Oxalates

As promised on Monday, I am going to give a quick overview of oxalates. I think it’s important for people to understand what they are, which foods they are in, and how they impact which nutrients you obtain from your foods.

What are they?

Oxalates are organic acids, and are made inside of plants, animals and humans on a regular basis. They are considered binders, because they combine chemically with nutrients to form certain substances that the body simply cannot absorb. Oxalates occur naturally due to the incomplete oxidation of carbohydrates. Oxalates or oxalic acid is found in many foods in high levels; however, they are found in certain household products in toxic levels. These include things like bleaches, anti-rust products, and metal cleaners.

Which foods contain high amounts of oxalates?

• Berries
• Currants
• Kiwi
• Purple grapes
• Figs
• Tangerines
• Plums
• Rhubarb
• Spinach
• Eggplant
• Endive
• Swiss chard
• Beet greens
• Collard greens
• Okra
• Parsley
• Kale (so sad!)
• Leeks
• Legumes
• Quinoa
• Celery
• Green beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Peanuts
• Soy products
• Wheat bran
• Wheat germ
• Cocoa
• Chocolate
• Black tea
• Coffee

What do oxalates do to the nutrients in our food?

The oxalates in food will bind with certain nutrients and carry them right through our digestive tract and out of our body through the urine, preventing absorption. And if the nutrients are not absorbed, we are not getting any of their health benefits. It’s as if the food never contained them in the first place. Nutrients that are affected by oxalates include calcium, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, and vitamin B6. The main nutrient affected, though, is calcium.

People with kidney problems, gout or rheumatoid arthritis are advised to avoid foods containing high amounts of oxalates as much as possible. This is because the oxalates form crystals that are very sharp, and although they are small, they are still large enough to irritate the body. When these crystals are deposited into our tendons, joints, kidneys or organs, we experience pain and eventually more serious health problems like the ones listed above. If you are trying to increase your calcium or iron intake, it may also be a good idea to cut back on foods high in oxalates. However, I’m hesitant to give this advice because so many foods that contain oxalates also contain many other beneficial nutrients that our body needs. I think a varied diet will help ensure that you are receiving all essential nutrients, and not consuming too much of one food that contains high amounts of oxalates.

For most people who do not have serious health problems, including foods with oxalates in the diet is fine. Just make sure you eat a varied diet and don’t consume large amounts of oxalate-rich foods for extended periods of time (for example, don’t make spinach your one and only green vegetable).

When we cook our foods, the oxalates decrease by about 10% at best. There is really no easy way (so far) to reduce oxalates in the above foods. The farm that Ed and I do our CSA with, Grant Family Farms, is supposedly working on a spinach plant that is very low in oxalates. Some of the farmer’s assistants came to our classroom last week to talk to us about organic farming, and mentioned this. I got really excited – hopefully that spinach will show up in our CSA box at some point!

So now you know about oxalates. Hopefully it’s not too disheartening – just remember that there are still so many good things in vegetables and eating all the oxalates in the world is still better than eating processed foods!

Therapeutic Meal: Cancer – Super Green Salad

The first recipe we came up with is a salad with raw veggies and a homemade roasted red pepper dressing. It is always good to start a meal with something raw, because it gets your digestive enzymes working.

Sorry about no photos - I forgot to take them during our presentation!

Recipe:

½ roasted red pepper

1-inch wedge sweet onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 medium plum tomato, seeded and chopped

¼ jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 tsp raw honey

1 tbsp vegetable broth

1 tsp red wine vinegar

½ tsp sea salt

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 bunches kale, chopped

1 cucumber, sliced

2 plum tomatoes, sliced crosswise

1/8 red onion, thinly sliced

In blender, blend red pepper, onion, garlic, tomato, jalapeño, honey, broth, vinegar and salt until pulpy. With motor running, mix in oil. Set dressing aside while making salad.

Wash greens. Tear kale into bite-size pieces and whirl in salad spinner to dry. Place kale in salad bowl. Add 1/4 cup dressing and toss until greens are just coated. Add cucumber, tomatoes, mushrooms and onion rings. Toss lightly, and serve immediately.

*If possible, roast pepper yourself. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place seeded pepper half, cut-side down, on oiled baking sheet and roast 20 to 30 minutes until skin is well-blistered. Place pepper in small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes. Using fingers, remove skin. Roasted peppers may be tightly covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Kale is a super food for cancer fighting. It contains high levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, calcium and fiber. Chewing raw kale can actually trigger the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing chemicals.

Onions are garlic are said to be protective of many cancers. Onions are high in vitamin C, fiber and manganese. Garlic is also high in manganese and vitamin C, as well as vitamin B6.

Tomatoes are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, manganese and dietary fiber, all extremely important cancer-fighting nutrients.

Cucumbers are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and manganese.

Shiitake mushrooms are a symbol of longevity and are high in vitamin C and protein.

Red peppers are high in vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin B6.

Kale, Sausage & Lentil Skillet Supper

Last month, one of PWN’s readers e-mailed me and mentioned EatingWell magazine. I hadn’t heard of it, but I happened to get an EatingWell 2010 daily calendar from Santa. It’s great because each week has a new recipe that is healthy and simple.

