Ehh this just wasn’t the book for me. It was interesting to find out about oxalates but I don’t know if there’s enough research to call it toxic. Or maybe it just wasn’t cited enough to feel a valid claim. Maybe it’s just me though.

Toxic Superfoods by Sally K. Norton

Read this if you have an inexplicable illness, health issues, or diseases, and don’t know how or what to eat for good health. This breaks down the danger of oxalates in the diet.

If you’re eating a healthy diet and you’re still dealing with fatigue, inflammation, anxiety, recurrent injuries, or chronic pain, the problem could be your spinach, almonds, sweet potatoes, and other trusted plant foods. And your key to vibrant health may be quitting these so-called superfoods.

After suffering for decades from chronic health problems, nutrition educator Sally K. Norton, MPH, discovered that the culprits were the chemical toxins called oxalates lurking within her “healthy,” organic plant-heavy diet. She shines light on how our modern diets are overloaded with oxalates and offers fresh solutions including:

• A complete, research-backed program to safely reverse your oxalate load
• Comprehensive charts and resources on foods to avoid and better alternatives
• Guidance to improve your energy, optimize mood and brain performance, and find true relief from chronic pain

Published on Jan 3

As someone in the nutrition field, I was curious to read this book and expand my knowledge.

I was extremely disappointed in Toxic Superfoods. I think to say that vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds are 'toxic' is careless. A skilled practitioner should consider each client's bio-individual needs/health concerns.

My concern is the layperson will read this book and stop eating foods that provide our bodies with crucial nutrients. There was not enough scientific studies to back her claims for me to give this book credibility.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Very informative book about an unknown area! Learning the different toxicities about everyday foords are needed. Recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC. As someone who has suffered from kidney stones and been recommended to follow a low oxalate diet, I applaud Sally Norton for writing a book on this topic. It’s very hard trying to find accurate info on this.

Interesting opposite perspective about touted healthy superfoods. I didn't finish it, but it gave me some food for thought. I won't toss out my favorite spinach quinoa salad.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Very insightful, enjoyed learning.

Having gout and joint pain issues, I needed this book to learn how to safely lower my oxalate levels. I learned which foods were high in oxalates (my problem was excess nuts, almonds, orgain collagen with amino acids, tea and chocolate. I had no idea those were all high in oxalates), how to remove excessive oxalates from the body safely, ways to change my diet and look for high oxalate foods and limit them, and some vitamin and supplement suggestions. This book has been a lifesaver. Look up Sally Norton on google, she has a really good website too.

I selected this book based on its provocative title alone. Prior to cracking its cover, I knew nothing about the author and very little about oxalates.
I may not be the target audience (I am not currently dealing with ailments or looking for changes to my present diet). I also did not become an instant believer in everything espoused. Still, I did find this book to be interesting. It caused me to reexamine dietary beliefs that I have long taken for granted. It also motivated me to research more about oxalates so that I better understand the research surrounding them.
Toxic Superfoods is scheduled for release on December 27, 2022. Thank you to Rosedale Books, Sally Norton and Netgalley for granting me an Advanced Readers Copy.

Sorry, but this book was a big miss for me. I actually enjoy reading books that challenge my beliefs much of the time and some have changed my mind over the years. The Case for Keto was one such book, after I completely disapproved of keto diets for years. So I was actually looking forward to reading this and seeing if I needed to rethink some of my food choices. It definitely did not change my mind about anything.

Norton is a nutritionist who uses a lot of personal anecdotes from herself and her patients to try to prove that oxalates in foods are very dangerous. She believes that most fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds are actually really harmful. She gives almost no science to back this up, and she fills the book with scary fearmongering. I was actually dumbfounded at how little science is in this book. It's just missing. She has charts of oxalates and quotes from things like books in the 19th century and random books in the 1980's. She gives case studies of her own patients who supposedly cured all kinds of pains and conditions from giving up most fruits and vegetables, but there's no scientific basis to it. Maybe these people had other deficiencies from years of eating fad diets in the opposite direction that were lacking in other things. Maybe they had specific allergies. Who knows, because it's all just random people she says she helped. A surprising amount of her "proof" is stuff like interviews from Liam Hemsworth telling Men's Health Magazine that he ended up in the hospital a few years into his vegan diet. I completely believe that he probably had some serious issues related to his diet that caught up with him. I am not at all convinced that it was because of oxalates.

The book was just a slog for me. I read it all to be able to review it fairly, but it did not convince me of anything other than the importance of completely vetting your nutritionist.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.