These 7 Superfoods Are Secretly Wrecking Your Body : 1389
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
Dave Asprey
4.6 • 7.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This solo masterclass on oxalates explains why many people who eat clean still struggle with joint pain, kidney stones, fatigue, brain fog, and chronic inflammation. You’ll learn how oxalates behave very differently from other plant compounds like lectins, phytates, and salicylates. Unlike those compounds, oxalates physically bind minerals and form microscopic crystals that can lodge in tissues, damage mitochondria, and accumulate over time. This episode will change how you think about superfoods, clean eating, and long term human performance.
Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience:
https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR
Host Dave Asprey walks you through the real science of oxalates using decades of self experimentation, functional medicine research, and hands on biohacking. As the founder of the biohacking movement, Dave has tested fasting, ketosis, carnivore strategies, supplements, nootropics, sleep optimization protocols, and metabolic interventions to uncover what actually improves resilience, neuroplasticity, and mitochondrial function without unnecessary damage.
In this masterclass, you’ll learn why oxalates cause problems even when digestion seems fine, why symptoms can show up in joints, kidneys, nerves, skin, and old injuries, and why reducing oxalates too fast can make you feel worse before you feel better. Dave explains oxalate dumping, candida driven oxalate overload, microbiome interactions, and why foods like spinach, almonds, cacao, and green smoothies often backfire over time. He also shares practical ways to lower your oxalate load safely, support mineral balance, and protect your metabolism and brain using a Smarter Not Harder approach.
This episode is for you if you eat “healthy” but still feel off, deal with unexplained pain or inflammation, or want to improve longevity, brain optimization, sleep, and human performance without extreme restriction.
You’ll Learn:
• Why oxalates are different from lectins, phytates, and other plant toxins
• How oxalates drain minerals and damage mitochondria
• What oxalate dumping feels like and how to avoid it
• Which superfoods cause the biggest problems and what to replace them with
• How hydration, minerals, and supplements affect oxalate clearance
• Why oxalates accelerate aging and tissue stiffness over time
• Practical biohacking strategies to protect longevity and human performance
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Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.
New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient.
Keywords: oxalates, oxalic acid, biohacking oxalates, oxalate dumping, plant toxins explained, lectins vs oxalates, phytates and mineral absorption, anti-nutrients, superfoods controversy, clean eating problems, kidney stones oxalates, joint pain inflammation, mineral depletion, calcium oxalate crystals, metabolism dysfunction, brain fog causes, neuroplasticity and inflammation, longevity nutrition, anti-aging nutrition, functional medicine oxalates, supplements for oxalates, hydration and kidney health, urinary pH balance, candida and oxalates, microbiome and oxalates, fasting and oxalates, ketosis and oxalates, carnivore diet transition, human performance nutrition, sleep optimization inflammation, nootropics and brain optimization, Dave Asprey oxalates
Resources:
• Join Our New Low-Oxalate Challenge! https://daveasprey.com/2026-low-ox-reset/
• Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today.
• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15
• My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off)
• Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off)
• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com
• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated
• Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
• 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com
Timestamps:
0:00 – Trailer
1:25 – Introduction
3:18 – What Are Oxalates
5:40 – Oxalates vs Other Plant Toxins
7:18 – Oxalate Sources and Chemistry
9:17 – Kidney Stones and Crystal Formation
10:19 – Oxalate Dumping Explained
12:03 – System Level Effects
14:54 – Inflammation, Mitochondria, and Aging
16:56 – Who Should Pay Attention
19:32 – High Oxalate Foods
24:56 – Smart Food Swaps
27:22 – Exercise and Hydration
29:07 – Clearing Oxalates Safely
31:01 – Summary and Key Takeaways
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A lot of people think oxalates are something in spinach or almonds, but there's a huge lack of |
| 0:05.7 | awareness in the world about how important oxalates are for health. They form these razor-sharp |
| 0:11.6 | calcium crystals that can cause widespread inflammation, pain, metabolic problems, basically |
| 0:17.6 | sandpapering your inner organs and your knees and your muscles, it's just |
| 0:22.5 | not a good situation because you mitochondria like little bags. And if you poke a plastic bag with a |
| 0:28.4 | sharp knife, it's not going to work as well as a bag. Drinking a 32 ounce green smoothie with spinach |
| 0:33.7 | and beats and almond milk every day for 10 days. Although that did kill one person. I know that I got my oxalate in part because I was a devout raw vegan and I ate a ton of it. If you suffer from urinary tract infections, the odds are exceptionally high. They don't have a bacterial problem. You have an oxalate problem. It's about allowing your urethra to not be sliced while you pee. Oxalate crystal can form on the lining of your nerves. This one sticks a needle in there. Of course it's going to hurt. Well, you can build a needle internally. Oxalates are unique because they accumulate over time and they persist for a very long time. In this session, you're going to learn how oxalates work, how to tell if they're an issue for you, and what you can do about it. You're listening to the Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey. |
| 1:19.8 | What if there was something you could add to your water to make you perform better, |
| 1:23.9 | have more energy, and protect your cells from damage. Hydrogen is the smallest molecule |
| 1:29.3 | in the universe, and the only one that can get deep inside your cells, mitochondria, and even your DNA. |
| 1:35.3 | It fuels energy production, crushes oxidative stress, and supports sharper brain function. |
| 1:40.3 | Hydrogen's a gas so you can't take it as a pill, so you either have to breathe it in or infuse it into your water. |
| 1:47.1 | But your tap, bottled, or filtered water doesn't have it. |
| 1:50.4 | That's why I use the Echoflask. |
| 1:52.0 | Echoflask is a hydrogen generator that uses advanced electrolysis and a proprietary proton exchange membrane to infuse your water with pure hydrogen. No chemicals, no pH |
| 2:03.5 | change, just therapeutic science-backed hydrogen. I've noticed more energy, faster recovery, |
| 2:09.7 | less inflammation, and mental clarity that lasts all day. Go to echo water.com slash Dave and use |
| 2:16.1 | code Dave10 for 10% off your echo flask. You'll feel the difference in days. |
| 2:24.5 | It's time to talk about oxalates. And a lot of people think oxalates, if you've even heard of them, are something in spinach or almonds. |
| 2:33.6 | But there's a huge lack of awareness in the world, |
| 2:37.8 | even in the world of biohacking, about how important oxalase are for health. And I wrote about |
| 2:42.5 | them in the first chapter of the Bulletproof Diet, which was a major part of growing the |
... |
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