It’s official now. I can no longer eat at potlucks, family gatherings or friends’ houses. Restaurants are mostly out, too, although some of the better ones can manage a gluten-free, dairy-free meal of steak, steamed broccoli and a salad.

Why the big change? About a month ago I found out I am allergic to milk and wheat. It was an unexpected shock that sent me reeling. The wheat wasn’t such a big deal. I’ve barely had wheat or gluten for almost two years now, and officially being allergic to it will help solidify my commitment to being wheat-free. But no dairy? That seems impossible for me. (Although I do love dairy-free zucchini bite sandwiches with low oxalate hummus. Don’t they look yummy!)

Frankly, I’ve been having a huge adult temper tantrum since I found out about my new restrictions. The first night I celebrated by having my all-time favorite comfort food — fried macaroni and cheese. Then I proceeded to eat everything dairy for a week until my brain finally wrapped itself around the idea of letting go. Since then I have reduced my dairy consumption by about 80%. But the last little bit is so hard. And my diet is so restricted anyway. It feels like my last true comfort foods are being taken from me and the grief is profound.

I realized over the past few weeks that this might be how so of you felt when you started the low oxalate diet. First, there’s the denial, then anger, then sadness, and then hopefully acceptance. For some of us, acceptance comes quickly. For others, it’s a long, slow process. I am constantly reading email, comments or posts from newbies to the low oxalate diet who are freaked out because “there’s nothing they can eat.” Obviously, this isn’t true. There’s an enormous variety of foods that can be eaten on the low oxalate diet. But for someone who uses high oxalate ingredients in almost every food they eat, it’s a huge adjustment to learn to cook or to to buy different foods.  After my initial dairy-free-for-all, I also went through a “there’s nothing I can eat” phase. I hadn’t realized it, but almost every food I cook contains dairy in some form. And if it doesn’t, it always tastes better at the table with a plop of yogurt, butter, or cheese. I also hadn’t realized it, but I had reached my metaphorical line in the sand. Each time I’ve tried a dietary change that might improve my health, I’ve made the transition with only a little fuss. Even with foods I used to love, I patiently found substitutes, grieved and let go. This time I’m fussing. This time it feels like too much.

My saving grace is that I often test my recipes with non-dairy ingredients to make sure they work, so I have the creativity, skill and knowledge to give dairy-free a good try.  And after living for more than twenty years with severe health restrictions on my diet, I have developed strategies for transitioning.  Some of these strategies may help you transition to the low oxalate diet (or follow it better), so I thought I’d share my going dairy-free process.

Step One: Get rid of the obvious, easily-removed offenders.

With dairy, this meant no longer snacking on cheese, drinking a glass of milk with my coconut flour banana bread, or putting cream in my tea. Of course, tea without cream wasn’t easy emotionally for me, but it was easy from a practical standpoint. For a low oxalate newbie this step might mean to stop making salads out of spinach, stop eating nuts as a snack and stop ordering baked potatoes and french fries at restaurants. If it’s high oxalate and easy to avoid from a practical stand-point, then start letting it go.

Step Two:   Change your cooking techniques.

For my dairy-free process, this meant no more cooking with butter. I used to cook almost everything in butter: eggs, veggies, fruits etc. I am slowly adjusting to the taste and different cooking heats and times for coconut oil, animal fats and olive oil. I’ve even started using flavored olive oil as a substitute for butter in my favorite comfort foods like mashed cauliflower, although I’m still resisting not putting butter on banana bread. Some changes are going to take more time.

For a low oxalate newbie, changing cooking techniques might mean not standing over the stove with a shaker of cumin, cinnamon or tumeric in hand. When I started to eat low oxalate, changing my “spice” habits was the hardest part of learning to cook low oxalate foods. I used to put cumin, cinnamon and chili powder in everything! Now I use a lot fewer spices and herbs, plus I’ve learned to enjoy some low oxalate spices and herbs that I’d barely used before, like cilantro and cardamom.

Step Three: Read labels and purge.

