Podcast #213: Erin Murphy & Monique Attinger – Oxalates and Lyme disease, the hidden poison.

The challenge for many of us is that our health issues are related to more than one underlying trigger. In this case, I was interviewed regarding oxalate and how it may be part of what is happening “under the hood” in Lyme Disease. 

Why would oxalate be part of the playing field for Lyme Disease? It really has to do with two main factors:

1. Most people who are dealing with health issues will seek out nutritional advice. The “conventional” nutritional advice will have the client focusing on leafy greens like spinach, “detox” veggies like beets, nuts and seeds for plant-based protein, and green drinks or smoothies. Unfortunately, all of these strategies are increasing your oxalate intake exponentially. While “normal” intake of oxalate is often considered to be 100-150 mg per day (and frankly, that is already much too high for many people), the intake with the kind of diet advice that most people get will be closer to 1000 mg a day, if not more. So the diet that is supposed to be healing you may be actually driving your illness. Oxalate is a known driver of inflammation in the body (see Susan Owen’s article, “Celiac and the Inflammasome: Reasons for the Relevance of Oxalate and Other Triggers“). Given that most chronic illness is actually an outcome of inflammation, this make oxalate a potential player in this part of any illness – including Lyme. 

2. When someone is dealing with Lyme Disease, oxidative stress is a given. That oxidative stress can be a factor in the development of endogenous oxalate production: in other words, if you are sick enough and you have enough oxidative stress as a result, you can (in one of life’s great ironies) begin to actually produce oxalate metabolically. I suspect this a factor for conditions like Lyme where you have a chronic infection, and the body is under constant stress. As your body deals with this constant stress and oxidative burden, you can run out of key nutrients like B6, which then sets you up to produce oxalate. 

There is a lot of good information in the interview. Have a listen, and if you have questions from what you’ve heard, let me know!