Sally K. Norton, Vitality Coach, Speaker & Health Consultant

08/25/2026

Comment RECIPE below and I'll send you a form to share your favorite recipe with me.

Got a dish you love but suspect it might be high in oxalate? Send it my way. I'll pick five recipes from your submissions and show you exactly how to make a lower oxalate version without losing the flavors you love.

Your favorite food does not have to be off the table. It just needs a few smart swaps.

Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals before making dietary changes.

08/22/2026

Comment GUIDE and I'll send you my free beginner's guide to going low-oxalate.

If you love sweet potatoes, this is for you. Sweet potatoes are delicious. Sugary, soft, versatile, and they take butter and salt beautifully. But they are high in oxalate and need to come off the daily menu.

The good news? Meet butternut squash and the winter squash family. Sweet, delicious, and they cook almost exactly the same way. Roast at 375°F (around 190°C) for at least 45 minutes until soft and mashable. Add butter and salt and you have a side dish that rivals any sweet potato. Or peel, lightly coat with oil, season with salt to pull out the moisture, and roast for beautiful firm cubes.

Same orange color. Same sweetness. Zero oxalate guilt.

The swap concept really is that simple. Pick low-oxalate foods you actually enjoy and build from there.

Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals before making dietary changes.

08/15/2026

Comment GROUP below and I'll send you an easy sign-up link for my live Zoom group classes.

Sweet potatoes are one of the most common foods people miss on a low-oxalate diet. And it makes sense. They're sweet, soft, and gooey when roasted. But butternut squash is a near-perfect swap. Same orange color, similar texture, and completely low-oxalate. Just cube it, toss it with a light coating of oil and a few pinches of salt, and roast at 400°F (around 200°C) until soft but still holding their shape. Too much oil and they go soggy. Too little and they dry out unevenly. Light coating is the key.

Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals before making dietary changes.

08/12/2026

We knew this in the 1930s.

Studies on babies, rats, and children already showed that spinach was problematic. It interfered with calcium absorption. It caused calcium deficits. It stunted growth. The science was there across multiple studies from 1918 to 1935.

And then in 1937 the Council on Foods of the American Medical Association gave spinach an unqualified endorsement in JAMA. "Should continue to be regarded as a wholesome food." No caveat. No mention of oxalate. No mention of the calcium problem they already knew about.

We have been living with that decision for nearly 100 years.

Not all greens are created equal. Spinach, Swiss chard (actually worse than spinach for oxalate content), and beet greens are a different category entirely. When a product says super greens or superfood blend, chances are it has spinach or Swiss chard in it. That is not super nutrition.

The low oxalate greens are right there in the same aisle. Romaine. Arugula. Leaf lettuces. Watercress. Those are the ones worth buying.

Studies: McClugage and Mendel (1918), Sherman and Hawley (1922), Schlutz Morse and Oldham (1933), Fincke and Sherman (1935), Council on Foods JAMA (1937)

Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals before making dietary changes.

08/10/2026

Comment GUIDE and I'll send you my free beginner's guide to going low-oxalate.

Don't fall for the marketing label.

"Super greens." "Extra nutritious." "Superfood blend." It looks good. It looks convenient. And the packaging is designed to make you feel like you're doing something great for your health.

But some of what we're calling superfoods really aren't. Not because of pesticides or processing. Because of oxalic acid that nature put there on purpose as a plant defense chemical. And two of the most common greens in these blends, spinach and Swiss chard, are among the highest oxalate foods you can eat.

In the greens department it's actually simple once you know the difference. Avoid spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens. Almost everything else is fine. Romaine, leaf lettuces, watercress, arugula. All low-oxalate. All perfectly good to enjoy.

Read the ingredients before you buy. Not the front of the package.

Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals.

07/21/2026

Comment GUIDE below and I'll send you my free beginner's guide to going low-oxalate.

Bethenny, let's talk about what's actually in this snack.

Potato chips. Everything bagel seasoning (yes, it's high oxalate). Then black pepper on top. Also high oxalate. You can pile these on without even realizing it and suddenly you have a snack that is quietly eroding your kidney health one bite at a time.

And Bethenny, you have stage 3 chronic kidney disease. This is not a great idea.

