For those living with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, the boundary between nourishing and harmful is not always where it appears. New research from the University of North Carolina reveals that IBD patients carry a diminished capacity to process oxalate — a compound present in nearly all plant foods — due to reduced levels of key intestinal transport proteins, causing oxalate to accumulate and deepen the inflammation already at work in their guts. The finding reframes a longstanding assumption: the trouble is not what these patients are eating, but how their bodies receive it. Science h
Hidden oxalate in healthy foods may worsen IBD through impaired gut transport
People with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis may experience worsened intestinal inflammation from consuming plant foods containing oxalate.