In my last post, I shared about how I learned I was suffering from oxalate poisoning. This month, I want to share what I’ve learned to do about oxalate toxicity.
Long story short, I had debilitating chronic pain that kept spreading throughout my body.
Yet, I’ve never had a kidney stone.
But despite lowering my inflammation and healing my leaky gut, multiple specialists and functional medicine doctors had no idea what was wrong with me.
They took countless blood tests, tested me for obscure bacteria, took X-rays and MRI scans, and eventually just offered me steroids and opiates.
But nothing touched the mysterious arthritis-type pain.
At one point, I had testing done to ensure I didn’t have primary hyperoxaluria or the genes that prevent you from having the enzymes to break down oxalates.
Test after test came back normal. I even had a urine test that didn’t show high levels of oxalate in my output.
I wasn’t able to figure out why it felt like I had shards of glass grinding between my bones.
It wouldn’t be until over a decade later that I started to suspect I had calcium oxalate crystals causing pain in my muscles and tissues.
In my last post on oxalate poisoning, we covered the symptoms I had and what other people experience.
If you suspect you have issues with oxalates, be sure to read last month’s post. You’ll learn more about the causes of issues with oxalic acid.
In this post, you’ll learn what I’ve done about it that’s helped alleviate some of my pain from oxalate deposits.
What I Did About Oxalate Poisoning
Full disclosure: I’m not fully recovered from my issues that I suspect came from oxalate consumption.
However, steadily reducing oxalates and the other therapies I describe below, are the most improvement I’ve had in my joint pain in the last 20 years (other than reducing sugar in my diet which only got rid of the stiffness).
I started with slowly going on a low oxalate diet and I’ll share what else I did to nourish myself. And then from there, I was able to use other modalities to help my body.
However, you may need to work with a practitioner who can help you know if you are an endogenous producer of oxalates where you are internally creating more oxalates in your body, or if you have a nutrient deficiency that is causing your body to generate oxalic acid.

Low Oxalate Diet
Note: Do not go low oxalate suddenly. You could end up in the Emergency Room.
I slowly reduced the high oxalate foods I was consuming like:
- Chocolate
- Potatoes
- Beets
- Almonds (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!)
- Rhubarb
- Peanuts
- Swiss chard
- Spinach
- Sweet potatoes
While some anti-nutrients can be easily reduced, I did not have a noticeable difference in reactions to foods like carrots after I boiled or pressure-cooked them.

An Aside on Soluble vs Insoluble Oxalates
However, if you’re trying to reduce your oxalate intake, but maintain as much diversity in your diet as possible, boiling is the most effective way to have some reduction (but only of soluble oxalates).1
The oxalates that you consume can be soluble oxalates or insoluble oxalates. Insoluble oxalate crystals usually bind to calcium, iron and/or magnesium.
On the other hand, soluble oxalates typically bind to sodium or potassium in foods. They easily come loose and may break through your gut wall, especially if you have any kind of leaky gut. But thankfully there’s an important nutrient that can reduce their impact.
Let’s look at that next.
Wish You Knew All the Answers to Keep Your Family Healthy?
How about a crash course?
I’d love to send you a 7-day “Quick Start Guide” email mini-course to give you Health Agency! When something goes wrong in your family, YOU can be the agent of healing and not allllllways have to call a doctor for every little thing.
Imagine this email series as a virtual chat over the backyard fence with your own neighbor, a wise older mom who’s raising 4 kids with intention, trying to avoid unnecessary medication and being kind to the earth.
Looking forward to connecting to help you learn EXACTLY what you need to know to stock your natural remedies “medicine cabinet,” deal with normal childhood ailments, and even the dreaded, “What’s that on my skin?” issue! 🙂
Higher Calcium & Citrate Diet
Increasing foods with calcium can bind soluble oxalate in your body. This, in turn, can form insoluble oxalate which is much less likely to break through your gut wall.
I was happy to find a source of A2 milk that is lower in casein, but still a great source of calcium. (Most milk you buy in stores is A1.)
I’ve also started juicing lemons to use almost every day since they’re high in calcium too. Lemons are also high in citrate. Studies show that citrate binds oxalates in a way that prevents stone formation so that your urine can carry the oxalates out of your body.2

Increasing Minerals & Hydration
My blood work at my yearly physical always showed that I was low in magnesium and potassium, even though I was on magnesium supplementation. I had previously tried electrolytes of various kinds.
However, the supplements that only had sodium chloride, magnesium, and potassium tended to make me nauseous. I struggled to figure out why. One doctor suggested I try sodium bicarbonate instead, but it didn’t help.
What I ended up figuring out is that I needed a broad-spectrum mineral supplement that also had trace minerals like boron, sulfate, lithium, and 70 others. I use Concentrace.
I’ve taken it daily for a few years now. When I started taking it, my excessive thirst went away and hasn’t returned. I suspect that my oxalate issues were depleting my minerals and my body’s way of telling me to get more minerals was to drink more water.

