Candida and Oxalate as Potential Causes of Chronic UTIs and IC

My video on this topic hits on candida and dietary oxalate as what I feel are likely two core causes for a great many sufferers.

Some people may not be familiar with either of these, especially the latter.

Much of my work and my fat loss and health program go into both of these, with an emphasis on candida, due to it having been a huge issue in my life, in the past.  So I will only briefly elaborate on both, asking the reader to further research what each of these conditions are about if they are unfamiliar and desire more information, either via our site or other sources.

Candida is our bodies natural internal yeast that has morphed into a pathogen fungus in the body.  It often breaches the gut/intestines and finds itself a new home in other parts of the body, leading to a wide host of secondary problems, be it UTI’s, joint issues, headaches and foggy thinking, etc.  It can manifest in any number of ways.

Since western medicine will hardly acknowledge its existence, we are left with little in the form of tests that can prove we actually have it.  The reason for this is because antibiotics (AB) are largely responsible for causing the condition, and to have it become any sort of real focus would leave a huge sector of the pharmaceutical industry, those producing antibiotics, potentially liable for the mass problems the AB’s are causing.

So what we do instead, is “treat as if,” we have candida, and look for results.

All too often when we do so, results come.

The old school way of doing this is to starve the candida by eating less sugar, since candida thrives on sugar.

The newer ways involve low dietary fat intake but while still taking in some naturally occurring sugars, to help us function during a lower-sugar-input diet.

The oxalate part of this equation remains under investigation, but plenty of progress has been made.  This condition involves a specific strain of healthy bacteria in our guts being absent…again likely from AB usage, whereby the AB destroyed the strain of bacteria and it has not grown back…making a person unable to properly break down oxalate in the diet.  If the oxalate cannot be broken down, this sharp molecule, like candida, can breach the gut and find a home in other parts of the body, often creating a “sharp” sensation of discomfort/pain.

My favorite site for info on oxalate is lowoxalate.info.  There are many sites out there focusing on oxalate, but I feel this one is best at this time.  There are still many foods that have not been tested for oxalate content, but many have, enabling us to have a good idea of which foods we can take in to help reduce our bodies oxalate burden, and in turn reduce or eliminate discomfort.

There is a science to the low oxalate diet.  One should not simply eat low oxalate foods suddenly.  This can actually amplify problems.  Instead, I personally chose the medium-low oxalate diet, with some cheat foods incorporated in a few days a week that I enjoy but that are of high oxalate content.

The “cycling” of these foods has worked extremely well for me and many others.  I get reports often of people trying this for their conditions (most of which relate to pelvic floor issues) and having success.

NOTE ON WHEAT: Wheat is a high oxalate food!  All grains in general are medium to high oxalate.  So the gluten issue may be a problem, yes, but perhaps the real culprit when people are eliminating wheat based on gluten concerns is not gluten at all, but actually the oxalate content of the grain itself.

Chocolate is the same.  A very high-oxalate food, and one focused on by many suffering from IC as being sensitive to.

To give you some starter ideas of lower to medium oxalate foods vs high oxalate.  The challenge is, for those new to this concept, is there often seems to be no rhyme/reason to what has high oxalate and what does not.  One comes to simply memorize the listings and it becomes somewhat second nature (and even does have a kind of rhyme/reason once you see how it works).

IN GENERAL:

Dark leafy greens, these nutrient-packed veges, and most grains, are all high oxalate foods.

Exception: Romaine lettuce.  In my FacelessFatloss program, I have a smoothie I make with only romaine lettuce and water that I feel is something of a “miracle smoothie.”

Melon fruits, dairy/meats, are all low oxalate.

This is only very VERY general.  I’d strongly suggest you just get the downloadable pdf here, so you can see full food listings (the site also covers how cooking changes oxalate values in food as well).