Is there a connection between high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia, and are there specific foods that can help cure fibromyalgia?
This question kept coming back to my mind so I decided to see what lab findings, available resources, and Google thinks about foods for fibromyalgia under the glare of oxalates.
Low oxalate diets work well on kidney stones, arthritis, and vulvodynia patients but I really didn’t connect it to fibromyalgia.
It’s also interesting that experts are trying to find the link between oxalate levels in the digestive system and the bacteria C. difficile, a hospital-contracted condition so far associated with 30,000 deaths in the U.S. alone.
Oxalate Crystallization
C. difficile (also known as c.diff.) has been connected to a condition that results from intake of antibiotics. The drugs end up killing the useful bacteria, that ideally helps to keep the colon’s environment balanced, so as to ensure calcium oxalate don’t turn into pebbles or what we call kidney stones. As in, an unstable microbiome in the colon is the biggest cause of oxalate crystallization.
Nonetheless, the change of state of this compound at most times has its roots in other conditions in the digestive system. Such conditions often result to destabilization in the natural balance inside the body, thereby inducing the absorption of unwanted mineral compounds into the blood.
High Oxalate Foods and Fibromyalgia
I thought doing a thorough research on fibromyalgia food triggers, (specific foods, drinks and maybe snacks) is the way to get a clear list of what exactly works to ease fibromyalgia. However, the question that is not clear is whether there is a string joining high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia or if lowering your oxalate intake could cure the condition.
I say this having perused different online resources (but not all the 5,880,000 results that Google returns,) just a few from those, and a Yahoo Group which is dedicated for oxalate tested foods, which I am also a member.
Off cause I’d recommend joining the low oxalate group including a low oxalate Facebook if there is one for your locality because this is where at times you can gather free information regarding foods that are best for different pain conditions linked to high oxalate concentration in the blood.
You may wonder why I speak a lot about low oxalate diet and foods, it’s because I’ve done quite a tone of research on the topic and wish to gladly point out everything with assurance.
Different researches have linked high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia pains. However, there is a small debate as to whether lowering your oxalate intake cures fibromyalgia also known as oxalate muscle pain.
Some experts, however, think the answer to this is complicated and try to avoid the question, citing the fact that other underlying conditions need to be carefully analyzed to be in position of writing a perfect summary.
However, there has been unquestionable proves that indeed reducing your oxalate consumption comes with easing fibromyalgia as one of the top three benefits, after alleviating autism and kidney stones.
I read from a wordpress.org blog connecting high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia, about how the author had to leave her employment because she couldn’t condone the pains she believed were fibromyalgia caused.
So serious it sounded that I took the initiative to see if giving enough info could assist someone by illuminating foods for fibromyalgia before they too decide to leave their jobs.
While we may not at times have the privilege to choose what comes our way, one thing is given, we can surely dictate what foods go into our bodies and what doesn’t, which ideally is what decides how we feel when suffering from certain conditions.
The interesting part about the story above is that the lady was able to have her fibromyalgia symptoms disappear after incorporating a few suggestions to her meal plans. This entailed adopting a low oxalate diet plan.
Low Oxalate Foods For Fibromyalgia One Can Try Out
But first, what’s the connection between oxalate and fibromyalgia. The logic is simple and we can easily understand. Oxalates end up into the blood vessels after being absorbed. Ideally, after digestion, the body expects to ditch away oxalates and other unwanted minerals. These are eliminated together during the process of excretion.
Because of some underlying health issues, say, a leaky gut condition, or just another digestive complication, the colon membrane may become permeable which lets the minerals to escape or seep in.
The oxalate then turns to crystal-like particles and happens to be transported by blood into muscles and other soft organs, and that’s where fibromyalgia begins.
As a major symptom of fibromyalgia, the patient would then begin to complain of severe pains on the muscle tissues. This may cause extreme tenderness to the muscles thereby resulting in great discomfort that is how we know high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia have ties.
The following foods can help eliminate reoccurrence of such pains, as they are low on oxalates which means even if you have the issues that cause the body not to expel the “unwanted” compounds, only less if any, of these atomic compounds, will be seeped into your blood system.
Foods for Fibromyalgia that Would Ease Your Muscle Pains
Seeds and Legumes: Margarine, mayonnaise, nuts — Dairy: butter, milk cheese, (meat= nil oxalate) – Drinks: Lemonade, bottle beer, collar, buttermilk, wine, apple cider, apple juice, green tea, apricot, oolong, pineapple beverages, lemonade – Tea: chamomile flowers, stinging nettle, sweet dreams, mint medley, sleepytime, orange and epic, gentles orange.