Customized Nutrients
Please work with a doctor who knows your nutritional status and can customize your needs. You don’t want to haphazardly take vitamins and waste your hard-earned money.
Some of the nutrients that can help with binding oxalates in your body and excrete them out of the stool instead of through your kidneys and your urine are:
- Biotin
- Vitamin B6
- Bentofiamine – an artificial form of Vitamin B1 that’s more easily absorbed by the body
- Calcium citrate – both calcium and citrate help bind oxalates
- Magnesium Citrate – you don’t wanna take this if you have histamine sensitivity
I’ve also worked to support my mitochondria because I suspect they were stuck in Cell Danger Response (which some hypothesize that the body treats excess oxalates like poison).
I have responded well to these antioxidants:
- ALA – Alpha lipoic acid
- COQ10
- NAC – N acetylcysteine
I shared in last month’s article that I lowered certain nutrients that can convert to oxalates in the body, like Vitamin C and glycinate.
Pain Relief
For times when I overdo it, my best pain relief is icing my joints. At other times, I will use a product with camphor oil for its cooling effects.
Before I knew what oxalates were, trying to use any kind of heating pad caused me excruciating pain. I now believe this is because the increased blood flow simply moved oxalates around without helping my body get rid of them.
I’ve slowly started experimenting with using heat when I have a bad flare and it does help now. Occasionally, I get bad connective tissue pain, and heat helps it resolve faster.

Epsom Salt Baths
I’ve also started to enjoy hot Epsom salt baths and foot soaks, which are magnesium with sulfate.
Beware of magnesium chloride flakes. They don’t work on the same pathways as oxalates like magnesium sulfate does. I bought the product by accident.
What’s even better is a dead sea salt soak. It is expensive though! But I suspect the broad range of minerals is really nourishing.
Opening Excretion Pathways
For multiple years at my annual physical, my primary care doctor would note that I had elevated levels showing that my kidneys and/or liver were under a lot of stress. However, we never knew exactly what it was.
Now, I know that an eye trained for oxalates would recognize not only my mineral deficiencies but also my kidney and liver problems as a telltale sign of oxalate poisoning.
In order to help my body move oxalates to where they can be processed and fully removed, I’ve used these tools to open my excretion pathways:
- Sauna – Using heat and infrared rays to sweat
- Vibration plates – to increase blood flow (some people get to the point where they can bounce on a trampoline but that’s still too painful for me)
- Dry brushing – to increase blood flow and move lymphatic fluid that may transport oxalates
Here are some of the other therapies people may do to address oxalate poisoning.

What Others May Do for Oxalate Poisoning
I will list these even though I have either not tried them or they didn’t work for me.
Some report success with the herb Chanca Piedra, but it only causes me to flare terribly.
Work with a knowledgeable practitioner to create a customized supplementation plan that may include:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin E
- Iodine
- L arginine
Are there any other therapies you would add to this list?
Where I’m At on My Oxalate Poisoning Journey
I wish I could come to you and say that my joint pain has completely gone away. I’ve seen others report in online forums that it takes years for their body to clear out the oxalates that they spent years eating.
I would encourage you no matter your health issues or diagnoses, if you have mysterious symptoms to not give up.
My arduous health journey has been long and wearying, but I’m grateful for even the times where I’ve made 5 or 10% progress. It’s been a multifactorial mess to untangle.
Nevertheless, slowly reducing oxalates has made a major difference for me.
More From Pastor SJ
- Signs of Mold Poisoning I Missed
- How to Reduce Histamine Levels: Dealing with Histamine Sensitivity
- Exhausted? Could It Be Cell Danger Response?
References
- Chai, W., & Liebman, M. (2005). Effect of different cooking methods on vegetable oxalate content. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 53(8), 3027–3030. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf048128d
- Phillips R, Hanchanale VS, Myatt A, Somani B, Nabi G, Biyani CS. Citrate salts for preventing and treating calcium containing kidney stones in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD010057. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010057.pub2. Accessed 17 November 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010057.pub2