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Phytic acid is one of a number of “anti-nutrients” in grains and legumes. For an introduction to this subject, please see this article. Proper preparation of whole grains will neutralize a large portion of these problematic compounds.
Studies on phytic acid reveal that for some people, the phytic acid in whole grains blocks calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper; others seem immune to these adverse consequences, probably because of favorable gut flora, which in some cases can break down phytic acid. In addition, when animal fats providing vitamins A and D accompany dietary whole grains, the effects of phytic acid are mitigated.
The author of the following article found that eliminating phytic acid in his diet and the diet of his family helped reverse serious tooth decay; not everyone will need to take such drastic steps. However, proper preparation of whole grains is a good idea for everyone as it is a practice found almost universally among nonindustrialized peoples.
Preparing Grains, Nuts, Seeds and Beans for Maximum Nutrition
Phytic acid in grains, nuts, seeds and beans represents a serious problem in our diets. This problem exists because we have lost touch with our ancestral heritage of food preparation. Instead we listen to food gurus and ivory tower theorists who promote the consumption of raw and unprocessed “whole foods;” or, we eat a lot of high-phytate foods like commercial whole wheat bread and all-bran breakfast cereals. But raw is definitely not Nature’s way for grains, nuts, seeds and beans. . . and even some tubers, like yams; nor are quick cooking or rapid heat processes like extrusion.
Phytic acid is the principal storage form of phosphorus in many plant tissues, especially the bran portion of grains and other seeds. It contains the mineral phosphorus tightly bound in a snowflake-like molecule. In humans and animals with one stomach, the phosphorus is not readily bioavailable. In addition to blocking phosphorus availability, the “arms” of the phytic acid molecule readily bind with other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc, making them unavailable as well. In this form, the compound is referred to as phytate.
Phytic acid not only grabs on to or chelates important minerals, but also inhibits enzymes that we need to digest our food, including pepsin,1 needed for the breakdown of proteins in the stomach, and amylase,2 needed for the breakdown of starch into sugar. Trypsin, needed for protein digestion in the small intestine, is also inhibited by phytates.3
Through observation I have witnessed the powerful anti-nutritional effects of a diet high in phytate-rich grains on my family members, with many health problems as a result, including tooth decay, nutrient deficiencies, lack of appetite and digestive problems.
The presence of phytic acid in so many enjoyable foods we regularly consume makes it imperative that we know how to prepare these foods to neutralize phytic acid content as much as possible, and also to consume them in the context of a diet containing factors that mitigate the harmful effects of phytic acid.
Six-sided phytic acid molecule with a phosphorus atom in each arm
PHYTATES IN FOOD
Phytic acid is present in beans, seeds, nuts, grains—especially in the bran or outer hull; phytates are also found in tubers, and trace amounts occur in certain fruits and vegetables like berries and green beans. Up to 80 percent of the phosphorus—a vital mineral for bones and health—present in grains is locked into an unusable form as phytate.4 When a diet including more than small amounts of phytate is consumed, the body will bind calcium to phytic acid and form insoluble phytate complexes. The net result is you lose calcium, and don’t absorb phosphorus. Further, research suggests that we will absorb approximately 20 percent more zinc and 60 percent magnesium from our food when phytate is absent.5
The amount of phytate in grains, nuts, legumes and seeds is highly variable; the levels that researchers find when they analyze a specific food probably depends on growing conditions, harvesting techniques, processing methods, testing methods and even the age of the food being tested. Phytic acid will be much higher in foods grown using modern high-phosphate fertilizers than those grown in natural compost.6
Seeds and bran are the highest sources of phytates, containing as much as two to five times more phytate than even some varieties of soybeans, which we know are highly indigestible unless fermented for long periods. Remember the oat bran fad? The advice to eat bran, or high fiber foods containing different types of bran, is a recipe for severe bone loss and intestinal problems due to the high phytic acid content. Raw unfermented cocoa beans and normal cocoa powder are extremely high in phytates. Processed chocolates may also contain phytates. White chocolate or cocoa butter probably does not contain phytates. More evidence is needed as to phytate content of prepared chocolates and white chocolate. Coffee beans also contain phytic acid. The chart in Figure 1 shows the variability of phytate levels in various common foods as a percentage of dry weight. Phytate levels in terms of milligrams per hundred grams are shown in Figure 2.
DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS
High-phytate diets result in mineral deficiencies. In populations where cereal grains provide a major source of calories, rickets and osteoporosis are common.10
Interestingly, the body has some ability to adapt to the effects of phytates in the diet. Several studies show that subjects given high levels of whole wheat at first excrete more calcium than they take in, but after several weeks on this diet, they reach a balance and do not excrete excess calcium.11 However, no studies of this phenomenon have been carried out over a long period; nor have researchers looked at whether human beings can adjust to the phytate-reducing effects of other important minerals, such as iron, magnesium and zinc.
The zinc- and iron-blocking effects of phytic acid can be just as serious as the calcium-blocking effects. For example, one study showed that a wheat roll containing 2 mg phytic acid inhibited zinc absorption by 18 percent; 25 mg phytic acid in the roll inhibited zinc absorption by 64 percent; and 250 mg inhibited zinc absorption by 82 percent.12 Nuts have a marked inhibitory action on the absorption of iron due to their phytic acid content.13
Over the long term, when the diet lacks minerals or contains high levels of phytates or both, the metabolism goes down, and the body goes into mineral-starvation mode. The body then sets itself up to use as little of these minerals as possible. Adults may get by for decades on a high-phytate diet, but growing children run into severe problems. In a phytate-rich diet, their bodies will suffer from the lack of calcium and phosphorus with poor bone growth, short stature, rickets, narrow jaws and tooth decay; and for the lack of zinc and iron with anemia and mental retardation.
THE EXPERIMENTS OF EDWARD MELLANBY
As early as 1949, the researcher Edward Mellanby demonstrated the demineralizing effects of phytic acid. By studying how grains with and without phytic acid affect dogs, Mellanby discovered that consumption of high-phytate cereal grain interferes with bone growth and interrupts vitamin D metabolism. High levels of phytic acid in the context of a diet low in calcium and vitamin D resulted in rickets and a severe lack of bone formation.
His studies showed that excessive phytate consumption uses up vitamin D. Vitamin D can mitigate the harmful effects of phytates, but according to Mellanby, “When the diet is rich in phytate, perfect bone formation can only be procured if sufficient calcium is added to a diet containing vitamin D.”20
Mellanby’s studies showed that the rickets-producing effect of oatmeal is limited by calcium.21 Calcium salts such as calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate prevent oatmeal from exerting rickets-producing effect. According to this view, the degree of active interference with calcification produced by a given cereal will depend on how much phytic acid and how little calcium it contains, or how little calcium the diet contains. Phosphorus in the diet (at least from grains) needs some type of calcium to bind to. This explains the synergistic combination of sourdough bread with cheese. Historically, the cultivation of grains usually accompanies the raising of dairy animals; high levels of calcium in the diet mitigates the mineral-depleting effects of phytic acid.
In Mellanby’s experiments with dogs, increasing vitamin D made stronger bones regardless of the diet, but this increase did not have a significant impact on the amount of calcium excreted. Those on diets high in phytate excreted lots of calcium; those on diets high in phosphorus from meat or released from phytic acid through proper preparation excreted small amounts of calcium.
Based on Mellanby’s thorough experiments, one can conclude that the growth of healthy bones requires a diet high in vitamin D, absorbable calcium and absorbable phosphorus, and a diet low in unabsorbable calcium (supplements, pasteurized dairy) and unabsorbable phosphorus (phytates). Interestingly, his experiments showed that unbleached flour and white rice were less anti-calcifying than whole grains that contain more minerals but also were higher in phytic acid. Other experiments have shown that while whole grains contain more minerals, in the end equal or lower amounts of minerals are absorbed compared to polished rice and white flour. This outcome is primarily a result of the blocking mechanism of phytic acid, but may be secondarily the result of other anti-nutrients in grains.
Thus, absorbable calcium from bone broths and raw dairy products, and vitamin D from certain animal fats, can reduce the adverse effects of phytic acid.
Other studies show that adding ascorbic acid can significantly counteract inhibition of iron assimilation by phytic acid.22 Adding ascorbic acid significantly counteracted phytate inhibition from phytic acid in wheat.23 One study showed that anti-iron phytate levels in rice were disabled by vitamin C in collard greens.24
Research published in 2000 indicates that both vitamin A and beta-carotene form a complex with iron, keeping it soluble and preventing the inhibitory effect of phytates on iron absorption.25 Here we have another reason to consume phytate-rich foods in the context of a diet containing organ meat and animal fats rich in vitamin A, and fruits and vegetables rich in carotenes.
PHYTASE
Phytase is the enzyme that neutralizes phytic acid and liberates the phosphorus. This enzyme co-exists in plant foods that contain phytic acid.
Ruminant animals such as cows, sheep and goats have no trouble with phytic acid because phytase is produced by rumen microorganisms; monogastric animals also produce phytase, although far less. Mice produce thirty times more phytase than humans,26 so they can be quite happy eating a raw whole grain. Data from experiments on phytic acid using mice and other rodents cannot be applied to humans.
In general, humans do not produce enough phytase to safely consume large quantities of high-phytate foods on a regular basis. However, probiotic lactobacilli, and other species of the endogenous digestive microflora can produce phytase.27 Thus, humans who have good intestinal flora will have an easier time with foods containing phytic acid. Increased production of phytase by the gut microflora explains why some volunteers can adjust to a high-phytate diet. Sprouting activates phytase, thus reducing phytic acid.28 The use of sprouted grains will reduce the quantity of phytic acids in animal feed, with no significant reduction of nutritional value.29
Soaking grains and flour in an acid medium at very warm temperatures, as in the sourdough process, also activates phytase and reduces or even eliminates phytic acid.
Before the advent of industrial agriculture, farmers typically soaked crushed grain in hot water before feeding it to poultry and hogs. Today, feed manufacturers add phytase to grain mixes to get better growth in animals. Commercial phytases are typically produced using recombinant DNA technology. For example, a bacterial phytase gene has recently been inserted into yeast for commercial production.
Not all grains contain enough phytase to eliminate the phytate, even when properly prepared. For example, corn, millet, oats and brown rice do not contain sufficient phytase to eliminate all the phytic acid they contain. On the other hand, wheat and rye contain high levels of phytase—wheat contains fourteen times more phytase than rice and rye contains over twice as much phytase as wheat.30 Soaking or souring these grains, when freshly ground, in a warm environment will destroy all phytic acid. The high levels of phytase in rye explain why this grain is preferred as a starter for sourdough breads.
Phytase is destroyed by steam heat at about 176 degrees Fahrenheit in ten minutes or less. In a wet solution, phytase is destroyed at 131-149 degrees Fahrenheit.31 Thus heat processing, as in extrusion, will completely destroy phytase—think of extruded all-bran cereal, very high in phytic acid and all of its phytase destroyed by processing. Extruded cereals made of bran and whole grains are a recipe for digestive problems and mineral deficiencies!