Quite Note: It was not clear whether fish oil is among the fibromyalgia food triggers or it really contains some level of oxalates, but experts now agree it may. That is after testing with the “three-day use/three-day avoid technique.”
If you’ve been having symptoms your think are connected to unwanted oxalate levels in your body, then you may want to stick to diets with less of the chemical.
Symptoms might vary with individuals in terms of intensity and frequency of occurrence so it’s important that you analyze your body. For instance, your doctor may ask how your oxalate muscle pain is, whether intense or not. As in, there is a lot to analyze in the association between high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia, including frequent urination.
You may also want to consult your doctor about oxalates and weight gain to exactly know the foods to avoid for both situations, and those that can make a perfect low oxalate meal plan.
Amount of Oxalate in Milligrams to Take in Every Day
Available research doesn’t seem to give us the exact limit of the amount of oxalate a healthy person needs to take in. But there is a clear cut-line set up by proven experiments, on which you can build your oxalate menus or recipes as you watch how the symptoms respond.
Nonetheless, some studies recommend an uptake of relatively less than 100 mg of oxalate for people who have to strictly follow a low oxalate diet plan. That is, all the food consumed mustn’t surpass that limit, otherwise, you risk inviting those oxalate intolerance symptoms.
Per serving, a low oxalate food needs to offer 10 to 15 mg of the molecule or less than 15% of the minerals. Bearing the fact that other servings will come with their amount. It means then that before you order anything from a hotel or friend’s house you’ll need to know the mg in the serving, as you don’t want the reaction of high oxalate foods, and fibromyalgia pains to be specific, to knock you down, when away from home where you could otherwise access your usual pain relievers.
How to Flush Oxalates from the Body
Taking in as much water as possible is the best way to assist the body remove unwanted minerals and byproducts from its systems. In this case, the body often passes out oxalate together with fecal products.
There are two natural ways to enhance the process of excretion and flush oxalates from the body. First is taking in a lot of water (at least13 glasses daily). This is why there is a connection between oxalates and frequent urination.
The second option is eating fruits. You may want to eat bananas in plenty because it makes you poop after a few minutes of consumption.
However, you can also consult your nutritionist on other safe medical techniques on how to flush oxalates from the body.
Low Oxalate Diet and C. difficile is there a Connection
Despite a lack of clarity in relation to fibromyalgia, it’s suspected that c.diff, a bacteria that thrives inside the colon and affects over 450,000 U.S. dwellers, killing over 29,500 victims every year, and oxalate absorption has something in common.
The logic is, a balanced ecology of the microbiome would always ensure no objects, minerals or bacteria get absorbed into the body. What that means is, everything else that didn’t make it through the villus needs to be thrown out of the body together with excretes.
However, when the person takes in antibiotics, at times the drugs destroy specific bacteria that ought to have been in charge of ensuring the ecological balance. Thereby making c.difficile to boom.
A multiplication of this unwanted bacterial can then interfere with the penetrability of the colon membrane which means objects can sip through into the blood system.
With that mentioned, it means a high presence of oxalates in the colon definitely gets a free ticket into the blood. And the whole process may have to end up with kidney stones mounting around the urinary system in form of crystals. Back to what findings say about high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia:
Oxalate Muscle Pain
It’s easy to differentiate the pain caused by fibromyalgia from the pains caused by kidney stones. Pains resulting from kidney stones will come from around the urinary regions including the low abdomen and below the beltline.
While the pains by fibromyalgia (also called oxalate muscle pain) will come from muscle tissues, (not the bones, if the bones pain as well then it means another more complicated issue might be underlying, something like arthritis or gout.) Note: such a case needs close attention from your doctor as not even Google can help.
Symptoms of High Oxalate Presence in Blood and Fibromyalgia
The way one feels when oxalate is high in the blood may also vary with the condition one is battling with, that is causing the calcium mineral to be absorbed in the blood.
After a research, which I’ve also mentioned in another article on this website, I found out oxalate is not the bad guy here. It is the condition that is the issue and that could be a leaky gut, a digestive problem or a c. diff. instability, either of them could be what’s causing the unwanted oxalate absorption or not to be expelled out of the body.