This was pretty simple this time around. I’ve already purged almost every processed food in the house, so there weren’t many to get rid of (one of my sons has a peanut allergy which basically means no processed foods). What wasn’t so simple, was realizing that I no longer could eat at most restaurants or gatherings of family and friends. I may purge at home, but processed foods are so pervasive in our culture that it’s almost impossible to find things while eating out that don’t contain something I choose not to eat for my health (e.g. high oxalate foods, grains, MSG, nitrates, dairy, sugar or high carbohydrate).

For a low oxalate newbie, reading labels and purging may be a longer, harder process, especially if you’ve never had major food restrictions before. I would suggest starting with high oxalate ingredients that are a main component of the food (such as eliminating any granola, breakfast or protein bars that contains nuts or chocolate) or eliminating any salad mixes or soups that contain spinach. After that, it gets murkier, which is why many low oxalate dieters make a lot of their food from scratch. If you’ve prepared a food from tested ingredients, you can figure out the oxalate level.

Step Four:  Make necessary changes to your family’s meals to help you succeed.

For me, this has meant changing the ingredients in many of my recipes so they no longer include dairy. Although I don’t want to deprive my sons of dairy, I also don’t want to cook two separate meals and especially not meals that I can’t taste test because of dairy content. This is definitely a work in progress, but I eventually want my main meals to be dairy-free. I will let the boys top their foods with butter, cheese, cream etc. at the table, but it won’t be an ingredient in the dish.

This is an especially important step for low oxalate newbies, too. It may take time, but find a way to cook many of your family’s favorite foods so that they are low or medium oxalate. Your family members may add nuts, spices, beans etc. at the table, but try to keep most of your main meal low oxalate, so you aren’t cooking separate meals all the time (and are not tempted by the high oxalate foods when you’re tired and don’t want to cook something low oxalate for yourself.)  For example, my grandpa loved spicy chili with lots of beans, so I always kept a shaker of chili powder and cumin on the table and an extra pot of beans on the stove for him. He would doctor his low oxalate chili to his liking, as would the rest of my family members, and everyone would be happy.

Hope some of my thoughts are helpful. And thanks for your patience in waiting for new posts as I’m adjusted to this change (and yes, as I am still plugging along on that dissertation). I have a few dairy-containing recipes that I was almost ready to post before I found out about my allergies, so those will be forth-coming. After that, I’ll probably be posting mostly dairy-free for awhile as I revisit old favorites and find new ways to cook. Good news for the GFCF and vegans in the crowd!

While, I’m thanking you for your patience, I’d also like to give those of you who have purchased products through my Amazon.com links a big shout-out and special thank you The small commission I get from those purchases has allowed me to purchase Low Oxalate Info’s domain name for another year. I also was able to pay for another six months of web-hosting and spam control. With your help, I’ll keep this site up and running as long as it’s useful. Thanks again!

(See my side bar or Support LOI for information on how I finance this site.)

I haven’t been cooking (or posting) much these past few weeks due to one of the most stressful winter holidays I’ve ever had, including a death in my family, three cases of the flu and various other emotional losses and stressors. I did get some reading in though. I picked up an old favorite, The Beck Diet Solution, and got really excited about this book again.

I found the Beck Diet Solution about two years ago when I was going through a tough time with my lower carb version of the Low Oxalate Diet.  Let’s just say I was feeling a bit angry and sorry for myself, and I wasn’t making consistently good food choices.  It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either.

The self-sabatage ended when a friend recommended I read the Beck Diet Solution.  I was skeptical, as you might be, but she endorsed it so glowingly I decided to give it a try.  Best. Decision. Ever. I back her endorsement 100%.

When you read the title, you’ll notice the words “train your brain to think like a thin person” and other references to losing weight. But this book is not about losing weight. It’s about applying cognitive therapy techniques to the process of following a diet, any diet, in order to reach and maintain your health goals.  Just mentally replace the words “lose weight” with “gain health,” and you’ll be amazed how much the book applies to you.