Phytase is present in small amounts in oats, but heat treating to produce commercial oatmeal renders it inactive. Even grinding a grain too quickly or at too high a temperature will destroy phytase, as will freezing and long storage times. Fresh flour has a higher content of phytase than does flour that has been stored.32 Traditional cultures generally grind their grain fresh before preparation. Weston Price found that mice fed whole grain flours that were not freshly ground did not grow properly.33
Cooking is not enough to reduce phytic acid—acid soaking before cooking is needed to activate phytase and let it do its work. For example, the elimination of phytic acid in quinoa requires fermenting or germinating plus cooking (see Figure 3). In general, a combination of acidic soaking for considerable time and then cooking will reduce a significant portion of phytate in grains and legumes.
THE PHYTATE THRESHOLD
It appears that once the phytate level has been reduced, such that there is more available phosphorus than phytate in the grain, we have passed a critical point and the food becomes more beneficial than harmful. Retention of phosphorus decreases when phytate in the diet is 30-40 percent or more of the total phosphorus.35
For best health, phytates should be lowered as much as possible, ideally to 25 milligrams or less per 100 grams or to about .03 percent of the phytate-containing food eaten. At this level, micronutrient losses are minimized. (For phytate content of common foods as a percentage of dry weight, see Figures 4 and 5.)
White rice and white bread are low-phytate foods because their bran and germ have been removed; of course, they are also devitalized and empty of vitamins and minerals. But the low phytate content of refined carbohydrate foods may explain why someone whose family eats white flour or white rice food products may seem to be relatively healthy and immune to tooth cavities while those eating whole wheat bread and brown rice could suffer from cavities, bone loss and other health problems.
PHYTATES AND GERMINATION
Beer home brewers know that in order to make beer, they need malted (sprouted) grains. Soaking and germinating grains is a good idea, but it does not eliminate phytic acid completely. Significant amounts of phytic acid will remain in most sprouted grain products. For example, malting reduces wheat, barley or green gram phytic acid by 57 percent. However, malting reduces anti-nutrients more than roasting.36 In another experiment, malting millet also resulted in a decrease of 23.9 percent phytic acid after 72 hours and 45.3 percent after 96 hours.37
In legumes, sprouting is the most effective way to reduce phytic acid, but this process does not get rid of all of it. Germinating peanuts led to a 25 percent reduction in phytates. After five days of sprouting, chick peas maintained about 60 percent of their phytate content and lentils retained about 50 percent of their original phytic acid content. Sprouting and boiling pigeon pea and bambara groudnut reduced phytic acid by 56 percent.38 Germinating black eyed beans resulted in 75 percent removal of phytate after five days sprouting.
Germination is more effective at higher temperatures, probably because the heat encourages a fermentation-like condition. For pearled millet, sprouting at 92 degrees F for a minimum of 48 hours removed 92 percent of the phytate. At 82 degrees F, even after 60 hours, only 50 percent of phytic acid was removed. Higher temperatures above 86 degrees F seem less ideal for phytate removal, at least for millet.39
Sprouting releases vitamins and makes grains and beans and seeds more digestible. However it is a pre-fermentation step, not a complete process for neutralizing phytic acid. Consuming grains regularly that are only sprouted will lead to excess intake of phytic acid. Sprouted grains should also be soaked and cooked.
Roasting and Phytic Acid
Roasting wheat, barley or green gram reduces phytic acid by about 40 percent.40 If you subsequently soak roasted grains, you should do so with a culture that supplies additional phytase, as phytase will be destroyed by the roasting process.
ACIDIC SOAKING AND PHYTIC ACID
For grains and legumes that are low in phytase, soaking does not usually sufficiently eliminate phytic acid. Soaking of millet, soya bean, maize, sorghum, and mung bean at 92 degrees F for 24 hours decreased the contents of phytic acid by 4–51 percent.43 With these same grains and beans, soaking at room temperature for 24 hours reduced phytic acid levels by 16–21 percent.44 However, soaking of pounded maize for one hour at room temperature already led to a reduction of phytic acid by 51 percent.45
Sourdough fermentation of grains containing high levels of phytase—such as wheat and rye—is the process that works best for phytate reduction. Sourdough fermentation of whole wheat flour for just four hours at 92 degrees F led to a 60 percent reduction in phytic acid. Phytic acid content of the bran samples was reduced to 44.9 percent after eight hours at 92 degrees F.46 The addition of malted grains and bakers yeast increased this reduction to 92-98 percent. Another study showed almost complete elimination of phytic acid in whole wheat bread after eight hours of sourdough fermentation (See Figure 6).47
A study of phytates in recipes used typically by home bread bakers found that leavening with commercial yeast was much less effective at removing phytates. Yeasted whole wheat breads lost only 22-58 percent of their phytic acid content from the start of the bread making process to the complete loaf.48
PHYTIC ACID AND YOU
The purpose of this article is not to make you afraid of foods containing phytic acid, only to urge caution in including grains, nuts and legumes into your diet. It is not necessary to completely eliminate phytic acid from the diet, only to keep it to acceptable levels.
An excess of 800 mg phytic acid per day is probably not a good idea. The average phytate intake in the U.S. and the U.K. ranges between 631 and 746 mg per day; the average in Finland is 370 mg; in Italy it is 219 mg; and in Sweden a mere 180 mg per day.49
In the context of a diet rich in calcium, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin C, good fats and lacto-fermented foods, most people will do fine on an estimated 400-800 mg per day. For those suffering from tooth decay, bone loss or mineral deficiencies, total estimated phytate content of 150-400 mg would be advised. For children under age six, pregnant women or those with serious illnesses, it is best to consume a diet as low in phytic acid as possible.
In practical terms, this means properly preparing phytate-rich foods to reduce at least a portion of the phytate content, and restricting their consumption to two or three servings per day. Daily consumption of one or two slices of genuine sourdough bread, a handful of nuts, and one serving of properly prepared oatmeal, pancakes, brown rice or beans should not pose any problems in the context of a nutrient-dense diet. Problems arise when whole grains and beans become the major dietary sources of calories— when every meal contains more than one whole grain product or when over-reliance is placed on nuts or legumes. Unfermented soy products, extruded whole grain cereals, rice cakes, baked granola, raw muesli and other high-phytate foods should be strictly avoided.
RICE
Brown rice is high in phytates. One reference puts phytate content at 1.6 percent of dry weight, another at 1250 mg per 100 grams dry weight (probably about 400 mg per 100 grams cooked rice). Soaking brown rice will not effectively eliminate phytates because brown rice lacks the enzyme phytase; it thus requires a starter. Nevertheless, even an eight-hour soak will eliminate some of the phytic acid, reducing the amount in a serving to something like 300 mg or less.
The ideal preparation of rice would start with home-milling, to remove a portion of the bran, and then would involve souring at a very warm temperature (90 degrees F) at least sixteen hours, preferably twenty-four hours. Using a starter would be ideal (see sidebar recipe). For those with less time, purchase brown rice in air-tight packages. Soak rice for at least eight hours in hot water plus a little fresh whey, lemon juice or vinegar. If you soak in a tightly closed mason jar, the rice will stay warm as it generates heat. Drain, rinse and cook in broth and butter.
NUTS
In general, nuts contain levels of phytic acid equal to or higher than those of grains. Therefore those consuming peanut butter, nut butters or nut flours, will take in phytate levels similar to those in unsoaked grains. Unfortunately, we have very little information on phytate reduction in nuts. Soaking for seven hours likely eliminates some phytate. Based on the accumulation of evidence, soaking nuts for eighteen hours, dehydrating at very low temperatures—a warm oven—and then roasting or cooking the nuts would likely eliminate a large portion of phytates.
Nut consumption becomes problematic in situations where people on the GAPS diet and similar regimes are consuming lots of almonds and other nuts as a replacement for bread, potatoes and rice. The eighteen-hour soaking is highly recommended in these circumstances.
It is best to avoid nut butters unless they have been made with soaked nuts—these are now available commercially. Likewise, it is best not to use nut flours—and also coconut flour—for cooking unless they have been soured by the soaking process.
It is instructive to look at Native American preparation techniques for the hickory nut, which they used for oils. To extract the oil they parched the nuts until they cracked to pieces and then pounded them until they were as fine as coffee grounds. They were then put into boiling water and boiled for an hour or longer, until they cooked down to a kind of soup from which the oil was strained out through a cloth. The rest was thrown away. The oil could be used at once or poured into a vessel where it would keep a long time.50
By contrast, the Indians of California consumed acorn meal after a long period of soaking and rinsing, then pounding and cooking. Nuts and seeds in Central America were prepared by salt water soaking and dehydration in the sun, after which they were ground and cooked.
BEANS
All beans contain phytic acid and traditional cultures usually subjected legumes to a long preparation process. For example, according to one source, “Lima beans in Nigeria involve several painstaking processes to be consumed as a staple.”51 In central America, beans are made into a sour porridge called chugo, which ferments for several days.
The best way of reducing phytates in beans is sprouting for several days, followed by cooking. An eighteen-hour fermention of beans without a starter at 95 degrees F resulted in 50 percent phytate reduction.52 Lentils fermented for 96 hours at 108 degrees F resulted in 70-75 percent phytate destruction.53 Lentils soaked for 12 hours, germinated 3-4 days and then soured will likely completely eliminate phytates.
Soaking beans at moderate temperatures, such as for 12 hours at 78 degrees F results in an 8-20 percent reduction in phytates.54
When legumes comprise a large portion of the diet, one needs to go to extra steps to make beans healthy to eat. Beans should usually have hull and bran removed. Adding a phytase-rich medium to beans would help eliminate the phytic acid in beans. Adding yeast, or effective micororganisms, or kombu seaweed may greatly enhance the predigestive process of the beans. One website suggests using a starter containing effective microorganisms and cultured molasses for soaking beans.55
At a minimum, beans should be soaked for twelve hours, drained and rinsed several times before cooking, for a total of thirty-six hours. Cooking with a handful of green weed leaves, such as dandelion or chickweed, can improve mineral assimilation.
TUBERS
Sweet potatoes and potatoes contain little phytic acid but yams and other starchy staples contain levels of phytate that we cannot ignore. The phytic acid content of arrowroot is unknown, but it may contain a significant amount.56 These foods should be fermented—as they usually are in traditional cultures—if they are a staple in the diet. For occasional eating, cooking well and consuming with plenty of butter and vitamin C-rich foods should suffice.
BREAD
Bread can only be called the staff of life if it has undergone careful preparation; otherwise bread can be the road to an early grave. For starters, the flour used in bread should be stone ground. Wheat and rye contain high levels of phytase, but this is destroyed by the heat of industrial grinding, and also lessens over time. Fresh grinding of wheat or rye berries before use will ensure that the original amount of phytase remains in the flour.
