Thanks

Thanks for your comment and for dropping by. Learning about oxalate for yourself or someone you love can be overwhelming at first. It’s a lot of information, but if you think a low oxalate diet may help you, it is really worth it to take the time to explore and get your head around things. It’s been the best thing I’ve ever done for my health.

Those of us in the low oxalate community are just starting to explore using extracts in our cooking, but all extracts that have been tested so far are low oxalate, so they hold a lot of promise of bringing back tastes we love and miss! In fact, many of us are pretty comfortable using any type of alcohol and oil based extract as far as oxalate goes even if it hasn’t been tested. A number of extracts (including cumin extract) have been added to the Autism Oxalate Project’s testing schedule, although it may be awhile before they are actually tested. Most of the common alcohol-based extracts that are produced and sold for use in cooking unfortunately contain propylene glycol. I try to only link to products I’ve used myself, so the extracts above are all ones that a friend gave me when she cleared out her cupboard before moving. They are all high quality as far as extracts go, but yes, they have that icky propylene glycol in them (which I kid myself in saying a few drops won’t hurt . . .). Herb Pharm cinnamon extract does not contain propylene glycol and may be a good alternative. It’s what I plan to try next when I get some “experimenting cash” saved up :-> so I can’t vouch for it. It’s sold through pharmacies, not grocery stores so it was designed for people who want to take cinnamon for its health properties, not necessarily for its taste. But it might taste really good! Who knows? I sure hope so! Also, pure cinnamon oil (not the extract) might be the best option for low oxalate dieters eventually. Unfortunately, it has not been tested for oxalate content yet, but from what we know about oxalate and where it’s stored in plants, it is highly unlikely that pure cinnamon oil is high oxalate. In fact, since you would only use a few drops in most dishes, it is probably very low oxalate. I plan to go ahead and experiment with it myself, but again I can’t vouch for it! Another possibility is to make your own extract with rum and cinnamon sticks. It’s hard to tell how much oxalate this would have, but most likely not much. I personally would trust it in small amounts and cinnamon-flavored rum might be really tasty in baking and smoothies!

Hope this helps. Please feel free to ask away any questions you have. I am working on my dissertation right now, so my posts are somewhat sporadic (as are my answers), and there are so many posts I want to write just to get the information out there! Oh well. . . I’m chipping away at it and trying to be of help when I can.

Take care,
Heidi