Which means the patient needs to focus more on treating the root cause so that they are not just playing blind on the whole thing. Yes, low oxalate diets foods will ease pains and the anxiety brought by the high levels of this molecules, but that’s treating the symptoms only. Below are signs you have excess calcium oxalate (from the foods you eat,) in your body tissues:
- Unreasonable mood swings
- Great pains when passing urine in case of kidney stones
- Low attraction to your partner
- Sleepiness
- Pains and body heaviness
- Fibromyalgia (a pain and achiness of muscle tissues)
- Chronic fatigue (always tired)
- There is also a link to oxalates and frequent urination
Why is it Hard to Completely Cut off Oxalates from our Food Stuff?
This again brings us to the question, what exactly are oxalates? Getting it right helps us to practically connect high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia oxalate muscle pains which means the same. These are compounds that originate from or are generated by plants.
Calcium oxalate occurs in large amounts in plants to act as a special defense to the crop or herb. It keeps the organisms that would feed on the plant tissues away, sticking on their claws and killing them after a few bites.
The fact that calcium oxalates can have such an impact on these organisms it means it’s also not a safe option for humans. However, there is no way we can eliminate oxalates completely because almost all foods will tend to have an amount of the compound.
Some plants, however, are extremely high in oxalates (these are also called fibromyalgia food triggers) and should completely be avoided when one is facing fibromyalgia, kidney stones, interstitial cysts, autism, vulvodynia or joint pains like arthritis.
To be precise you’ll have to keep off diets with foods like spinach, soy nuts, buckwheat, sesame seeds, sardines, tahini, figs, raspberries, kiwis, and kale mentioning just a few. You can see the full list of foods high in oxalate to avoid on this article, visit it and head over to the mentioned foods in the bullet list.
Other Places to Get Oxalate Information to Help out with your fibromyalgia
I have gathered a few resources I think would be of great help to anybody seeking to have their oxalate fully controlled, not just the low oxalate foods for fibromyalgia. See the links to the articles below. I’d recommended you watch a few YouTube videos to get more info about oxalates from a broader perspective.
While researching about high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia, I was impressed watching a lady on her YouTube channel who had to change her entire diet and reconstruct her recipes to accommodate low oxalate foods because she couldn’t bear with her oxalate intolerance symptoms anymore.
Before she uncovered the reason for her ever-tired mood, migraines, extreme mood swings, and pain in muscles, she used to eat spinach more than anything. That simply points you to the fact that maybe she was in some kind of diet program that compelled her to consume that much of spinach.
To keep your oxalate intake on the check you may want to also peruse over the following resources for more about high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia triggers, the links have some good hints surrounding high oxalate foods and vulvodynia.
- http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/oxalates.asp
- when excess oxalate is absorbed
- http://www.coreonehealth.com/oxalates-and-their-role-in-fibromyalgia-syndrome
- http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/the-role-of-oxalates-in-autism-and-chronic-disorders/
How to Keep Your Fibromyalgia in Control
While waiting for the low oxalate diets to ease how you feel you can also incorporate a few tips to ease your fibromyalgia. You can have your doctor recommend something safe, like a supplement, a pain reliever or something close that would soothe your oxalate intolerance symptoms.
A supplement such as fish oil is low on oxalates but the rest should be ensured. Feel free to check the article on supplements on our site. How you can know those supplements rich in oxalates and their effect on your food.
Another important option to keep your fibromyalgia on the check is to ensure you take a lot of water. Your doctor would without a miss suggest 12 to 13 glasses of water every day.
This helps to enhance both the detoxification process and making the excretory system as busy as it should be effective. This increases the number of times one visits the washroom to urinate, thereby channeling out as much calcium oxalate that loosely exists in the system as possible.
Not everybody is given to taking that amount of water but when you have to fight oxalate levels it becomes a must. Now, here comes another question, how soon should you experience changes after enrolling in a low oxalate diet foods plan, either for your fibromyalgia, kidney stone, c. difficile or arthritis?
The answer is simple: it depends.
If you’ve embarked on a strict meal plan you should be able to report changes as soon as possible, but this may result in oxalate dumping. Some people get results as early as three days after dropping foods like spinach and kale, you, in fact, these two explain the link between high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia.
Problems may arise when the person trying to manage their oxalate levels drinks those oxalate-rich beers. Such individuals may not report any changes if they exceed a certain limit of the daily alcohol consumption.
On average, it’s common for some people to say they attained oxalate freedom after two or three weeks of observing a strict low oxalate diet foods plan.
So what are your comments on this, can you see how high oxalate foods and fibromyalgia link up?
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