I am a low-oxalate dieter who has just recently started to "heavily lean" toward the Paleo diet (although I have been on a Zone inspired carb controlled diet for over 15 years for blood sugar issues.) You are right that the internet is full of conflicting information about the oxalate content of foods. The two most reliable sources for low oxalate information are the Vulvar Pain Foundation's Low Oxalate Cookbook 2 and the "Trying Low Oxalates" Yahoo group file section. If you would like more information about oxalates, the low oxalate diet and low oxalate cooking, I invite you to visit my blog at: http://lowoxalatefamily.wordpress.comhttp://lowoxalateinfo.com

You will also find links to all types of articles and information about the low oxalate diet and the numerous health problems that can be related to oxalates (kidney stones, autism, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, etc.). Contrary to what one of the other commenters said, people with leaky guts and vitamin deficiencies are not the only ones who have trouble with oxalates. In fact, many people will put their whole family on a low oxalate diet because one member has to be low oxalate, only to find that other members of the family benefit too (although oxalate issues do tend to run in families . . . ). Also, many people make oxalate endogenously, especially if they have a B6 deficiency, but for other reasons also. I produce oxalates endogenously (in my body), but I have no vitamin deficiencies, no leaky gut problems, and no symptoms of kidney stones or other renal issues. In fact the doctors are stumped. The autism community has found that many of their members upon going gluten-free have begun to have numerous "oxalate" issues (rectal, genital or bladder pain; achy muscles and joints, brain fog, numbness, tingling in extremities, skin rashes, increased allergies etc.). This is because they substituted high oxalate nut flours (and other gluten-free flours) for wheat flour and went into oxidative stress from the high levels of oxalates. These were people who did not have oxalate issues before. The problem came when they went on an oxalate free-for-all and their bodies just couldn't handle it. It really can be a problem for some people, so if you begin to feel any of these types of symptoms on the Paleo diet, you may also be one of those people who cannot handle the high oxalate foods. Of course, there's no reason you can't do a low-oxalate Paleo diet. Or even a medium oxalate Paleo diet, where you only eliminate the high oxalate foods. Many of us in the low oxalate community are committed to a Paleo lifestyle or leaning heavily in that direction.

Hope this helps. Heidi

EDIT: I've changed my website to http://lowoxalateinfo.com/ It now contains more scientific articles about oxalate and how to find accurate oxalate information.

I am a low-oxalate dieter who has just recently started to "heavily lean" toward the Paleo diet (although I have been on a Zone inspired carb controlled diet for over 15 years for blood sugar issues.) You are right that the internet is full of conflicting information about the oxalate content of foods. The two most reliable sources for low oxalate information are the Vulvar Pain Foundation's Low Oxalate Cookbook 2 and the "Trying Low Oxalates" Yahoo group file section. If you would like more information about oxalates, the low oxalate diet and low oxalate cooking, I invite you to visit my blog at: http://lowoxalatefamily.wordpress.com

You will also find links to all types of articles and information about the low oxalate diet and the numerous health problems that can be related to oxalates (kidney stones, autism, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, etc.). Contrary to what one of the other commenters said, people with leaky guts and vitamin deficiencies are not the only ones who have trouble with oxalates. In fact, many people who will put their whole family on a low oxalate diet because one member has to be low oxalate, only to find that other members of the family benefit too (although oxalate issues do tend to run in families)families . . . ). Also, many people make oxalate endogenously, especially if they have a B6 deficiency, but for other reasons also. I'm one--and I produce oxalates endogenously (in my body), but I have no vitamin deficiencies, no leaky gut problems, and no symptoms of kidney stones and eat a lot of B6 rich foodsor other renal issues. In fact the doctors are stumped. The autism community has found that many of their members upon going gluten-free have begun to have numerous "oxalate" issues (rectal, genital or bladder pain; achy muscles and joints, brain fog, numbness, tingling in extremities, skin rashes, increased allergies etc.) etc.). This is because they substituted high oxalate nut flours (and other gluten-free flours) for wheat flour and went into oxidative stress from the high levels of oxalates. These were people who did not have oxalate issues before. The problem came when they went on an oxalate free-for-all and their bodies just couldn't handle it. It really can be a problem for some people, so if you begin to feel any of these types of symptoms on the Paleo diet, you may also be one of those people who cannot handle the high oxalate foods. Of course, there's no reason you can't do a low-oxalate Paleo diet. Or even a medium oxalate Paleo diet, where you only eliminate the high oxalate foods. Many of us in the low oxalate community are committed to a Paleo lifestyle or leaning heavily in that direction.

Hope this helps. Heidi

I am a low-oxalate dieter who has just recently started to "heavily lean" toward the Paleo diet (although I have been on a Zone inspired carb controlled diet for over 15 years for blood sugar issues.) You are right that the internet is full of conflicting information about the oxalate content of foods. The two most reliable sources for low oxalate information are the Vulvar Pain Foundation's Low Oxalate Cookbook 2 and the "Trying Low Oxalates" Yahoo group file section. If you would like more information about oxalates, the low oxalate diet and low oxalate cooking, I invite you to visit my blog at: http://lowoxalatefamily.wordpress.com

You will also find links to all types of articles and information about the low oxalate diet and the numerous health problems that can be related to oxalates (kidney stones, autism, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, etc.). Contrary to what one of the other commenters said, people with leaky guts are not the only ones who have trouble with oxalates. In fact, many people who put their whole family on a low oxalate diet because one member has to be low oxalate, find that other members of the family benefit too (oxalate issues do tend to run in families). Also, many people make oxalate endogenously, especially if they have a B6 deficiency. I'm one--and I have no symptoms of kidney stones and eat a lot of B6 rich foods. The autism community has found that many of their members upon going gluten-free have begun to have numerous "oxalate" issues (rectal, genital or bladder pain; achy muscles and joints, brain fog, numbness, tingling in extremities, skin rashes, increased allergies etc.) because they substituted high oxalate nut flours for wheat flour. It really can be a problem for some people, so if you begin to feel any of these types of symptoms on the Paleo diet, you may also be one of those people who cannot handle the high oxalate foods. Of course, there's no reason you can't do a low-oxalate Paleo diet. Or even a medium oxalate Paleo diet, where you only eliminate the high oxalate foods. Many of us in the low oxalate community are committed to a Paleo lifestyle or leaning heavily in that direction.

Hope this helps. Heidi