Since we try to eat a lot of kale at our house (it has quickly become one of my favorite veggies!), the recipe for Kale, Sausage & Lentil Skillet Supper caught my attention right away. Lentils are really easy to prepare and full of health benefits: they are full of fiber and help lower cholesterol; they help keep blood sugar under control; they contain many nutrients including iron, folate, manganese, tryptophan, protein and two different B-vitamins. So between the many health benefits of kale (read about it here) and lentils, this dinner will fill you up and provide you with loads of nutrients.

It was fairly easy to prepare but took longer than I expected, so do it when you have some time. It’s not active cooking the entire time, but requires some check in and stir every once in a while.

Recipe

3 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 12-oz package cooked chicken or turkey sausage (I used Applegate Farms chicken sausage from Whole Foods)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

2 ½ cups water

1 ½ cups red wine

1 cup lentils (I used French green and red, because we had a little of both at our house)

6-8 cups chopped kale leaves

1 tsp chopped fresh sage

¼ tsp sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until browned on all sides (4-5 mins). Transfer to cutting board.

Add remaining 2 tsp olive oil and onion to pan and cook until browned (4-5 mins). Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant (15 seconds). Add water and wine, increase heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping sides and bottom of pan. Add lentils, reduce heat to simmer, and cook partially covered for 40 minutes.

Add kale, sage and salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until lentils and kale are tender, about 10 minutes. Slice sausage and stir into pan along with pepper. Cover and cook until heated, another few minutes.

It says this only makes 4 servings, however Ed and I ate it for dinner two nights in a row, plus lunches. Also, I added some purple cabbage because we didn’t have quite enough kale. We ate it with some quinoa and it was delicious – very filling.

Enjoy!

Kale Sausage Soup

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the importance of adding cruciferous vegetables to your diet. Kale is one of my favorites.

I have made this soup four or five times, and each time I adjust the ingredients a little. I think it would be great as a vegetarian soup, with some white beans. I add the sausage because it makes it more of a full meal for us. This time I used Kielbasa sausage because we had some extra from the chili I made last week (my sister Alice’s recipe… I’ll include it at PWN blog sometime after Christmas because it’s the best!). Usually I use turkey sausage, but anything works.

Also, I used my Cuisinart food processor for all my chopping this time. It is fast and easy. But you don’t have to have a food processor to make the soup.

Recipe

Sausage (chicken, turkey, or any type you prefer; I usually use 4 large chicken sausages, precooked and sliced thinly; one Kielbasa sausage is a good amount too)

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

8 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups waterjuice of 1 lime

juice of ½ lemon

4 cups kale, finely chopped

2-3 cups canned hominy

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 fresh green chili pepper, chopped (optional, but I love the flavor!)

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

salt & pepper

Sauté onion for a few minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Add all remaining ingredients except for cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil on high heat. Then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes, uncovered. Add cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

This will make at least 6-8 servings. I usually freeze half of it, since there are only two of us. It’s a great winter dinner, and adding meat or beans will make it hearty enough for a full meal. Last night I served it with purple potatoes, boiled and mashed with the skins on, and a boiled sweet potato. That’s 2-3 servings of vegetables, all wrapped up in one dinner!

Enjoy.

Kale

Since Ed and I both have cancer history in our family (go dads!), I try to find ways for us to eat cruciferous vegetables 2-3 times per week (key word: TRY). One of my favorites is kale. Anyone who has tried kale knows that it’s not the type of veggie you just munch on raw. Here are some of the ways I have prepared it:

• Kale Sausage Soup (recipe to come!)

• Put on sandwiches in place of lettuce – taste blends right in

• Chop into small pieces and sauté with other veggies (I recently used shitake mushrooms), grated ginger, fresh garlic, sesame seeds and olive oil and serve as a side dish

• Chop into small pieces and mix into scrambled eggs

• Mix 1-2 cups into a smoothie – I swear you won’t even taste it, you’ll just see the green!

• Use in a mixed greens salad – when mixed with spinach and romaine, the salad will not have the overpowering kale taste

Try it! Kale provides more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food. That alone should motivate you to try it! Among its many nutrients are large amounts of Vitamins K, A, and C; manganese; fiber; and Vitamin B6. The phytonutrients in kale are what help prevent or fight cancer by suppressing tumor growth and blocking cancer-causing subjects from getting to their targets.

Kale is my favorite cruciferous vegetable, but some others to try are cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, radish and watercress. Cruciferous vegetables are detoxifying and do not allow free radicals to harm our DNA and cell membranes. They are also full of vitamins and minerals and good for things like vision and heart health. So whether you have cancer history in your family or not, I strongly recommend incorporating cruciferous vegetables into your diet. These are especially important and helpful this month to balance out all those sugary delicious sweets we encounter at every turn!

Kale & Kids: Since kale has a tough, chewy texture, it may be difficult to find a way for kids to enjoy it. I think your best option would be a smoothie, or incorporating it into some type of lasagna or pasta dish. If any of the moms out there have any good ideas, please share!

Now back to my banana kale smoothie…