Calcium oxalate stones are the most common kidney stones. About 10% of people will develop a kidney stone during their lifetime. The increased load of dietary oxalate presented to the kidneys has been linked to calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis, acute and chronic kidney disease. A low oxalate diet has been shown to have a positive effect on patients suffering from kidney stones.

You could absolutely come up with another dip and another dipper that tastes just as good without the oxalate load. Your kidneys would thank you.

Studies: PMC7551439, PMC11167185, Mayo Clinic Proceedings (2024)

Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals.

07/20/2026

Wildfires, Oxalate, and Air Quality

A Record-Breaking Smoke Season Here it is July, and the summer fun in the U.S. and Canada has been spoiled by smoke from more than 800 wildfires burning throughout Canada, wrecking air quality across the Midwest, Northeast, and mid-Atlantic....

A Record-Breaking Smoke Season Here it is July, and the summer fun in the U.S. and Canada has been spoiled by smoke from more than 800 wildfires burning throughout Canada, wrecking air quality across the Midwest, Northeast, and mid-Atlantic. More than 100 million people in eighteen states and the Di...

07/10/2026

joins me to ask a question mainstream medicine rarely lets us ask: what if cancer is not a disease, but the body's last line of defense?
In the full video we dig into his Toxin Sequestration Theory. Oxalates and other toxins quietly building up from "healthy" staples like spinach, almonds, and even vitamin C may be fueling tumor growth from the inside out. Your body might be building cancer not to attack you, but to protect you. Sequestering decades of toxic buildup much like it forms a kidney stone to survive what would otherwise kill you.
We also get into chronic inflammation, an overworked immune system, and why cancer shouldn't be written off as bad luck or broken genetics. It's a different way of looking at disease. Less about fighting your body, more about understanding what it's been trying to do all along.

Disclaimer: The toxin sequestration theory of cancer discussed in this video is an emerging, unconventional perspective and not an established medical consensus. Cancer is a serious disease and conventional treatment should never be delayed or avoided based on this content. This video is for educational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, lifestyle, or treatment.

07/03/2026

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250 years of freedom. It's time to declare your own independence from food tyranny.
Walk away from what you know and have done. Dump the oxalates. Dump the green smoothies. Dump the almonds. DUMP THE FOOD TYRANNY.
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Celebrate true health this 4th of July. 🎉
Sale ends July 5th. Don't miss it.

06/24/2026

Comment GUIDE below and I'll send you a link to get my beginner's guide for free.
This isn't a solid plan to get you eating real food again that satisfies your nutritional needs. You're still binging, you still have a sweet tooth, you don't have the muscle mass you want, and now you're poisoned with oxalate. That's a major risk factor for kidney problems, immune system problems, vascular problems, and loss of calcium.
Calcium oxalate stones are the most common kidney stones. Oxalate also takes calcium directly out of your blood and tissues, reducing the calcium available for your bones.
It doesn't stop at the kidneys. Research shows that exposing monocytes and macrophages to oxalate causes oxidative stress, a decline in anti-inflammatory IL-10 levels, mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction, and impaired autophagy in both immune cell types. That's your immune system being compromised by something marketed as a "healthy" dessert.
And the vascular system isn't spared either. Studies on oxalate metabolism found that increased oxalate exposure drives accelerated atherosclerosis, linked to dysregulated redox homeostasis, increased inflammatory response, and worse cholesterol profiles.
What happened to eating actual food that quells cravings for sugar and junk food because you're satisfied with protein from natural sources? Thanks .wellness for the recipe inspiration, but adding a high-oxalate sweet potato bake as a daily habit, paired with chocolate, is a mistake. Once in a while as an occasional treat might be fine, as long as you're not loading up on other high-oxalate foods like spinach and spinach smoothies too. But please don't rely on this as your daily protein source when you're bringing in this much oxalate with unknown long-term potential harm to your health.
Studies referenced: Mayo Clinic Proceedings (2024), PMC10565874 (Kumar 2023), oxalate/atherosclerosis study (Apoe⁻/⁻ mice, dysregulated AGXT metabolism)
Disclaimer: Always consult qualified healthcare professionals.