Oxalic Acid Veggies & Probiotics

  

 New information on oxalic acid veggies & probiotics

Don & I have been learning lots of great information in the recently produced, on-line audio seminar The Great Health Debate (see the post below our blog post from February 8th for the link). The program consists of interviews with and debates among today’s top authors in widely varying (and sometimes conflicting) food philosophies such as those listed below. We are not positive if you can still buy the entire program for $50, but there will most likely be ways to still listen to it if you do searches on-line, I highly recommend it. It confirms and helps individuals apply what I’ve been telling people for years in teaching them to CookWell - that everybody’s body is different and needs unique foods and lifestyle practices to maintain personal balance.


   In the interview with Donna Gates, author of The Body Ecology Diet, a notion I’ve held for years about oxalic acid vegetables was debunked. 10 years ago, I learned that oxalic acid veggies such as beets & beet tops, spinach, Swiss chard and rhubarb should be avoided for the most part because they contain high amounts of oxalic acid, which inhibits mineral absorption (mostly calcium). The two ways around this, I learned, are that you can either neutralize the oxalic acid by fermenting these veggies for several days, OR bind the oxalates up by cooking them for at least 20 minutes with kombu sea vegetable (but the veggies get way too soft & mushy this way for my liking). Well, Donna Gates made perfect sense when she said that for people who have good body ecology (a healthy population of probiotic bacteria in their intestines), there’s no need to avoid oxalic acid vegetables or only eat them when fermented or cooked with kombu, because our probiotic bacteria will neutralize the oxalates for us! Of course Donna! Why didn’t I think of that? And, I’d say just for safe measure, because bone density issues end up plaguing most North American and European women, that some type of probiotic food like miso, plain yogurt or raw sauerkraut should be eaten with beets, spinach, chard or rhubarb - especially if you consume them regularly. Even if, you’ve already got a good population of probiotic bacteria established in your gut.
So, what’s a healthy population of probiotic bacteria? Whenever antibiotics are taken, and if you’ve got any digestive disturbances like excessive gas, bloating, undigested food in the toilet, constipation or diahrea, you should be sure to supplement with a good-quality, refrigerated probiotic between meals daily for six weeks to two months. Or, if you don’t want to spend the money on two months worth of probiotic supplementation, you can make your own cultured vegetables like beet kvaas, sauerkraut or kimchi. I enjoy walking my clients through making any of these live probiotic foods in CookWell session #2 & 4. They add a wonderful sour accent to breakfast, lunch or dinner, and aid digestion, healthy skin, immunity, B-12 production, and nutrient assimilation!