Rye has the highest level of phytase in relation to phytates of any grain, so rye is the perfect grain to use as a sourdough starter. Phytates in wheat are greatly reduced during sourdough preparation, as wheat is also high in phytase. Yeast rising bread may not fully reduce phytic acid levels.57 Phytate breakdown is significantly higher in sourdough bread than in yeasted bread.58
Yet even with the highly fermentable rye, a traditional ancient recipe from the French calls for removal of 25 percent of the bran and coarse substances.59 As an example of this practice, one small bakery in Canada sifts the coarse bran out of the flour before making it into bread.62
OATS
Oats contain very little phytase, especially after commercial heat treatment, and require a very long preparation period to completely reduce phytic acid levels. Soaking oats at 77 degrees F for 16 hours resulted in no reduction of phytic acid, nor did germination for up to three days at this temperature.63 However, malting (sprouting) oats for five days at 52 degrees F and then soaking for 17 hours at 120 degrees F removes 98 percent of phytates. Adding malted rye further enhances oat phytate reduction.64 Without initial germination, even a five-day soaking at a warm temperature in acidic liquid may result in an insignificant reduction in phytate due to the low phytase content of oats. On the plus side, the process of rolling oats removes a at least part of the bran, where a large portion of the phytic acid resides.
How do we square what we know about oats with the fact that oats were a staple in the diet of the Scots and Gaelic islanders, a people known for their robust good health and freedom from tooth decay? For one thing, high amounts of vitamin D from cod’s liver and other sources, helps prevent calcium losses from the high oat diet. Absorbable calcium from raw dairy products, consumed in abundance on mainland Scotland, provides additional protection.
In addition, it is likely that a good part of the phytase remained in the oats of yore, which partially germinated in stacks left for a period in the field, were not heat treated and were hand rolled immediately prior to preparation. And some Scottish and Gaelic recipes do call for a long fermentation of oats before and even after they are cooked.
Unprocessed Irish or Scottish oats, which have not been heated to high temperatures, are availabile in some health food stores and on the internet. One study found that unheated oats had the same phytase activity as wheat.65 They should be soaked in acidulated water for as long as twenty-four hours on top of a hot plate to keep them at about 100 degrees F. This will reduce a part of the phytic acid as well as the levels of other anti-nutrients, and result in a more digestible product. Overnight fermenting of rolled oats using a rye starter—or even with the addition of a small amount of fresh rye flour—may result in a fairly decent reduction of phytate levels. It is unclear whether heat-treated oats are healthy to eat regularly.
SEEDS
Seeds—such as pumpkin seeds—are extremely high in phytic acid and require thorough processing to remove it. Some may be removed by soaking and roasting. It is best to avoid consuming or snacking on raw seeds. By the way, cacao is a seed. Cacao contains irritating tannins and is said to be extremely high in phytic acid, although studies verifying phytic acid levels in cacao could not be located. Some brands of raw cocoa and cocoa powder may be fermented, others may not be. Check with the manufacturer before indulging!
CORN
Corn is high in phytic acid and low in phytase. The Native Americans fermented cooked corn meal for two weeks, wrapped in corn husks, before preparing it as a flat bread or tortilla. In Africa, corn is fermented for long periods of time using a lactobacillis culture to produce foods like kishk, banku, or mawe. No such care is given to corn products in the western world! But you can prepare healthy corn products at home. As with oatmeal, the addition of a rye starter or rye flour to the soaking water may be particularly helpful in reducing phytate content—think of the colonial “Ryn‘n’Injun” bread made from rye and corn. In one research project, soaking ground corn with 10 percent whole rye flour resulted in a complete reduction of phytate in six hours.66 Again, more research—and more experimenting in the kitchen—is needed!
RYE TO THE RESCUE
For those who need to reduce phytic acid to minimum levels—those suffering from tooth decay, bone loss and nutrient deficiencies—the magic ingredient is rye. To bring the phytate content of your diet to the absolute minimum, add freshly ground rye flour or a sourdough rye culture to rolled or cut oats, cornmeal, rice and other low-phytase grains, then soak in an acidic medium—preferably water with whey, yogurt or sour milk added—on a hot plate to bring the temperature up to about 100 degrees F. This is a better solution than consuming white rice and white flour, which are relative low in phytate but have a greatly reduced mineral content (see Figure 7).
The intention of the article is not to impose a decision about whether or not to consume grains, nuts, seeds and beans; rather it is to clarify how to consume them with awareness. This way you can maximize your health by making grain-based foods more digestible and absorbable. Now it is very clear which foods contain phytic acid and how much they contain, what the health effects of phytic acid are and how to mitigate phytic acid in your diet with complementary foods rich in vitamin C, vitamin D and calcium. Methods for preparation of grains, seeds, and beans have been clarified, so that you can estimate how much phytic acid you are consuming. One meal high in phytic acid won’t cause a healthy person any harm. But high phytic acid levels over weeks and months can be very problematic.
Fortunately, not only are properly prepared foods better for you, they also taste great. Now you can enjoy some well fermented sourdough bread, together with a piece of raw milk cheese, lots of butter and a slice of meat of your choice and taste the essence of life.
Note to readers: This article is a work in progress. Please send additional information or comments to phytates@curetoothdecay.com
SIDEBARS
FIGURE 1: FOOD SOURCES OF PHYTIC ACID7
As a percentage of dry weight
| FOOD | MINIMUM | MAXIMUM |
| Sesame seed flour | 5.36 | 5.36 |
| Brazil nuts | 1.97 | 6.34 |
| Almonds | 1.35 | 3.22 |
| Tofu | 1.46 | 2.90 |
| Linseed | 2.15 | 2.78 |
| Oat meal | 0.89 | 2.40 |
| Beans, pinto | 2.38 | 2.38 |
| Soy protein concentrate | 1.24 | 2.17 |
| Soybeans | 1.00 | 2.22 |
| Corn | 0.75 | 2.22 |
| Peanuts | 1.05 | 1.76 |
| Wheat flour | 0.25 | 1.37 |
| Wheat | 0.39 | 1.35 |
| Soy beverage | 1.24 | 1.24 |
| Oats | 0.42 | 1.16 |
| Wheat germ | 0.08 | 1.14 |
| Whole wheat bread | 0.43 | 1.05 |
| Brown rice | 0.84 | 0.99 |
| Polished rice | 0.14 | 0.60 |
| Chickpeas | 0.56 | 0.56 |
| Lentils | 0.44 | 0.50 |
FIGURE 2: PHYTIC ACID LEVELS8
In milligrams per 100 grams of dry weight
| Brazil nuts | 1719 |
| Cocoa powder | 1684-1796 |
| Brown rice | 12509 |
| Oat flakes | 1174 |
| Almond | 1138 – 1400 |
| Walnut | 982 |
| Peanut roasted | 952 |
| Peanut ungerminated | 821 |
| Lentils | 779 |
| Peanut germinated | 610 |
| Hazel nuts | 648 – 1000 |
| Wild rice flour | 634 – 752.5 |
| Yam meal | 637 |
| Refried beans | 622 |
| Corn tortillas | 448 |
| Coconut | 357 |
| Corn | 367 |
| Entire coconut meat | 270 |
| White flour | 258 |
| White flour tortillas | 123 |
| Polished rice | 11.5 – 66 |
| Strawberries | 12 |
PHYTATES: A BENEFICIAL ROLE?
As evidence of the detrimental effects of phytates accumulates, reports on alleged beneficial effects have also emerged. In fact, a whole book, Food Phytates, published in 2001 by CRC press, attempts to build a case for “phytates’ potential ability to lower blood glucose, reduce cholesterol and triacylglycerols, and reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease.”14
One argument for the beneficial effects of phytates is based on the premise that they act as anti-oxidants in the body. But recent studies indicate that an overabundance of anti-oxidants is not necessarily a good thing as these compounds will inhibit the vital process of oxidation, not only in our cells but also in the process of digestion.
Another theory holds that phytates bind to extra iron or toxic minerals and remove them from the body, thus acting as chelators and promoting detoxification. As with all anti-nutrients, phytates may play a therapeutic role in certain cases.
For example, researchers claim that phytic acid may help prevent colon cancer and other cancers.15 Phytic acid is one of few chelating therapies used for uranium removal.16
Phytic acid’s chelating effect may serve to prevent, inhibit, or even cure some cancers by depriving those cells of the minerals (especially iron) they need to reproduce.17 The deprivation of essential minerals like iron would, much like other broad treatments for cancer, also have negative effects on non-cancerous cells. For example, prolonged use of phytic acid to clear excess iron may deprive other cells in the body that require iron (such as red blood cells).
One theory is that phytates can help patients with kidney stones by removing excess minerals from the body. However, a long-term study involving over forty-five thousand men found no correlation between kidney stone risk and dietary intake of phytic acid.18
Phytates also have the potential for use in soil remediation, to immobilize uranium, nickel and other inorganic contaminants.19
OTHER ANTI-NUTRIENTS
Phytates represent just one of many anti-nutrients in grains, nuts, tubers, seeds and beans. These include oxalates, tannins, trypsin inhibitors, enzyme inhibitors, lectins (hemagglutinins), protease inhibitors, gluten, alpha-amylase inhibitors and alkylresorcinols .
Anti-nutrients exist in these plant foods because they are part of the process of life. The natural world requires them in order to perform many important tasks, including protection against insects, maintaining freshness of seeds for germination, and protection against mold and fungus. In order to consume these foods on a regular basis we must remove the phytates and other anti-nutrients through processing in harmonious ways. Many people in the health field assure us that if something is from nature, then it doesn’t require processing. Phytates act as the seed’s system of preservatives, like the impossible-to-open plastic packaging of many consumer goods. To get to the item we need—namely, phosphorus—we need to unwrap the phytate-phosphorus package.
FIGURE 3: QUINOA PHYTATE REDUCTION34
| PROCESS | PHYTATE REDUCTION |
| Cooked for 25 minutes at 212 degrees F | 15-20 percent |
| Soaked for 12-14 hours at 68 degrees F, then cooked | 60-77 percent |
| Fermented with whey 16-18 hours at 86 degrees F, then cooked | 82-88 percent |
| Soaked 12-14 hours, germinated 30 hours, lacto-fermented 16-18 hours, then cooked at 212 degrees F for 25 minutes | 97-98 percent |
FIGURE 4: PHYTATE41
As Percentage of Dry Weight
| Sesame seeds dehulled | 5.36 |
| 100% Wheat bran cereal | 3.29 |
| Soy beans | 1.00 – 2.22 |
| Pinto beans | 0.60 – 2.38 |
| Navy beans | 0.74 – 1.78 |
| Parboiled brown rice | 1.60 |
| Oats | 1.37 |
| Peanuts | 1.05 – 1.76 |
| Barley | 1.19 |
| Coconut meal | 1.17 |
| Whole corn | 1.05 |
| Rye | 1.01 |
| Wheat flour | 0.96 |
| Brown rice | 0.84 – 0.94 |
| Chickpeas | 0.28 – 1.26 |
| Lentils | 0.27 – 1.05 |
| Milled (white) rice | 0.2 |
FIGURE 5: BREAD PHYTATES42
As Percentage of Weight
| Cornbread | 1.36 |
| Whole wheat bread | 0.43-1.05 |
| Wheat bran muffin | 0.77-1.27 |
| Popped corn | 0.6 |
| Rye | 0.41 |
| Pumpernickel | 0.16 |
| White bread | 0.03- .23 |
| French bread | 0.03 |
| Sourdough rye | 0.03 |
| Soured buckwheat | 0.03 |
FIGURE 6: REDUCTION OF PHYTIC ACID IN WHOLE WHEAT SOURDOUGH BREAD47
Percentage of Phytic Acid
Time
—- Yeast Fermentation
___ Sourdough Fermentation
PREPARATION OF BROWN RICE
1. Soak brown rice in dechlorinated water for 24 hours at room temperature without changing the water. Reserve 10% of the soaking liquid (should keep for a long time in the fridge). Discard the rest of the soaking liquid; cook the rice in fresh water.
