Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am a lousy editor.
This is not medical advice, I have written this for educational purposes. If you are ill please seek the aid of a qualified and experienced functional medicine practitioner.
Angelica (Angelica Sylvestris)
Angelica Sylvestris is the most research. Most are chemically very similar. The newer highbrid forms of angelica I have not seen studies on so most of the studies I post will be on the old world strains of angelica. It most likely would help with corona infection because it prevents leukopenia which is what causes most death in covid illness.
Angelica has a variety of health benefits from protecting bone marrow to helping to heal the gut. Angelica helps to prevent upset stomaches and nausea. It helps reduce the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. Angelica is high in coumarins so it does prevent blood clotting. There is not a lot of research surrounding it but it is related to celery and has a mild celery taste. Celery can balance hormones so I suspect Angelica can. If you look at the phytonutrients many of the nutrients it contains are known to help balance hormones. I am partly inclined to believe this because Angelica does decrease the risk of breast cancer.
Nocturia is a conditon where someone has to wake up to frequently urinate. Angelica helps to reduce the symptoms of nocturia.
Angelica root has potent antibacterial properties. It inhibits IL-6 which is what causes most of the damage during Covid infection.
From personal experience many have used it to relax and prevent muscle spasms. Angelica has been shown to reduce anxiety. It has potent anti-inflammatory effects.
Angelica has been found to inhibit the formation of oxalates in the body. It does this by reducing oxidative stress, reducing inflammation and increasing citrate levels. Citrate prevents the formation of oxalate crystals. It also reduces expression of KIM-1 which prevents renal tube damage. It is high in vanillic acid which prevents liver fibrosis or fatty liver disease. Vanillic acid also helps to prevent obesity.
The leaves and stems of angelica contains phytosterols that are known to reduce and prevent arthritis.
Angelica activates Sirt1 which is an antiaging gene. It also prevents the negative effects of endotoxins on the body. Angelica also improves bone marrow health.
Angelica increases T regulatory cells which help restore immune balance in autoimmune diseases. Angelica also inhibits mTor which promotes longevity and prevents muscle atrophy. Many of the nutrients found in Angelica are known to prevent memory impairment. Angelic improves brain function and promotes healing of neurological tissue.
Side effects , it could cause uterine contractions which could cause miscarriage. Consuming excess amounts of angelic can cause photosensitivity.
Symptoms of high oxalates are gout, arthritis, kidney stones which causes back pain, gut issues, brain fog, vulvadynia, painful urination, cloudy urine, depression, bladder pain, muscle weakness . Most issues with oxalates are not from the oxalates we consume but health issues that need addressed. I often time get upset when people ask how they can reduce oxalates. It is not a simple question, there are many causes of high oxalates and consumption of foods that contain them are not the main reason because almost all foods have oxalates. Make sure you avoid processed sugar and artificial sweeteners they cause oxalates. Most who have high oxalates also have sulfation issues. I have posted on sulfation. If you have sulfation issues and high oxalates you cannot detox.
Glyphosate a herbicide found in most of non organic foods effects glyoxylate metabolism causing oxalates. Many farm chemicals found in non organic foods cause oxalates by causing oxidative stress which effects fatty acid metabolism and glyoxylate metabolism
Most oxalates that people have to worry about are endogenous. As for eating oxalates the only time they are a real issues is when we have gut issues. Either we have leaky gut or we are lacking the bacteria that break down oxalates. Cooking destroys oxalates and many of the high oxalate foods like kale and spinach are usually cooked. Most foods contain oxalates and often times the oxalate or being produced endogenously (produced internally) the exogenous oxalates are usually not the problem.
We don’t only need oxalate digesting bacteria but we need a diversity of bacteria. That is because some bacteria feed the others and without them they would not get established in the gut and would die off. Consuming oxalates actually promotes gut diversity showing once we address the problem causing the high oxalates we actually need them to improve our microbiomes diversity.
We need a variety in our diets to feed the bacteria that break down oxalates, we especially need fruit they require a type of sugar found in fruit, honey, maple syrup and organic unsulfured blackstrap molasses.
These are bacteria needed to reduce oxalates. Oxalobacter Formingene,Bififobacterium Adolescentis,Bifidobacteriium Anamalis,Lactobacillus Acidophilus,Lactobacillus Gasseri,Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus Planatarum Enterococcus Faecalis reduces oxalates but consuming to much salt inhibits it’s ability to degrade oxalates.
Taking more then 4000 IU of vitamin D will cause oxalates. It is why lifeguards have the highest rate of kidney stones. Our skin produces vitamin D from sunlight.
Lemon Juice reduces oxalates because it contains citrate, that is why magnesium citrate reduces oxalates. Also the biofavonoids found in the white parts of citrus fruits reduces oxalates.
