Here Ruth shares her oxalate story. She highlights the mental and physical trauma of being misinformed. How could farm-fresh greens and other supposedly healthy foods cause severe rashes? In her efforts to take care of her body with nuts and bio-dynamic, fresh-picked vegetables, she unknowingly poisoned it. Take it away, Ruth…
I was that person eating bags of nuts from Costco—at least a cup a day. I truly believed I was doing something good for myself. During the 2020 lockdown, most of my diet consisted of fresh, locally grown biodynamic vegetables. I was sure that I was protecting my health. I was brain washed to believe that these were “healthy foods.”
Looking back, it disturbs me how confident I was. I was so wrong.
My Annual Rash. Over and Over Again
In 2019, I developed a severe, chronic rash that no one could explain. It followed a pattern—appearing every year from June through November, then mysteriously disappeared in the winter.
This went on for six years.
In the summers, my body would erupt. In the winters, when I was eating mostly grass-fed foods from the co-op, my skin would calm down. At the time, I didn’t connect those dots.
When the rash was active, it was punishing! My skin peeled, the burning and itching were relentless, and my sinuses were on fire. My eyes streamed constantly, leaving acid tracks down my cheeks. The glands in my neck swelled painfully.
I knew something was very wrong—but no one could tell me what. I went from doctor to doctor: a general practitioner, a dermatologist, two allergists. No diagnosis. No answers. Just confusion.
During that same period, my life narrowed. I felt ugly, old, and used up. I isolated myself during lockdown and poured my energy into writing a book. When it was finally released, my editor died. I envied him.
A Mini-Breakthrough
In January 2025, something new happened: extreme bloating. My abdomen became hugely distended, unlike anything I had experienced before.
I started a specialized probiotic supplement and stayed on it for four months. It felt like a miracle. The bloating dissipated and I had no rash. My body felt calm.
Healthy Eating Continued
But my diet hadn’t really changed. I was still drinking tea, eating at least half a cup of nuts daily, and including whole grains. Then, in May, my bio-dynamic CSA resumed—bringing back beautiful red chard, beets and beet greens, and spinach. I welcomed them back enthusiastically.
The Crash
By the second week of June, everything came roaring back—worse than ever. My body exploded. My neck swelled, my throat began to close, I could barely breathe, and I couldn’t open my eyes. It was terrifying.
At urgent care, I was prescribed Augmentin. I reacted badly to it. I refused cortisone and instead spent $4,000 on allergy testing, desperate for answers. The results showed… nothing. No meaningful allergies, except birch trees. After all that, I was right where I started.
Finally, an Answer
Late that fall, I reached a breaking point. I asked—spiritually—for help. In that moment, I remembered a book I had purchased but never read: Toxic Superfoods.
When I finally opened it, everything clicked. For the first time, my symptoms made sense. I realized I was dealing with oxalate toxicity. I immediately removed the major sources: spinach, chard, nuts, tea, and whole grains. I went back to simple grass-fed meat and dairy.
And then things got much worse. I think I nearly died. I developed intense headaches, swelling in my knuckles, tightness in my knees, and extreme tooth sensitivity. It felt like my body was unraveling.
But this time, I wasn’t in the dark. Sally’s book had explained that this could happen. As awful as it felt, it was confirmation.
Resistance and Resolve
I brought the book with me to several of the physicians I had seen before, hoping to finally have a productive conversation. Instead, I was belittled and dismissed.
I left those appointments angry—but also clear. If I was going to heal, I would have to take this into my own hands.
Where I Am Now
Five months later, I feel better than I have in over six years. But I’m not fully well yet.
Looking back, I can see this didn’t start recently. The pattern likely began in my late teens—with completely different symptoms. I’m now 82. This has been unfolding for many decades.
I’ve always loved my body and felt connected to it. But now I carry a sense that I let it down—by unknowingly poisoning it with foods I believed were healthy. Like most people, I had no idea there could be a dark side to these “superfoods.”
Even now, my thinking tries to revert back—to assume these foods must be good for me. But my body tells a different story. Changing those beliefs has been one of the hardest parts.
I am deeply grateful for Sally’s book explaining what’s been happening—and for finding others in this situation. This realization has been one of the most amazing, important discoveries of my life.
Postscript: A Lifetime of Clues
When I look back, the signs were always there—they were just dismissed. At age 3, I had eczema, an inflammatory condition. In my teen years, severe undernourishment and was advised to eat spinach after receiving vitamin shots. Later, I was diagnosed with von Willebrand’s disease, which I now believe may be connected to longstanding issues with oxalates, bleeding, and digestion.
There has been a long history of surgeries too: Appendectomy 1951, Cholecystectomy 1972. D&C 1979, Hysterectomy 1980, Scar revision 1980, Oophorectomy 2005. Perhaps I could have had better health all along if I had known to avoid high oxalate foods, or at the very least, not expect them to make we well.
Sally Gets the Last Word
Ruth struggles not just with the pain of rashes, and the long recovery process, but even so more with her thinking that wants to “revert back to assuming these foods must be good for me.”
Ultimately, the mental trance that gives toxic superfoods a pass has be broken. While we get stuck in group-think, our bodies tell us a very different, and more truthful story. Lived experience is real. Maybe Ruth’s story will help you break the hold of ideas that are secretly making us sick.