2. The next time you make brown rice, use the same procedure as above, but add the soaking liquid you reserved from the last batch to the rest of the soaking water.
3. Repeat the cycle. The process will gradually improve until 96% or more of the phytic acid is degraded at 24 hours.
Source: Stephan Guyenet http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-way-to-soak-brown-rice.html.
PHYTATES IN BRAN
A survey of indigenous dishes shows that the bran is consistently removed from a variety of grains. The only exception seems to be beer. Traditional beer production—involving soaking, germination, cooking and fermentation—removes phytic acid and releases the vitamins from the bran and germ of grains.
The traditional method for preparing brown rice is to pound it in a mortar and pestle in order to remove the bran. The pounding process results in milled rice, which contains a reduced amount of the bran and germ. Experiments have verified the fact that milled rice, rather than whole brown rice, results in the highest mineral absorption from rice.
The idea we should eat bran is based on the idea of “not enough.” We somehow believe that grains without the bran do not provide enough nutrients. But solving the problem of a lack of bioavailable minerals in the diet may be more a question of soil fertility than of consuming every single part of the grain. A study of the famous Deaf Smith County Texas, the “town without a toothache”—because of their mineral-rich soil producing fabulous butter fat—found that its wheat contained six times the amount of phosphorus as normal wheat.60 In this case, wheat minus the bran grown in rich soils will have significant amounts or even more phosphorus compared to wheat with the bran grown in poor soil. Low nutrient content in food seems to be better solved by focusing on soil fertility, rather than trying to force something not digestible into a digestible form.
There are many studies in which researchers have tried to find out how to make the bran of different grains digestible and to provide additional nutrition. But small additions of phosphorus- and calcium-rich dairy products, such as milk and cheese, or phosphorous-rich meat will make up for the moderate reductions in mineral intakes from grains without the bran. In one study, the calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium in diets made up with 92 percent flour (almost whole wheat) were less completely absorbed than the same minerals in diets made up with 69 percent flour (with a significant amount of bran and germ removed).61 This study involved yeasted bread. With sourdough bread, the phytate content of bran will be largely reduced if a phytase-rich starter is used and the flour is fermented at least twenty-four hours.
FIGURE 7: NUTRIENTS IN GRAINS AND OTHER FOODS67
In milligrams per 100 grams.
| Calcium | Phosphorus | Iron | Calories | |
| Whole grain wheat flour | 34 | 346 | 3.9 | 339 |
| Unenriched white flour | 15 | 108 | 1.2 | 364 |
| White rice | 9 | 108 | 0.4 | 366 |
| Milled rice | 10-30 | 80-150 | .2-2.8 | 349-373 |
| Brown rice | 10-50 | 170-430 | .2-5.2 | 363-385 |
| Blue corn mush (Navajo) | 96 | 39 | 2.9 | 54 |
| Acorn stew | 62 | 14 | 1 | 95 |
| Milk | 169 | 117 | 0.1 | 97 |
| Free range buffalo steak | 4 | 246 | 3.8 | 146 |
| Cheese, mozarella | 505 | 354 | 0.4 | 300 |
SOME FERMENTED GRAIN FOODS FROM AFRICA
KISHK, a fermented product prepared from parboiled wheat and milk, is consumed in Egypt and many Arabian countries. During the preparation of kishk, wheat grains are boiled until soft, dried, milled and sieved in order to remove the bran. Milk is separately soured in earthenware containers, concentrated and mixed with the moistened wheat flour thus prepared, resulting in the preparation of a paste called a hamma. The hamma is allowed to ferment for about 24 hours, following which it is kneaded. Soured salted milk is added prior to dilution with water. Fermentation is allowed to proceed for a further 24 hours. The mass is thoroughly mixed, formed into balls and dried.
BANKU is a popular staple consumed in Ghana. It is prepared from maize or a mixture of maize and cassava. The preparation involves steeping the raw material in water for 24 hours followed by wet milling and fermentation for three days. The dough is then mixed with water at a ratio of 4 parts dough to 2 parts water; or 4 parts dough to 1 part cassava and 2 parts water. Continuous stirring and kneading of the fermented dough is required to attain an appropriate consistency during subsequent cooking. Microbiological studies of the fermentation process revealed that the predominant microorganisms involved are lactic acid bacteria and moulds.
MAWE is a sour dough prepared from partially dehulled maize meal which has undergone natural fermentation for a one- to three-day period. Traditional mawe production involves cleaning maize by winnowing, washing in water and crushing in a plate disc mill. The crushed maize is screened by sieving whereby grits and hulls are separated by gravity and the fine endosperm fraction collected in a bowl. The grits are not washed but home dehulled, following which they are mixed with the fine fraction, moistened over a 2- to 4-hour period and milled to a dough. The kneaded dough is then covered with a polyethylene sheet and allowed to ferment naturally to a sour dough in a fermentation bowl, or wrapped in paper or polyethylene. In the commercial process which takes place entirely in a milling shop, the grits are washed by rubbing in water, following which the germ and remaining hulls are floated off and discarded along with the water. The sedimented endosperm grits are subsequently blended with the fine endosperm fraction. The dominant microorganisms in mawe preparation include lactic acid bacteria and yeasts.
INJERA is the most popular baked product in Ethiopia. It is a fermented sorghum bread with a very sour taste. The sorghum grains are dehulled manually or mechanically and milled to flour which is subsequently used in the preparation of injera. On the basis of production procedures three types of injera are distinguishable: thin injera which results from mixing a portion of fermented sorghum paste with three parts of water and boiling to yield a product known as absit, which is, in turn, mixed with a portion of the original fermented flour; thick injera, which is reddish in color with a sweet taste, consisting of a paste that has undergone only minimal fermentation for 12-24 hours; and komtata-type injera, which is produced from over-fermented paste, and has a sour taste. The paste is baked or grilled to give a bread-like product. Yeasts are the major microorganisms involved in the fermentation of the sweet type of injera. Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/x2184e/x2184e07.htm#pre
IRISH AND SCOTTISH OATMEAL
Commercial oats in the U.S. are heat treated to about 200o F for four or five hours, to prevent rancidity—oats are rich in polyunsaturated oils that can go rancid within three months, especially at warm temperatures, and oats are harvested only once a year. Heat treatment kills enzymes that accelerate oxidation and helps prevent a bitter taste, although it surely damages the fragile polyunsaturated oils as well.
While Irish and Scottish oatmeal is said to be “unheated,” this is not exactly true; these oats are also heat treated —for the same reasons, to minimize rancidity—but usually at lower temperatures. McCann’s Irish steel cut oats are heated to 113-118o F but Hamlyn’s heats to 212o F. Truly raw rolled oats are available from www.rawguru.com.
The Alford brand, available only in the U.K., is kiln dried for four hours according to their website www.oatmealofalford.com; they do not provide temperatures.
Hulless oats that have not been heat treated are available from www.sproutpeople.com; these can be ground or rolled at home before soaking and preparation as oat meal.
UPDATE ON PHYTIC ACID by Rami Nagel
The article on phytic acid (Spring, 2010) was written in response to reports of dental decay, especially in children, even though the family was following the principles of traditional diets. Phytates become a problem when grains make up a large portion of the diet and calcium, vitamin C and fat-soluble vitamins, specifically fat-soluble vitamin D, are low. In the diet advocated by WAPF, occasional higher phytate meals will not cause any noticeable health effects for people in good health. Significantly more care is needed with whole grains when the diet is low in fat-soluble vitamins and in diets where two or more meals per day rely significantly on grains as a food source. Vitamin C reduces the iron and perhaps other mineral losses from phytic acid. Vitamin D can mitigate the harmful effects of phytates. Calcium (think raw milk, raw cheese, yogurt, and kefir) balances out the negative effects of phytates. The best indicator of whether dietary phytic acid is causing problems can be seen in the dental health of the family. If dental decay is a recurrent problem, then more care with grain preparation and higher levels of animal foods will be needed. Article Correction , Brown Rice Preparation The article stated: “Soak brown rice in dechlorinated water for 24 hours at room temperature, without changing the water. Reserve 10 percent of the soaking liquid (which should keep for a long time in the fridge). Cook the rice in the remaining soaking liquid and eat. This will break down about 50 percent of the phytic acid.” The soaking water is to be discarded and the rice should be cooked in fresh water. Readers have noted that after the fourth cycle using the brown rice starter the brown rice becomes significantly softer and more digestible.
PHYTIC ACID IN potatoes , YAMS AND SWEET POTATOES
White potatoes have 0.111-0.269 percent of dry weight of phytic acid, a level approximately equivalent to the amount in white rice. Cooking does not significantly remove phytates in potatoes, but consumption of potatoes with plenty of butter or other animal fat in the context of a nutrient dense diet should be enough to mitigate the effects of phytate. Yams contain an amount of phytate equal to or less than that in white potatoes, and sweet potatoes contain no phytate at all. One idea for corn would be to soak/sour it with wheat such as in the process of making corn bread. Corn generally is prepared without the whole kernel, removing the kernel will reduce the phytate content a little bit. I don’t have further details on corn preparation, an entire article could be written on corn and traditional preparation.
PREPARATION OF OATS AND CORN
When preparing these grains according to traditional methods, such as those provided in Nourishing Traditions, the best idea is to add one or more tablespoons of freshly ground rye flour. Rye flour contains high levels of phytase that will be activated during the soaking process. This method reflects new information obtained since the publication of Nourishing Traditions. Even without the rye flour, overnight soaking of oats and other low-phytase grains greatly improves digestibility but won’t eliminate too much phytic acid. Another grain that benefits from added rye flour during soaking is sorghum, which is lower in phytic acid than wheat but lacking in phytase. (Buckwheat contains high levels of phytase and would not need added rye flour.) You can keep whole rye grains and grind a small amount in a mini grinder for adding to these grains during the soaking process.
PREPARATION OF BEANS
If beans are a staple of your diet, extra care is needed in their preparation, including soaking for twenty-four hours (changing the soaking water at least once) and very long cooking. In general, soaking beans and then cooking removes about 50 percent of phytic acid. One report with peas and lentils shows that close to 80 percent of phytic acid can be removed by soaking and boiling. Boiling beans that haven’t been soaked may remove much less phytic acid. Germinating and soaking, or germinating and souring is the best way to deal with beans; dosas made from soaked and fermented lentils and rice is a good example from India. In Latin America, beans are often fermented after the cooking process to make a sour porridge, such as chugo.
