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  #16   ^
Old Tue, Mar-26-24, 08:05
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Posts: 14,605
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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ONE year in, and what have I learned? Not to do it again.*

Outpace my oxalate tolerance, that is. When I'd get sick from stress? That's cortisol. When I'd get sick from food? That's plants. What I didn't realize was that most plants would raise my cortisol and challenge my immune system because they poison me.

Once I found oxalates, I had another way to eliminate plants that will cause me trouble, and this seems to suit me as well as going gluten free did. Dramatic, and then steady, improvement on many fronts.

I'm still left with most salad greens, squashes, and fruits. Portion control works for chocolate chips and the occasional gf treat. French press juicing raspberries for my coffee doesn't give me trouble, just as hand juicing lowers oxalate in citrus: the juice has a very low oxalate content. Thus, the 1900 practice of the juice of one orange, for breakfast, perhaps? The reasons are lost in time, but it does match up with a pattern of oxalate avoidance in daily life, and in my childhood on the farm.

I've learned that if I don't know a food, eat only a small part. I only ate half of my delicious gluten free pasta when out with visiting relatives, which was smart, because gf can be a time bomb for me now. (Another mystery solved!) It depends on what kind of starch the gf product is made with. I have a list of things to look for, now.

But this also helped me to connect my autoimmune issues with oxalate. I mean, directly. The next day, I threw out the half I brought home from the restaurant, because they had either changed their gf pasta brand in the literal years since I'd eaten it there, or I'd become yet more sensitive... or maybe oxalate poisoning IS an autoimmune attack.

Since next day I got one.

That's my theory. Here's my improvements:
  • arthritis is an occasional period of twinge lasting no more than ten minutes
  • muscle fascia has changed from less denim/more spandex. I can twist and turn and stretch in ways I have not done in years.
  • sleep improved in all ways, like 20%. Now an 8-10 hour range of deep sleep with lots of vivid dreaming, again at my best ever and at retirement age!
  • digestive mysteries solved; if I get an upset, it's unexpected oxalate and clears up quickly, and now it rarely happens because the gamble is not worth it
  • my stamina slowly increased all winter, as I managed to fit in a new video channel for my cat business while reading for research and I'm still keeping up. I abandoned so many projects because I couldn't find a level of effort I could sustain over the past few years, but I got through winter okay this year.
  • taste bud reboot I never expected. My morning smoothies taste really good without artificial anything, brisket with butter and blue cheese is heavenly, my pork rind pancakes with cream cheese are high protein and delicious, and I can even add some carbs for culinary enjoyment, like a bit of jam or a gf cheesecake, that doesn't derail me or start cravings.
  • hunger sensor working within specs. I can be starving -- and when I'm waiting for brisket I always am -- and then, pretty sudden, I lose my appetite. I am full. Satisfied. Not stuffed OR starving. Reminding myself to put less on my plate!

After a year of learning, I think my autoimmune IS oxalate poisoning. Since I was an infant, I had "sensitive skin" with mysterious rashes and was a famously fussy eater. It was a protective measure which probably would have worked had I lived in a safe food environment and they had left my mind alone

When we overwhelm our body's ability to dump oxalate, it gets stored. But if we never give it the break it needs to dump it, it starts to overflow the storage areas. Poison, reaching every damaged area and making it worse, and irritating the entire nervous system.

There was an informal study done (not random and no controls) where a group of mothers of neurodiverse children tried it, who improved the symptoms of their anxiety and nervous irritation. Some children improved so quickly on the low oxalate diet they were able to transfer to more mainstream classes as a result.

I had hopes this meant it would help me with my Autistic Burnout -- which can last years, and it has been. But even with all the new demands on my time, I was able to write again, more easily, and well. I've been able to keep up with the blog, but now the struggle has eased so I'm progressing on a new book, too.

This is the way I eat now. And I'm so looking forward to it.
(*Quote from a favorite movie, Burn After Reading.)
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  #17   ^
Old Tue, Mar-26-24, 08:10
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 14,605
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
Default

My biggest crisis came in the midst of holidays and a dental emergency and a 800 mg dose of ibuprofen sent me into a giant flare. I was finally able to wrestle it down, but the leaky gut inflicted took a while to get a grip.

Now, nearly gone. And I still improved in all other ways while this was going on.
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