecdotal, but I believe I killed off my oxalobacter after some antibiotics and was seriously unable to eat beets without severe pain. I've been trying to eat a bunch of probiotic foods, and don't seem to have trouble with them now. Perhaps I re-introduced it the bacteria? I don't know if I specifically had trouble with sweet potatoes, but I think beets are typically higher in oxalates. Could be worth a shot...good luck!

Katie · Answer 3 · 2012-07-21 20:55:48Z UTC

Here is a good starting site about oxalates. They affect some people, others not so much. I have found my symptoms improve greatly when I avoid them. http://www.lowoxalate.info/ Calcium citrate (without magnesium) is supposed to bind to oxalates in food, but it is usually best to avoid high oxalate foods altogether and stick to low or medium oxalate.

MiMintzer · Answer 4 · 2012-07-24 19:53:26Z UTC

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If you're just trying to refill glycogen stores, maybe eat a banana instead. They are lower in oxalates (I checked).

answered Jul 24 at 19:53

MiMintzer
5,013●1●3●14

Sweet potatoes oxalate problems?

4 Answers