Brian Stretch

"Finding the Perfect Homestead Property Course" sounds interesting. I really ought to find property.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:A brief status report:
For example, there isn’t ONE method for eliminating or decreasing the phytates, different cultures soaked and fermented their grains and pseudo grains and seeds by different methods, so it’s trial and error.  Nixtamalize corn, but not rice or wheat or millet.  Ferment wheat, soak rice, and save some of the soaking water to increase the phytase in the next batch of soaking water.

Easiest way is to go carnivore. Let herbivores take the hit. Just watch out for oxalate dumping while you adjust. Best to take it slow.

I've kicked around the idea of a RV park attached to a farm raising livestock on pasture. Enough land to keep the residents fed. Set up microhydro to power it, ideally (because they won't sell me a microreactor, hmph). Set up decent Internet, with Apple Cache and Lancache servers to save bandwidth. If it's too far out to run fiber get Starlink. Maybe a restaurant, proper coffee? Proper food, water, rocket mass heaters. Composting toilets? Not sure TBTB would let that slide...

There seems to be demand for good parks, especially when fuel prices encourage staying put longer. Most such parks in Michigan appear to close down in winter so northern and southern sites referring snowbirds to each other makes sense. Just how off-grid could you make it?

Idle thoughts. Day job's keeping me busy.

Angel Hunt wrote:I attended a talk by Sally K. Norton on oxalates. And while she did speak against high-oxalate foods in the strongest terms, she did add that you can use an acid to counter the effects. So if you want to have a spinach salad, add some vinegar or lemon juice.

Yes, but you're still taking damage. It's strictly for people who refuse to give up toxic foods.

Sally's latest interview with Dr. Anthony Chaffee is really good. Her description of high tartar buildup and eye gunk fits with what happened to me. I had several large crystals come out of my eyes when I started dumping.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl5OngSFaHw&ab_channel=AnthonyChaffeeMD

Her book is to be released late December. I've had it on preorder for over a year.

I haven't done anything to remineralize beyond going carnivore and supplementing unrefined salt and Lugol's 2% iodine (4 drops currently, relatively low dose for my weight, suspect that long term high dose is problematic but undecided on correct long-term dose). I seem to need more salt than average. Coffee might be counterproductive but I drink it anyhow (the good stuff, burr grinder, etc) and at least I drink it black. I do try to buy local pasture-raised meat and eggs not least because of the K2 content but will eat the cheap stuff. Critters convert K1 from grass into K2. I have big, well armored teeth so outside of rotting out my wisdom teeth with Mountain Dew I don't get cavities and I quit soda long ago.

Hidden gum infections are one of the things talked about in this video IIRC. Your suspicions may be accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVedWy9AwrA

Rhubarb is exceptionally toxic. We had a rhubarb patch growing up. Just didn't know. Spinach is bad, sweet potatoes, almonds, cashews... there's a lot. The https://www.facebook.com/groups/TryingLowOxalates/ group has the most comprehensive spreadsheet in their Spreadsheets sub-group. Sally K. Norton has a good overview here: https://sallyknorton.com/oxalate-science/ She's done a lot of really good interviews too, links on her site.

Most kidney stones are calcium oxalate but most people don't get stones. I didn't.

FWIW, I hadn't been to the dentist for well over 2 years (was trying to wait out the Covidiocy) but went because I couldn't decide if I was having sinus or tooth issues (it was sinus). My teeth had built up an impressive amount of "scale", enough to show up clearly on X-rays. But... even with the ultrasonic scrubber used to blast off the scaling my teeth were much less sensitive than the last time I was there. The big difference? I went (mostly) carnivore a year and a half ago. Ditched the last of the high-oxalate plant foods thinking low carb good and got a surprise when oxalate crystals started dumping. Oxalate is a common plant toxin that binds to minerals but especially calcium. BAD for teeth and bone. Bad in general. Mitochondrial toxin. Bad bad bad. Worse for some than others. Very bad if you're on the autism spectrum. I suspect that some of us have pre-agriculture genetics, agriculture not making its way to Britain until 2,000 years ago via the Roman Empire, and will not thrive on modern plant foods much less the plant-derived industrial food-like products that are so prevalent today. New world plant foods tend to be particularly bad.

Anyhow... removing high-oxalate plant foods from your diet will help to heal your teeth.

Give carnivore a try. Eat meat, eggs, seafood, etc. Animal fat to bowel tolerance. Drink water. Ease your way into it just in case you've accumulated a sufficient quantity of oxalate to cause a kidney-shredding oxalate dump if you go cold turkey. You may find that you need to supplement unrefined salt. That varies widely. For some people meat itself has enough salt and more is counterproductive. I need more.

Some people do OK on plant foods, certainly better than industrial food-like products. If you have Crohn's you're not one of them. You don't need plant fiber and toxins scratching up your intestines. Definitely not high-oxalate plants.

Plant medicines and seasonings are a different matter. Small quantity, high quality. Doesn't mean they're all safe for everyone but I wouldn't eliminate them without reason. I moderate high-oxalate seasonings, you may have salicylate sensitivity, etc.  

Another one for the list: <a href="https://wiggys.com/">Wiggy's</a> coats and sleeping bags. American made from American materials by an old-school manufacturer. They used to make great boots too. The insulation they use is amazing. Definitely check them out. Their stuff lasts.

Oxalates are seriously bad news. The fatal dose ranges from 3.5g/day to 30g/day and you can infer the merely ruin your life dose from there. If you're on the autism spectrum you are at the low end of that range. We don't handle plant toxins well at all. When I cut high-oxalate food consumption enough to start oxalate dumping I had several oxalate crystals push out from the corners of my eyes. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm not tired all the time and I can think clearly. Besides sorrel, spinach is unfit for human consumption and rhubarb is even worse. Potatoes, chocolate, black tea, almonds, cashews, many other plant foods are relatively high oxalate. When people ate seasonally it wasn't as big of a deal but with no seasonal break and with modern food processing techniques (here, have this "healthy" almond flour goodie!) more people are getting into trouble.

https://sallyknorton.com/problems_from_my_wholesome_diet/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TryingLowOxalates/