Do any of these scenarios sound like you?

– You felt upset and thought eating a high oxalate treat would make you feel better.

– You were too tired to cook, so you opted for fast food instead.

– You were too polite to turn down the high oxalate dessert your friend baked.

– You were at a party and felt like treating yourself.

– You felt overwhelmed by the requirements of your diet.

– You gave in to temptation then blamed yourself for being weak.

– You felt deprived by your diet.

– You ate something you hadn’t planned to eat, so you gave up watching your oxalate content for the day and ate anything you wanted.

– You felt like you couldn’t control your eating.

If you are dealing with any of these feelings and scenarios, you are not alone. Learning to take control of your eating and to feel good about your healthy diet is a learned behavior, not something people automatically know how to do.  The great thing about the Beck Diet Solution is that it teaches you how to take control and to release feelings of anger, deprivation or resentment surrounding your diet. It teaches you techniques for resisting temptation, giving yourself credit, finding support, stopping emotional or stress eating, and rethinking your relationship with food.  I especially liked how each section gave examples of sabotaging thoughts associated with dieting and eating along with ways to replace the sabotaging thoughts with helpful, positive thoughts. I admit I’ve had most of these sabotaging thoughts at one time or another, and gaining ammunition against them has really helped me.

The book is set up in ten chapters that each address a stage in the dieting process, such as getting ready, responding to sabotaging thoughts, overcoming challenges and fine-tuning your new skills. It takes the dieter through 60 days on your diet, giving you a new skill for each day. A few of these skills are directly related to losing weight, but most can be applied to any dieting situation to improve health, whether it includes weight loss or not. The first time I worked through the Beck Diet Solution, I was only concerned with getting my oxalate intake under control again, but the second time I added weight loss and hypoglycemia control to my goals and found the techniques equally applicable to each goal. It was probably easier to work through the book with weight loss goals along with oxalate goals because it made it easier for me to apply the language to both situations, but both ways worked.

The techniques taught in this book were exactly what I needed to feel confident and in control again. They also helped me to release most of my feelings of deprivation and resentment surrounding my dietary choices. I highly recommend it to any low oxalate dieter who feels like they need help resolving the common dieting scenarios listed above.

Where to find the Beck Diet Solution:

I checked out The Beck Diet Solution from my local library the first time I read it. Unfortunately, it was a very popular book and I had to return it before my 60 day program was over, but I had read enough to know that I wanted to finish the program and could benefit from having the book on my shelf. You might want to check your library first.  My local book store didn’t carry the book and could only order it for the list price, but you may have better luck than I and find a deal. I ended up ordering the book on Amazon. US readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here, UK readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here, and Canadian readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here. Take care and happy Low Oxalate Dieting!

Cracking under Stress

This semester has been incredibly stressful for me. On top of the regular life challenges such as taking care of a house, a yard and twin-four-year-olds who refuse to be told what to do anymore, I’ve been writing a dissertation, rekindling a huge and scary dream, and dealing with the loss of funding for my dissertation research (which means no income, no health insurance and huge tuition bills).  Can you say “YUCK!”

When I get stressed out, I get the munchies. Yes, I admit I’m a stress eater.  I somehow think it will make me feel better to down an entire bag of tortilla chips instead of taking just five.  Unfortunately, I don’t crave beef, cabbage and white rice when I am stressed. Instead, I want all of those high oxalate comfort foods that I usually don’t look twice at.  Or I want to pig out on the medium ones that I feed to my sons. Since I don’t keep most high oxalate foods in the house, I usually do okay until I go to a party or meeting with “forbidden foods.”  The strange thing is, I don’t usually even think of them as forbidden foods.  I think of them as those nasty destroyers of health.  But get me in a “poor pitiful me mood” and they suddenly become forbidden, and I really want to eat them.

In the past few weeks I’ve had to pull out a few old tricks to keep me on track–tricks that usually help me start to feel strong and in control again.  I thought I’d share them with you, in case you need a few new tricks before heading into the holiday season (or while throwing out your kid’s Halloween candy! OY!).