PREPARATION OF NUTS
We still do not have adequate information on nut preparation to say with any certainty how much phytic acid is reduced by various preparation techniques. Soaking in salt water and then dehydrating to make “crispy nuts” makes the nuts more digestible and less likely to cause intestinal discomfort, but we don’t know whether this process significantly reduces phytic acid, although it is likely to reduce at least a portion of the phytic acid.
Roasting probably removes a significant portion of phytic acid. Roasting removes 32-68 percent of phytic acid in chick peas and roasting grains removes about 40 percent of phytic acid. Germinated peanuts have 25 percent less phytic acid then ungerminated peanuts. Several indigenous groups cooked and or roasted their nuts or seeds. I notice that I like the taste and smell of roasted nuts.
The real problem with nuts comes when they are consumed in large amounts, such as almond flour as a replacement for grains in the GAPS diet. For example, an almond flour muffin contains almost seven hundred milligrams of phytic acid, so consumption should be limited to one per day. Eating peanut butter every day would also be problematic.
PREPARATION OF COCONUT FLOUR
We do not have enough information about the preparation of coconut flour to say whether soaking reduces phytic acid, but as with other phytic-acid containing foods, the likelihood is that it is at least partially reduced.
MORE UPDATES
COCONUT AND PHYTIC ACID
I’m writing in regard to the article written by Ramiel Nagel titled “Living with Phytic Acid” (Spring 2010). In the article there are references to the phytic acid content of coconut. Since the publication of this article people have been asking me whether they should soak coconut or coconut flour to reduce the phytic acid.
Phytic acid occurs in nuts and seeds in two forms—phytic acid and phytic acid salts [Reddy, NR and Sathe, SK (Eds.) Food Phytates. CRC Press, 2001]. Both are generally referred to as “phytates.” Together, these two compounds make up the total percentage of phytates reported in various foods. However, they do not possess the same chelating power. So the chelating effect of the phytates in corn, wheat, or soy are not the same as those in coconut. You cannot predict the chelating effect based on total phytate content alone.
The mineral-binding effect of the phytates in coconut is essentially nonexistent. It is as if coconut has no phytic acid at all. In a study published in 2002, researchers tested the mineral binding capacity of a variety of bakery products made with coconut f lour. Mineral availability was determined by simulating conditions that prevail in the small intestine and colon. The researchers concluded that “coconut flour has little or no effect on mineral availability.” (Trinidad, TP and others. The effect of coconut flour on mineral availability from coconut flour supplemented foods. Philippine Journal of Nutrition 2002;49:48-57). In other words, coconut flour did not bind to the minerals. Therefore, soaking or other phytic acid-neutralizing processes are completely unnecessary.
Soaking has been suggested as a means to reduce the phytic acid content in grains and nuts. Some suggest coconut flour should also be soaked. To soak coconut flour doesn’t make any sense. The coconut meat from which the flour is made, is naturally soaked in water its entire life (12 months) as it is growing on the tree. To remove the meat from the coconut and soak it again is totally redundant. After the coconut meat has been dried and ground into flour, soaking it would ruin the flour and make it unusable. You should never soak coconut flour.
In the tropics coconut has been consumed as a traditional food for thousands of years. Those people who use it as a food staple and regard it as “sacred food,” do not soak it or process it in any way to remove phytates. It is usually eaten raw. This is the traditional method of consumption. They apparently have not suffered any detrimental effects from it even though in some populations it served as their primary source of food.
Bruce Fife, ND
Colorado Springs, Colorado
More Information – https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/food-features/be-kind-to-your-grains-and-your-grains-will-be-kind-to-you/
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This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2010.
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Hi Judy, I think the footnotes are about 3/5 of the way down the page. Like you, it took me a while to find it on the page. They’re also in the printed version of this article in the print 2010 edition of Wise Traditions. Julie
Did you know phytic acid is a major anti cancer antioxident? Did you know that the studies that show phytic acid is an antinutrient were poorly designed? Phytic plays a role in reducing colon cancer.
Sources please.
The source is directly above, where the heading is “Phytates: A Beneficial Role?” and says “researchers claim that phytic acid may help prevent colon cancer and other cancers” then
cites “15. Vucenik I and Shamsuddin AM. Cancer inhibition by inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) and inositol: from laboratory to clinic. The Journal of Nutrition 2003 Nov 133(11 Suppl 1); Jenab M and Thompson LU (August 2000). Phytic acid in wheat bran affects colon morphology, cell differentiation and apoptosis. Carcinogenesis 2000 Aug 21(8):1547–52.”
Thank you, mistymuckrunningbrook. Science and learning are ongoing things! Diversity in eating, I say. Simplicity, too. Why gain chronic anxiety over food prep, with no time for other pursuits? Also, many plants have accidentally evolved to have their main parts be unhealthy for those who might eat them. It’s not a bad idea to only sparingly eat plants that animals leave alone, such as most herbs. But if you come across a weed that browser/grazers love, such as red-root pigweed (Amaranth family), enjoy adding the diversity of this free dark green (cooked) to your diet.
This is very annoying. I enter “phytic acid in pumpkin seeds” in startpage, and I get this site as the first choice. The writer specifically mentions that pumpkin seeds are high in phytate, but apparently he does not want us to know just how much phytate there is in pumpkin seeds. There are long lists of other foods containing phytate, but nothing about pumpkin seeds.
Is this research you refer to carried out on rats?
That would be important because some experiments carried out on rats and mice are completely irrelevant to humans because of the significant physiological differences as the article above refers to: “Ruminant animals such as cows, sheep and goats have no trouble with phytic acid because phytase is produced by rumen microorganisms; monogastric animals also produce phytase, although far less. Mice produce thirty times more phytase than humans.”
If mice or rats produces significantly more phytase, the enzyme that neutralizes phytic acid and liberates the phosphorus how did they establish that the reduction in the cancer was not from, for example the higher phosphorous availability which is well known to drive ATP production which is key to cellular energy and good health?
One has to be aware of the terms of reference and what the research is trying to promote, eg better health from the ground up or the impression of better health from the top down, by promoting the consumption of more supplements and medicines to limit symptoms.
Well done! I’m convinced most health claims are based upon theory, what the thing should do based on its content , and not actual practice (how the body actually reacts to it). Even in this case if it’s practice, it’s still theory as it’s being tested on an animal with an entirely different digestive process. Well done, again!
The article above mentions this and goes on to explain how it effects healthy cells at the same time. Therefore it would not be very effective treatment.
Footnote:
In those days of old the ‘corn’ (grain) stood in the fields in sheaves ’til the rain soaked & washed them clean & germination began.
An excellent article, but I would like to know, if possible, to what extent “reduction” of phytates involves the elimination of the phytates from the food (with soaking?) , or the increase of bioavailable phosphorus in the food.
Footnotes?
So where do I find the footnoted references for this article? I would like to use them to dig further on some of this. Thanks.
There are over 60 footnoted references documenting this article at the end of this article as usual.
Don’t worry there is a point here for dealing with phytates.
Common sense, self awareness, wisdom, is rare. Science is an expensive tool of government tyranny, & crony corporate deceit.
Reality-nature is infinitely complex. Science is tunnel vision & will never comprehend it. Simplify. Try common sense. Science is simply observation & experiment so do it yourself.
Example: cream or fat is heavy? Fact: water is a standard for weight, volume & density – anything heavier or more dense than water will sink in water. Put some water in a transparent container. Put in some food colored oil or non-homo ‘heavy” cream cream. Does the cream sink? No. It floats. It is lighter than the standard, than water. Fat is the same: light, not heavy. Nonfat food is not light, it is heavy. It will sink you. But excessive vege oil will sink you (only small amounts needed).
Example: put two containers of milk out on a table at room temperature. One raw milk, the other pasteurized. Let it set there one week. Taste the raw milk – it is sour but tastes good. Taste the pasteurized milk – it is so rotten you can’t stand it at all – the staph & strep remaining after pasteurization has developed in the milk, rotting it.
Example: Natural saturated fats are solid at room temperature but LIQUID at BODY TEMPERATURE. Plus natural fat is CLEANSING, as in soap, as in getting cosmetics off your face, as in mechanic’s hand cleaner. Industrial artificially saturated-hardened vegetable oil (transfats) is hard both at room temperature & body temperature & clogs circulation wherever it goes. And it is REALLY GREASY. If natural saturated fats are bad how do synthetic fats become good?
Our foundation is minerals. Our soil is EXTREMELY deficient in minerals & so is our food that comes from it. Plants need very little soil nutrients to grow well & look good. We need far more than that to be healthy. Organic produce that looks bad IS BAD. Only a soil rich in all the minerals & life (fungal) will support animal-human life. There is practically no such soil these days. The minerals have been washed to the sea for centuries. The fungal life is killed by fungicides.
Mineral supplements are expensive & unnecessary – few can be absorbed. Acid (for one) is needed to make minerals absorbable. Gelatinous bone broth is needed also (we are gelatin-collagen, protoplasm, not water).
Ashes, of sea plants or of wood, are acid in water (will burn your skin if you have ashes on yor skin & you get wet). For minerals eat sea plants & animals. Wood ashes were once used as an acid to make soap. You can put some good expensive organic egg shells, or good bones, in some water with wood ashes (makes acid & is also a mineral source) or vinegar (or make your own vinegar with water, molasses, lemon & a few days time), to dissolve the shells completely, leaving only the membrane. Takes about a week. Salt this well with real sea salt (made from the sea, not from a mine) to cut the sourness. Sweeten with molasses, honey or native agave or maple syrup. Use as a condiment or a drink. Experiment to make it suit your taste. Bones from commercial animal foods are quite soft & thin, & getting thinner, denoting poor mineral content. You can also dissolve shells & bones in ascorbic acid or acerola cherry or both combined. Wood or sea plant ashes, besides mineral content, as an important dietary acid for digestion, is forgotten.
In this way you get the acid needed for digestion in the UPPER STOMACH & minerals you need to overcome mineral absorption problems, as per phytates, & remain healthy.
You can get good cheap animal supplements, better than the human, at a farm store in the country. But they are disapearing. Until a few years ago you could get 7% ‘Stronger Iodine” (really a Lugol’s) for $7/pint. Now it is $20, $30 or $40 an ounce & only online or by veterinarian. The crony corporate vice is closing. The squeeze is on in earnest.
Veterinary (country farm) care is far superior to conventional medical, but pet vets are going all in for drugs, soy, low fat, low salt, all the lies.
The mineral rich vinegar or ash-acid water will be cloudy or milky looking.
I have used oats in fermenting solutions to keep it all very fresh & clean, similarly lemon juice.
The ideadline that phytates or anything else is a problem is due to mineral deficiency.
You may think you have acid stomach but really it is seriously failed digestion due to mineral deficiencys & sitting or lying around for more than 1hr after eating – the food in the upper stomach gets very sour & is supposed to then fall-descend into the lower stomach section, but if you’re not standing up it will remain in the upper stomach area & keep getting more acid ’til it burns badly & can only be vomited.
