Everything (But Oxalates) Spice

We are excited to announce the official launch of our new Everything (But Oxalates) Spice at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen. It has been in development for some time now and it is finally ready! 

Oxalates are incredibly important for plants.  They help plants defend themselves and regulate their own internal mineral content. BUT, they are incredibly dangerous to humans.

Oxalates are responsible for causing all sorts of ailments including:

• Kidney stones
• Pseudo Gout
• Inflammation
• Skin rashes
• Bone disease
• Blood problems
• Heart, skin and eye problems
• Joint pain
• Connective tissue disorders
• Digestive issues
• Genital pain
• Leaky gut
• Rheumatoid arthritis

And, that is not even a comprehensive list!  

However, as terrible as these issues are, oxalates are even more dangerous because:

• They are prevalent in so many common foods that are considered “healthy” such as spinach and almonds!
• It is difficult to associate oxalate toxicity with your diet because symptoms can take years or even decades to present
• Oxalates cannot be processed out of food in any meaningful way
• No matter how careful you are they can sneak into your diet in a number of different places, even through our spices!

And, it is that last reason which inspired us to create our new Everything (But Oxalates) Spice.  Sesame seeds and poppy seeds, two primary components of everything spice, are super high in oxalates!  

In a 1988 study, The Oxalate Content of Sesame Seeds and Related Foods, authors Costello, Smith and Stolaraki reported that the oxalate content of sesame seeds, “…is probably the highest of any known food.”  Well, it turns out that not only are sesame seeds incredibly high in oxalates, but we now know that poppy seeds are almost three times as high. According to the oxalate calculator at oxalate.org 100 grams of tahini, which is simply ground up sesame seeds, contains 600 mg of oxalates and the same amount of poppy seeds contains a whopping 1620 mg!

Oh, just for reference, a healthy low oxalate diet limits oxalate consumption to 40-50 mg per day!

We created our Everything (But Oxalates) spice by swapping out sesame and poppy seeds for pumpkin, sunflower and nigella seeds. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are incredibly low in oxalates – for example, the same amount of pumpkin seeds (100 grams) contain 14 mg of oxalates and sunflower seeds contain just 9 mg.  And, we included nigella seeds for three important reasons:
    1.    They add an incredible unique flavor
    2.    They provide the black color typical of everything spice blends
    3.    It has been shown to provide protective effects against oxalate issues such as kidney stones

Other Changes We Make

We also soak and dehydrate our sunflower and pumpkins seeds before making the spice to maximize and health benefits that this traditional approach may provide.  We are launching our new spice on top of our everything crackers and bagels.

Stop in, enjoy a guilt free snack, and let us know what you think. And, if you like it we can start packaging it and also offer it in jars for you to use at home as a low oxalate spice.