Five Strategies for Success on the Low Oxalate Diet:

1.) Take a 3×5 inch card and write down your top 5 or 6 goals for being on the Low Oxalate Diet.  Keep this card in your pocket or purse and read it often!  If you are about to head into an office party or a big family gathering, pull it out and read it once more before heading to the buffet line.  Keeping your goals in mind makes it much easier for you to resist overindulging in oxalate.

2.) Practice positive self talk when you are temped by something that probably has too much oxalate.  For example, tell yourself “It’s more important for me to get out of pain than it is for me to eat this chocolate chip cookie.” Or how about “This chocolate chip cookie will only give me a minute of pleasure but being pain-free will feel good for the rest of my life.”  Write down two or three positive self-talk statements and practice using them, even if you are only mildly temped to eat too much oxalate. This will make it much easier for you to remember to use positive self-talk when you are strongly temped to overindulge.

3.) Practice mindful eating.  This means really paying attention to your food and the act of eating it. Mindful eating might include a few rules such as a.) no eating while standing, b.) take small bites, c.) chew slowly, d.) pay attention to taste and texture and e.) don’t eat in front of the television or in a movie theater.  The more you make mindful eating a habit, the easier it will be to stick to this way of eating when times are stressful.  If you never eat while standing or while watching the television, you are much less likely to find yourself sitting on the couch half way through a huge bag of popcorn without even remembering what it tastes like.

4.) Give yourself credit every time you resist eating too much oxalate, especially if you really wanted that high oxalate goody.  You are doing great!  Every low oxalate meal you eat, every day you stay in your target oxalate range, you are moving toward greater health.  You deserve credit for each victory along the way.  Make it a habit to congratulate yourself or to acknowledge your hard work each time you keep to your goals.  As you build strength and confidence in your ability to resist eating too much oxalate, it will become easier and easier to resist eating too much oxalate!

5.)  Get right back up and start again if you overindulge in oxalate.  Just like people who diet to lose weight, we tend to have self-sabataging thoughts when we diverge from our eating plan.  We might think “Oh, I already ate one chocolate chip cookie.  I might as well have a brownie, too.”  Instead, try a more gentle and reasonable approach.  “I ate a chocolate chip cookie and I feel bad about it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start over right now.  I can stop eating tonight, and tomorrow I’ll keep my oxalate levels really low.  I may have a minor set-back, but it’s not the end of the world. I can do this.”

I hope these strategies help you face the coming season of temptation with more confidence!  They come from one of my favorite books, The Beck Diet Solution, which I plan to review for this site some time soon (when my stress levels go down – HA!).  Until then, I’ll just say I highly recommend it!  If you’re interested, US readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here, UK readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here, and Canadian readers can purchase The Beck Diet Solution here. Take care and happy Low Oxalate Dieting!

Photo credit goes to Bernard Goldbach for Stress.

Holiday dinners with family and friends are an important tradition you don’t want to miss, but they can be stressful for the low oxalate dieter–especially if your family’s traditional fare is laden with high oxalate treats.  You don’t want to offend Aunt Opal by refusing to eat her sweet potato pie or hurt your mother-in-law’s feelings by only taking a bite of her famous mashed potatoes.  You may also feel resentment or grief at not being able to enjoy some of your favorite family traditions.  Or perhaps you’re the hostess for this year’s Thanksgiving meal and are wondering what in the world you could possibly cook and still eat.