I guess you have not heard about the Lewis Antigen System – whereby Chromosome 19 is involved with secretor or non-secretor status. 25% of the population has the Lewis gene and is “non secretor,” like myself. This means there is not enough bifida bacteria in the digestive tract to handle phytic acid, and all the phosphorus in high phytate foods binds with the calcium and magnesium in the body and drags it out….hence lots of cavities, like I have had throughout my life. So, it is not due simply to “mineral deficiency” as you state.
A solution made with water and ashes from wood create a potassium rich lye which is strongly alkaline, not acid. Interesting to contemplate how this would react with the calcium (alkaline) in the bones and egg shells. The lemon juice trick works with egg shells for sure, makes calcium citrate.
Dr. Jim wrote, “Ashes, of sea plants or of wood, are acid in water (will burn your skin if you have ashes on yor skin & you get wet). For minerals eat sea plants & animals. Wood ashes were once used as an acid to make soap.”
Ash of wood in water is highly, highly alkaline aka lye. Contains a lot of the element of potassium and some calcium, which are positively charged elements that strongly attract negatively charged elements like oxygen to them. Abundance of oxygen ions is what creates alkalinity chemical wise.
One of the treatments for skin exposure to lye, is to have an acid on hand, like vinegar to help neutralize it.
I just mixed up two egg shells with some ashes from my fireplace. So in a week I can drink this? I’m highly interested in this, thank you
Hmm. 🤔
Soaking water, discard or keep?
I noticed in the recipe for soaking brown rice that you say to cook the rice in the remaining soaking liquid rather than pouring it off and using fresh water, as is instructed in the article you referenced. Any reason why you believe cooking in the soaking water is more beneficial than pouring it off? Maybe an even better method would be to pour off the soaking water and cook it in stock?
Discard the soaking water unless yout intend to use it to ferment something for months. In that case a strong salt solution is used to control sourness-acidity to maintain edible flavor.
DrJim, how may I contact you?… I would like to make this eggshell recipe, what are the proportions? Where can I get ”sea plant ashes”, I looked online and could find nothing…
What about spelt? Soft wheat?
What an enlightening article! What about spelt? Has there been any research done on its levels of phytic acid and phytase? Also, is there any difference between hard wheat and soft wheat, in terms of levels of phytase and phytic acid? I like to use soft wheat for most of my baking, but am curious now about whether hard wheat would be better, in terms of soaking success.
Did you ever get an answer about the spelt?
Re: Soaking water, discard or keep?
Hi Suzanne,
To be honest, I think Rami made a mistake in that part of the article. I also was really confused when I read the part about the brown rice. But after a few very careful readings of the article he referenced, I’m pretty sure that the correct way to do this is to:
1. Soak the rice in plain water.
2. Drain the rice and rinse, reserving 10% of the soaking liquid. PUT THIS IN THE FRIDGE FOR LATER USE.
3. Cook rinsed rice in plain water, or broth for extra minerals.
4. Next time you make rice, soak it in plain water PLUS the reserved soaking liquid from last time. Repeat the same process for cooking the rice and reserving 10% of the soaking liquid in the fridge.
I know Rami says to cook in the soaking liquid, but that’s not what the article he referenced says to do. I think the author changed his wording to make it more clear because a lot of people didn’t understand.
Good luck!
soaking times, then need to be longer?
SO, what I’m getting from this article is that soaking times need to be longer AND warmer, than explained in NT, to really make a difference in the phytic acid content of grains? Is that right? Also, what about introducing grains to babies? What this be a case where maybe the more processed / refined cereals would be better introductions to a baby’s digestive system? I realize it’s a much less nutritious food, but is the more ‘whole’ food harsher in the system? I assume the perfect solution would be the long/warm soaks, then long slow cooking?
We don’t give our baby grains. Rare times for convenience, but mostly he eats what we eat. He didn’t start solids until 6 months, and they are given occasionally at breakfast or dinner or a snack, however our schedule goes. This article does say for young children to avoid phytic acid as much as possible. He hasnt suffered in weight at all, as he is in the 97th percentile and is very healthy. I would also mention he is breastfed, as that may make a difference…
He eats a variety of vegetables and fruits, eggs, meats, cheeses, yogurt…
Help from Vitamin A
Vitamin A reduces the inhibition of iron absorption by phytates and polyphenols
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/V191e/ch02.htm
I believe getting healthy food in you is more important than keeping unhealthy food out. This is another bit of research showing that. This organization has always promoted foods high in both vitamin A and D.
Buckwheat preparation
Can you please say something about proper buckwheat preparation. Does it contain phatase and phytic acid? Is it safe to consume soaked buckweat or is cooking required to make it more nutricious/digestible? Thank you, Bella
Phytates are harmful phosphorus compounds. They should be cooked and not just soaked. Fermenting gets rid of the phytates, however cooking is best in our experience, because ferments have a number of problems including but not limited to yin qualities of the food and toxic
Aldehydes. The safest fermented foods are butter, miso, and small amounts of sauerkraut from time to time and 4oz a day of raw cheese, kefir and yoghurt.
A wise old lady in Austria introduced me to buckwheat many years ago and she taught me to discard the pink water that buckwheat gives off in the first few minutes of boiling. She didn’t say why, I don’t think I asked her, I just trusted her because I had never cooked or eaten Buckwheat before and she seems old and wise 😉
I have always done this but I’ve met no one that does this since.
So, how I do it is bring the buckwheat to boil with enough water to just cover the groats, stirring it a bit, then once the water is pink and a little thicker (maybe 30 seconds of boiling and stirring) pour the buckwheat and pink water through a sieve, rinse the buckwheat in fresh water, then pour more water over the buckwheat groats so they are just covered, then boil till they are cooked. This process can be sped up a lot if I use boiled water from the electric kettle.
Nut milks and carob
This is a very informative article and I hope the author continues his research into this matter. I have 2 questions that I hope someone looks into. I was wondering about phytates in nut milk. Since the phytic acid is found in the bran of grains would the phytic acid in nuts be bound up in the fibers of the nut? Thus leaving the phytic acid behind during the straining process of producing nut milk? Also wondering about the extent of phytates in carob.
All grains, beans, seeds & nuts (except coconut) contain what healthy traditional peoples call ‘poisons’ & we call phytates & other digestive blockers. They all need at least soaked to remove much of it but fermenting, the longer the better, removes more & cooking removes some more. The idea is to reduce anti-digestives, not eliminate them. Use of gelatin bone broth protects & heals the gut & intestines & supports digestion including helping with anti-digestives. Dietary fats also promote digestion & nutrient assimilation. All these help & can be done as a person deems needed by their sense of well being. You are the scientist here. The science is self observation. Learn. Experiment.
And bran of grains are likewise especially anti-digestive. Rice bran included. Originally sheaves of grain stood in the fields & were washed by the rain. That bran & grain were food that could sustain life. Now grain is ripped from the field at high speed to avoid it getting rained on.
I wouild love more info on this too. Dr. Mercola recommends eating raw cacao, and he says that fermenting it greatly reduces the polyphenols. but i thought that fermenting it was traditional. sigh.
seeds
When it is said in the article that seeds contain phytic acid, are we talking all seeds! Like cucumber seeds which is a close relative to pumpkin, grape seeds, berry seeds, tomato seeds, etc? I eat all these food I just mentioned on a regular basis and always raw. Am I messing with my health?
I suspect non-sweet fruits like cukes and tomatoes, and sweet fruits like blueberries won’t have too much phytic acid. Since phytic acid is the storage form of phosphorus, oily nuts and seeds, as well as grains, will contain more phytic acid. Non-sweet fruits and sweet fruits tend to be very low on phosphorus. However, an oily seed like pumpkin seed is off the charts in phosphorus.
Grape seed might have a little more phytic acid, since it seems to contain more fat, than, say, a cucumber seed, therefore making it a little more like an oily nut or seed.
Hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Andrew
It’s important to keep in mind that most people generally avoid chewing seeds like those from grapes ( many small fruits reproduce by passing through an animal’s digestive tract) Presumably since the seeds isn’t breached, then the phytic acid probably isn’t a concern. Grinding up 10,000 seeds and eating that a la grains is another story…
A reasonably healthy digestive tract has a stomach with strong churning action–food is not going to “lie around” in this stomach. A healthy person has a strong valve at the top of the stomach that prevents food from rising up out of the stomach and burning the esophagus tube. Either of these troubles are most often caused by frequent alcohol consumption, meals that are too big, dependence on antacids, or chronic anxiety.
It’s also likely that phytates don’t become abundant in seeds of all types until they are fairly mature. In that case, veggies that we eat in a non-mature state (cukes, summer squashes, YOUNG green beans or peas, YOUNG sweet corn, tomatoes that are too young to save seeds for planting from, etc) would probably have less phYtates. But with fruits, IF we’re eating the seeds, they are generally mature so will likely have plenty of phytates. But “Ellimist” makes a good point.
Almond Flour is Bad? What about the SCD Diet?
While I think Rami is well intentioned, I do have to wonder if he’s a little biased in his writing, constantly referring to phytates as “anti-nutrients” (even though he later writes about their potential benefits).
And what about almond flour? It is a STAPLE food of the SCD Diet, a diet that has cured thousands of people from years of suffering from Chron’s disease and other gastrointestinal diseases.
I hope he’ll return and answer some of these questions posted.
Respectfully,
Dan
Souring lentils
Would someone please explain to me what is meant by souring lentils? I am referring to where he advises to soak and then sprout lentils and after that sour. In general I have found this article to be of great value. Thank you for the time and effort put into this research.:-*
to sour or souring means to ferment or fermenting
Thanks for your interesting article! I have been lacto soaking gluten-free oats,quinoa & amaranth before cooking for better digestibility and am intrigued by the addition of rye to raise the phytase content. What Gluten-free high-phytase add-in can you recommend besides rye? Also, for nuts & seeds, besides soaking in salt overnight and slow & low temp dehydration they must be roasted? Doesn’t the high temperature required for roasting destroy nutrients?
Surely we should worry less about nuts & seeds’ phytates, compared to the toxicity of rancid oils caused by roasting/toasting the polyunsaturated oils in nuts at high temps, or for too long! Nuts and seeds should be roasted at 325F or less, and for only a few minutes, till they are only a smidge darker, and are just beginning to have that fragrance.
Brown rice preparation
That brown rice preparation sidebar is *incorrect* – please click on the link immediately below to go to the source and see the correct method.
I soak overnight & sprout 3 days, brown rice all the time just like you would any seed, bean or grain.
What about almonds that are soaked, then have the skins popped off and dried in a 150 degree oven. Does removing the skins remove more of the phytic acid? Very informative article, proving again that we moderns have really lost touch with history and food preparation.
You got it. I prefer coconut for making milk since it is digestive instead of anti-digestive.
Please define the difference between “germinating” “fermention” and “sprouting” “soaking” This article is too dense and creates more confusion and questions for me
In response to Don and the difference between “germinating,” “fermentation,” “sprouting” and “soaking.” This can be confusing, but here are some quick definitions:
Germinating – an early stage of sprouting, usually involves soaking the grains/legumes for ~12 hours, draining, and keeping in a warm place for 1-3 days, rinsing often, until the seeds open up and you can see the beginnings of a shoot
Fermentation (this could also be referred to as “souring”) – in this context, this usually refers to introducing (or encouraging the propagation of) lactobacilli and/or other friendly acidifying flora by adding whey, yogurt, buttermilk, sourdough starter or fermented brine to the grains/legumes that you want to ferment. if you keep grains warm and wet you will often get spontaneous fermentation, though you may also get rot…the smell will be your guide.
Sprouting – sprouting is sometimes used interchangeably with germination, but I think of it as the next stage after germination when you continue rinsing the sprouts for several more days, encouraging longer shoots to form.
Soaking – this is simply letting the grains/legumes sit in water. this usually precedes germination, but with high phytase grains like wheat and rye, this may be sufficient to reduce a significant amount of phytates. soaking in an acidified liquid (with whey, vinegar, etc. added) will encourage the activity of phytase.
This is an extremely basic interpretation, but I hope it helps you sort through all this information!
Is there any way to neutralize the phytates in cacao? Thanks! Brenda
If you gave the cacao beans just soak them overnight & rinse. If you have the nibs or powder just don’t eat alot of it. Small amounts of phytates & other antidigestives as in beans, grains, seeds & nuts, is beneficial. That is why these foods are side dishes in healthy traditional cultures & used in small amounts.
In response to Don and the difference between “germinating,” “fermentation,” “sprouting” and “soaking.” This can be confusing, but here are some quick definitions:
Germinating – an early stage of sprouting, usually involves soaking the grains/legumes for ~12 hours, draining, and keeping in a warm place for 1-3 days, rinsing often, until the seeds open up and you can see the beginnings of a shoot
Fermentation (this could also be referred to as “souring”) – in this context, this usually refers to introducing (or encouraging the propagation of) lactobacilli and/or other friendly acidifying flora by adding whey, yogurt, buttermilk, sourdough starter or fermented brine to the grains/legumes that you want to ferment. if you keep grains warm and wet you will often get spontaneous fermentation, though you may also get rot…the smell will be your guide.
Sprouting – sprouting is sometimes used interchangeably with germination, but I think of it as the next stage after germination when you continue rinsing the sprouts for several more days, encouraging longer shoots to form.
Soaking – this is simply letting the grains/legumes sit in water. this usually precedes germination, but with high phytase grains like wheat and rye, this may be sufficient to reduce a significant amount of phytates. soaking in an acidified liquid (with whey, vinegar, etc. added) will encourage the activity of phytase.
This is an extremely basic interpretation, but I hope it helps you sort through all this information!
Wow. Never knew this… Will have to rethink some of my raw food eating habits.
Alford oatmeal
I just found a US source for Alford oatmeal: http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/products/all-natural-food-and-classic-candy/Specialty-Food/pinhead-oatmeal.html?evar3=browse
Rami Nagel you are awesome! Thank you a million times. Your work and your words are invaluable. I am mineral deficient in Iron. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you.
GF grains
Am I correct in noting that due to buckwheat’s high phytase content, it could be used to augment the soaking of low phytase gluten-free grains, in lieu of wheat flour? For example, adding a couple of tablespoons of buckwheat flour to GF oats and soaking them per the porridge recipe in Nourishing Traditions? Buckwheat does not have a neutral flavor though. Are there other high-phytase, GF flours?
yams vs,. sweet pot.
THe term yam is confusing. It think what most of us buy in the grocery store (at least in Canada) is really sweet potatoe. Is this what you mean when you say yam or are you meaning true yam that is poisonous to eat raw and is cut off a very large tuber
I found this link helpful to distinguish yams from sweet potato. Hopefully the authors of this site are using the same (apparently correct) definition!
Basically the long orange tubers are sweet potatoes, not yams.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/difference-between-sweet-potatoes-and-yams_n_1097840.html
stabilized rice bran
Lately stabilized rice bran has been touted as an excellent supplement(1-2 T per day). Would this be high in phytic acid and so negate any special nutrient value in it or does the process to stabilize it take care of the phytic acid?
Yes I also suspect that rice bran. Best to contact Bob’s Red Mill about that –
Soaking poppy seed
What about poppy seed? I have read that it should be soaked overnight in milk. Is it necessary because of phytic acid?
Soaking other grains with rye or wheat?
If Rye and Wheat have high phytase contents, can one soak oats (low phytase content) with those grains in order to ensure greater phytase activation? I thought that I had read that in this article but then I went back at a later time to find it and couldn’t – so apologies if I am being terribly dyslexic!
🙂
Phytic Acid in Mochi
Great article. I reference it frequently. Does contemporary mochi contain healthy levels of phytic acid?
OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Ever since ive started my whole wheat diet my teeth are becoming more and more transparent. My eyesight fell when i was 15 and given all seeds diet from my mom, thinking it will make me smarter somehow and help me in the exams. I fell like empty body back then. Waiting to be put out of misery. After, realizing that my knew health diet is actually the cause of how my eyesight is falling again tremendously and how my hair are falling and how my stamina disappearing, and how my teeth are becoming like transparent i think i should have gotten the clue. That the change i made could be the one of the culprit. I really should listen to my own advice, question everything. Till the end.
OMG i cant bleieve this, i eat whole wheat whole day. No wonder i dont feel that soldiness in my bones, and kinda shy away from jumping, think it could be something to do with me entering into twenties. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
OMG? You mean,”O
h my Grandma?”
He means OMG everything, the soil, plants, animal is extremely deficient in multiple nutrients starting with the minerals in the soil – he means the foundation is gone from our food. He means you have as much chance as a snowball in hell fire to figure it out & get it right. He means study this site closely, study Adelle Davis in light of this site and study Rare Earths & Forbidden Cures by MA Land or on Youtube.
Ma Lan, Joel Wallach on you tube
Umer, you were eating only whole grains and whole seeds? So sad that that you had no richly-colored vegetables and fruits. Just a bit of animal protein would’ve helped, too–in the way that some peoples use animal products sparingly to add flavor. Yes, ferment your grains & other seeds, but relax, broaden your diet and include rest and EXERCISE–or as in bed-ridden people, you will not be able to fully use those ferment-created minerals!
Popcorn
Would anybody know if popcorn, air-popped or oil-popped, is healthy? Is there any way to reduce phytic acid from popcorn? Thank you.
Problem with corn is that it is high in omega-6. If you have a balanced 6 to 3 diet usually than air or micro-wave popped without oil is healthy.
Microwaved ANYTHING is not healthy.
AMEN!
Hopefully we all realize that microwaved popcorn is most certainly not healthy, in part due to the chemicals in the bag and whatever else may be added. Always read the ingredients. Furthermore, stating that any packaged food is inherently “healthy” is a fallacy. Again, read the ingredients and know how the food was sourced and prepared before it got to you, and then you’ll know whether it is a healthful product or not.
Advising against the use of a healthy fat/oil is also incorrect. If you’re using olive oil or clarified butter (ghee), that is most likely the healthiest part. Any other oil should be avoided due to high levels of Omega-6 and liver toxicity.
Sprouted almond flour/ almond sourdough
Dan,
About almond flour. I make all my own sprouted almond flour by buying almonds in bulk and soaking them in water for sometimes as long as five days, changing the water at least once a day, sometimes twice a day if I feel like it. Then I dehydrate them in my dehydrator until they are very very very dry, grind them into flour with my Vitamix dry blade and sift to create almond four that is ultimately way more nutritious, cheaper, and finer in texture than what I can buy in the store. It’s a bit labor intensive and time consuming (If I’m out of almond flour I have to wait up to a week for a new batch) but SO worth it. My almond flour is also better than store bought because mine contains the bran and therefore could be called “whole” almond flour. Almond flour in stores is always blanched and never whole. I have been toying with the idea of trying to make a sprouted almond flour sourdough but I don’t know if it would behave the same way grain would because almonds have a much higher fat content than most grains, along with other big differences. I would also need enough almond flour on hand to consistently feed my starter to keep it alive, and at the moment I don’t have the money to do that. I can barely afford toilet paper.
Has anyone made almond flour sourdough? Does anyone know if it can be done? If so please comment!
Also, like most things, phytic acid is neither 100% evil nor 100% wonderful. It’s not black and white. It is okay and even beneficial to have in small amounts, but the danger comes when people eat way too much of it. And the average American eats WAY too much of it. The bottom rung of our food pyramid is made up entirely of seeds, and no one knows how to prepare them right!
actually soaking almonds and leaving the skin on is proven to not reduce phytic acid, except maby by 5%
rice prep
I’ve read several clarifications on prepping the rice and am still confused. What you’re left with, after five or six cycles, is a liquid that will reduce phytates to almost nothing in a 24 hour soak? And in the meantime You’ve made all these batches of phytate-rich rice that you’re eating?
David First soak hopefully has a little of the good bacteria, second to forth they become firmly established. You have possibly been eating brown rice just boiled for decades ?? If your worried about the initial batches just throw the rice out and keep the required liquid.
Hi. Is soaking the wheat flour in yeast/warm water overnight sufficient for reducing phytic acid?
I find this interesting, considering that Bruce Fife just published research from the Philippines showing that coconut flour contains virtually no phytic acid at all. This article also goes against just about all of the soaking/fermenting/sprouting advice found in Sally Fallon’s Cookbook. Who to believe?
Well, as a healthy man @ 70, and avid eater life-long of rolled oats, whole beans and grains, this article is about 80% wrong-headed!
Why?
The poor man says why wjere he mentions that people who eat who eat whole grains develop gut flora and fauna that reduce phytates!
Problem with this jalf-brained report is ZERO Focus On developing proprr gut digestion of whole foods!
He briefly notes that fermented dairy provides gut digestion, but provides nothing to go on for producing lifetime gut digestion!
To gain lifetime gut digestion plus whole body health, go watch “Dead Doctors Don’t Lie,” by Dr. Joel Wallach – YouTube
This scare tactic weston-price site misses health by a universe!
Lisa, I think you may have misunderstood what Bruce Fife said. He did not say coconut flour contains virtually no phytic acid at all, what he said was the binding effect of the phytates in coconut is essentially non-existent… and is consistent with what I read in above article.
It’s not that coconut has no phytic acid, it’s just that it does not have the form that readily binds other minerals.
Phytic acid occurs in two forms—phytic acid and phytic acid salts. Both are generally referred to as “phytates.” Together, these two compounds make up the total percentage of phytates reported in various foods. However, they do not possess the same chelating power. So the chelating effect of the phytates in corn, wheat, or soy are not the same as those in coconut. You cannot predict the chelating effect based on total phytate content alone. http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/01/coconut-flour-and-phytic-acid-does-it-need-to-be-soaked.html
Rami, this report is an excellent compilation, and very helpful to me in understanding the impact of being a vegetarian for the past 7 years, using beans, nuts, and seeds as my main source of protein and fats. My digestive system has become more “sensitive” in the past year, and I thought it might be due to work stress, but now I can see that my phytate consumption level was probably off the charts. About 4 weeks ago I changed to a paleo diet, eliminating the grains, legumes, and beans, but still consuming a lot of almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and walnuts. I was soaking them overnight in the refrigerator with some lemon juice, but I can now see that this was totally inadequate. Your data (indicating the residual phytates) suggests that I should probably stop eating the nuts and seeds entirely for a while, then reintroduce them gradually, but only after processing them much more extensively according to your recommendations. Thank you again for sharing all of this well-researched information, especially about coconut and buckwheat.
or not reintroduce at all…..all the vitamins in nuts and seeds can be consumed from other foods….people/humans just want to be able to chew on/eat everything, just like a little kid wanting to eat what he wants, when he wants. For optimal health, I say avoid completely and get the omega’s and nutrition from other sources.