Luckily, holiday gatherings can also be the perfect time to educate your family about your health and dietary choices.  Many people are beginning to understand gluten-intolerance, food allergies, and food sensitivities and will understand your polite refusal to not partake in some of the  family feast, especially if you explain your health requirements before the meal starts.  Other family members may be willing to modify some of their recipes or at least their dinner menu to make sure you have some yummy low oxalate Thanksgiving choices.  You may also want to ask to bring a side dish to a dinner hosted by a friend or relative to make sure you have at least one festive, yummy choice to fill up on. If you are making Thanksgiving dinner for a family that includes numerous non-low oxalate dieters, you will probably need to keep up some of the high oxalate family traditions.  But there is always room to add new traditions and slight modifications to old family favorites.  For example, my family used to enjoy a traditional Waldorf salad, but now we serve a low oxalate Thanksgiving version with apple, pineapple, raisins, and chopped broccoli stems and walnuts on the side for non-low oxalate dieters to add at the table.  We’ve also added various stuffed squash dishes, pumpkin “custard” (pumpkin pie without the crust), and steamed asparagus instead of the ubiquitous green bean casserole.  With just a few menu changes and a healthy appetite for turkey, I can usually navigate the family feast just fine.

Working out the menu and the family politics surrounding traditional fare can be challenging, but perhaps more challenging is choosing an “oxalate strategy” for the day and sticking to it.  Here are four oxalate strategies I have adopted at various Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners during my 20 years on the low oxalate diet.  By deciding ahead of time how I would manage my oxalate intake, I was better able to make confident food choices and to stick to my plan.

Strategy One:  Stick to your daily oxalate plan with no concession for the holidays.  This may be an important strategy for those who are still dealing with lots of serious oxalate issues that compromise their health.  It may also be important for those who feel that deviating from their normal oxalate plan “just this once” would lead to more deviations in the future and a compromised ability to stay on the diet.  If you are going to stick with your daily oxalate plan, it might help for you to eat a really low oxalate Thanksgiving day breakfast (and very low oxalate snacks at night), so that most of your daily oxalate intake comes from the feast.  You might also pool your oxalate intake over three days, and eat very low oxalate the day before and the day after Thanksgiving in order to eat more oxalate at Thanksgiving dinner.

Strategy Two:  Stick to your daily oxalate plan with a small concession for the holidays.  For example, if you usually try to keep your daily oxalate intake below 6o mg., you may want to increase that oxalate intake to 70 mg. or 80 mg. for just one day.  Like in strategy one, you may also want to “save up” you oxalate intake for the feast by eating very low oxalate for two or three meals before and after the feast. This strategy may also be more realistic than strategy one for those low-oxalate dieters that will be eating at a friend or relative’s house instead of cooking dinner themselves.  What I like about this strategy is that it allows me just enough extra oxalate to partake in a small helping of mashed potatoes, my favorite high oxalate Thanksgiving treat.

Strategy Three:  Forget about counting oxalate, just avoid really high oxalate foods (like pecan pie) and try to limit the amount of medium oxalate or “lower high” foods if possible.  Again, eating very low oxalate for the three meals before and after Thanksgiving dinner may help alleviate the damage of eating higher oxalate during dinner.  This is probably the simplest strategy that keeps you within bounds of the low oxalate diet without giving up too much holiday fun.  It may be an appropriate strategy for low or medium oxalate dieters who have healed all or most of their oxalate-related symptoms and are on the low oxalate diet for health maintenance.

Strategy Four:  Forget about oxalate for the day and just eat!  After all, it’s just one meal . . .  Again, this strategy may be okay for those who have been on the low oxalate diet for a long time, have healed their oxalate symptoms, and are only on a low or medium oxalate diet for health maintenance.  Of course, you still might want to avoid the REALLY high oxalate foods and pass on the pecan pie or spinach salad.  I’m sure you’ll still have plenty of medium and “lower highs” to chose from.

I’ve employed each of these strategies at one time or another during my long journey on the low oxalate diet.  Strategies one and two worked well during the early, “healing” years of my diet.  Strategy four wasn’t too bad when I was doing really well, although I did have minor pain flare-ups afterward.  Now I usually stick with strategy three, although I will probably be a little more strict about the number of mediums I consume this year.  Either way, I’ll start the day with a very low oxalate Thanksgiving omelette and make sure I eat very low oxalate the day before and after..

Hope these tips and strategies help you head into the holiday season with more confidence.  Happy Holidays and happy low oxalate eating!