Cacao beans are generally fermented and roasted to make chocolate
Because cacao beans are traditionally fermented and roasted to make finer chocolates, I’d recheck your information regarding the processing. It’s doubtful there are significant phytates if the fermentation and roasting process is done.
Right! To make cacao, or any kind of chocolate, the bean is fermented a very long time. Same for vanilla & coffee.
i spent time on a cacao farm in Guatemala, and the beans weren’t fermented ‘a very long time.’ i would say they were fermented for about four or five days. just until the white goo that surround each bean inside the fruit has disappeared due to the fermentation. then, they spread the beans out in the sun, for a number of days, 3 to a few weeks, depending on the type of cacao bean.
Cacao is super high in oxalate though. High oxalic acid intake is even worse than that of phytic acid.
Fermentation reduces oxalate too
Clarrification of Malting
In regards to interpretation of reference # 64 where the 98% phytate reduction of oats is discussed, do you possibly mean that the oats are to be soaked for 5 days at 52 F and then germinated (incubated) for 72 hours at 120F. Or possibly germinated for 5 days at 52F and then dried for 72 hours at 120F. My understanding of malting is 1)soak (seep) 2)germinate (incubate) 3)dry. But, as I am not a food scientist I am unsure. It seems counter intuitive to sprout and then soak. Thoughts?
With much respect to author of this article and the readers,
Lisa G.
Updated Link for the broken link: Vitamin A reduces the inhibition of iron absorption by phytates and polyphenols
http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/food/V191e/ch02.htm
roasted peanut butter: fequency of eating
Have you any data on the nutritional consequences vis a vis phytic acid if one eats roasted peanut butter daily, as in a thick sandwich? Thank you.
Peter, a better view of peanut butter detriment to health is its 3100:1 ratio of omega 6 to omega 3!
Processed foods are far out of omega 3&6 balance that is slightly higher 6 than 3. As you can see, at 3100 6 to 1 omega 3, peanut butter is not suitable as a food.
Pmega 6 has carcenogic effects when high. The immune system uses it to cause inflammation of damed, diseased tissue. But high 6 inflames healthy tissues!
Wrong it’s 15:1 – 20:1
Just eat enough flax/chia seeds and you’ll be fine
Congratulation, I find this is the best article I have ever read about nutrition. 🙂
chief loafer
“Yeasted whole wheat breads lost only 22-58 percent of their phytic acid content from the start of the bread making process to the complete loaf.48”
I’ve been having good results with folks who are “gluten-intolerant” by soaking the dough for my whole grain wheat bread for a full seven hours before baking. I wonder what percentages of phytic acid content loss would be found under those circumstances?
How is dough soaked?
Steel Cut Kiln Dried Oats Considred Heat Treated?
Are steel cut oats that are kiln dried considered heat treated oats? I have been soaking my kiln dried steel cut oats in whey and want to know if this is a useful practice or if my oats are do not contain phytase which would make the soaking useless.
Lisa, the whole scare tactic of this article is exposed by its brief mention that mice and we people develop gut flora and fauna which digest phytates!
At 70, I’ve consumed oats and whole grains all my life without being unhealthy. This study is heavily imbalamced as it fails to include the fact that feeding carnivorous animals whole grains causes their intestine to lengthen and create flora and fauna to digest whole grains.
Half-assed fiet fad “gurus” are drawn likes moths to flames to “health” food places like this one.
Take what is said and go to the whole world for complete facts.
ClaudA, what gut fauna (animals) are you referring too? I don’t know of any gut fauna that should be in my gut!
The enzyme phytase coexists in plants that contain phytates, to liberate phosphorus which makes it easier for the gut flora to metabolise the phosphorous and other nutrients.
While gut flora can produce some phytase, it varies considerably between humans and other animals. The research says mice produce thirty times more phytase than humans. That is likely because mice have adapted to mainly eat seeds and nuts while humans are more carnivorous.
If ones intestine lengthens, that is often not a good thing. It allows more time to absorb toxic substances including certain flora that should be moved on. The lengthening is often a result of poor metabolism of nutrients causing low levels of the hormones that are necessary to keep out intestinal tract muscles moving, resulting in the intestinal tract and colon stretching and lengthening, an undesirable effect that can cause kinks that obstruct the intestine and or small bowel.
Gut fauna would be aomebic dysentery.
However, some recent studies show higher phytate consumption correlates with stonger bones. It begs the question is it the phytates that are good or the foods associated with phytates despite their presence that increase the bone mass? So now I am really confused. Any comments on these studies? This is important information for those battling osteoporosis. 2 studies below
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19053869
Phytate (myo-inositol hexaphosphate) and risk factors for osteoporosis.
López-González AA, Grases F, Roca P, Mari B, Vicente-Herrero MT, Costa-Bauzá A.
Source
Servicio de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales, Gestión Sanitaria de Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Abstract
Several risk factors seem to play a role in the development of osteoporosis. Phytate is a naturally occurring compound that is ingested in significant amounts by those with diets rich in whole grains. The aim of this study was to evaluate phytate consumption as a risk factor in osteoporosis. In a first group of 1,473 volunteer subjects, bone mineral density was determined by means of dual radiological absorptiometry in the calcaneus. In a second group of 433 subjects (used for validation of results obtained for the first group), bone mineral density was determined in the lumbar column and the neck of the femur. Subjects were individually interviewed about selected osteoporosis risk factors. Dietary information related to phytate consumption was acquired by questionnaires conducted on two different occasions, the second between 2 and 3 months after performing the first one. One-way analysis of variance or Student’s t test was used to determine statistical differences between groups. Bone mineral density increased with increasing phytate consumption. Multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that body weight and low phytate consumption were the risk factors with greatest influence on bone mineral density. Phytate consumption had a protective effect against osteoporosis, suggesting that low phytate consumption should be considered an osteoporosis risk factor.
PMID: 19053869 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
and also
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22614760
Protective effect of myo-inositol hexaphosphate (phytate) on bone mass loss in postmenopausal women.
López-González AA, Grases F, Monroy N, Marí B, Vicente-Herrero MT, Tur F, Perelló J.
Source
Servicio de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales de GESMA (Gestión Sanitaria de Mallorca), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
The objective of this paper was to evaluate the relationship between urinary concentrations of InsP6, bone mass loss and risk fracture in postmenopausal women.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
A total of 157 postmenopausal women were included in the study: 70 had low (≤0.76 μM), 42 intermediate (0.76-1.42 μM) and 45 high (≥1.42 μM) urinary phytate concentrations. Densitometry values for neck were measured at enrollment and after 12 months (lumbar spine and femoral neck), and 10-year risk fracture was calculated using the tool FRAX(®).
RESULTS:
Individuals with low InsP6 levels had significantly greater bone mass loss in the lumbar spine (3.08 ± 0.65 % vs. 0.43 ± 0.55 %) than did those with high phytate levels. Moreover, a significantly greater percentage of women with low than with high InsP6 levels showed more than 2 % of bone mass loss in the lumbar spine (55.6 vs. 20.7 %). The 10-year fracture probability was also significantly higher in the low-phytate group compared to the high-phytate group, both in hip (0.37 ± 0.06 % vs 0.18 ± 0.04 %) and major osteoporotic fracture (2.45 ± 0.24 % vs 1.83 ± 0.11 %).
DISCUSSION:
It can be concluded that high urinary phytate concentrations are correlated with reduced bone mass loss in lumbar spine over 12 months and with reduced 10-year probability of hip and major osteoporotic fracture, indicating that increased phytate consumption can prevent development of osteoporosis.
PMID: 22614760 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Go find facts anout Vit. K-2. It is reduced in older people as digestion decreases. K-2 binds calcium to other bone elements. Reducing K-2 allows blood acids to dissolve bone calcium, then deposit the free-roaming calcium on dameged joint tissue, such as heart valves.
My wife died of complications of poor nutrient diet and anti-gas drug use that destroyed her digestion, encased her Aorta valve with calcium, and destroyed her organs, mostly her kidneys.
I reseached heavily, but it was too late.
So sorry for your loss, Claude.
So sorry Claude A. That has been & is happening to many, many women especially & something similar happened to my Mary 2yrs ago. I spent the last 3yrs determined to get to the bottom of it. I even read Adelle Davis Let’s Eat Right for the first time. It was my my mother’s & others in my family’s favorite & still is – with some changes. Anyway this site is by far the best info I know of – yet with all Adelle’s errors she still has a great deal of value for today.
This article says something like what you are saying right at the beginning:
Studies on phytic acid reveal that for some people, the phytic acid in whole grains blocks calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper; others seem immune to these adverse consequences, probably because of favorable gut flora, which in some cases can break down phytic acid. In addition, when animal fats providing vitamins A and D accompany dietary whole grains, the effects of phytic acid are mitigated.
I would add that gelatin-bone broth helps me a great deal with this. I no longer use Knox since it is likely GMO.
thanks Claude. you seem to see through the propaganda here.
Susan, the first research article seems to make assumptions by entirely indirect measures, a correlation between the amount of phytate consumed and disease state. That is there is no indication they actually measured the level of phytate in any part of the body.
The second research project: there is controversy over whether InsP6 (phytate) actually enters the blood stream and thus even be measured in urine. It seems to be one of those issues where the have assumed it to be present because of it’s association with phosphorous. a certain level of phosphorous in the urine is presumed to indicate a certain level of phytate. http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/11/150181
This research didn’t consider the holistic nutritional content of food. Wheat for example is often grown with high nitrogen fertiliser in poorer soils because it is paid for by the protein content. Other nutrient levels are inconsequential for payment of producers.
Under “PHYTATES IN BRAN” it highlights that wheat grown in very rich soils will have significantly more phosphorous (and other nutrients like calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron) than wheat grown in poorer soils or poor soils that are fortified with high nitrogen fertilisers.
That fact alone establishes the vast variability of the ratio of phytate to a wide range of available essential co-factor nutrients depending on the source of the grain.
It is quite probable that people who consume x amount of low nutrient density wheat will have poorer health outcomes than people who consume x amount of higher nutrient density wheat from more fertile soil, simply because assuming both have the same amount of phytate, the later will have much higher levels of essential co-factor vitamins and minerals that contribute to better health.
The other obvious issue is the complete absence of any consideration of all the limiting factors such as each individuals production of phytase that neutralises the phytate to liberate the phosphorus essential for bone health, and obviously those who consumed higher levels of calcium, iron and zinc would have more left over and be healthier after the phytate had bound up what it could.
The final BIG problem is that modern plant breeding has developed varieties with a wide range of phytate levels. So unless every test subject was consuming the same variety grown in the same quality soil, there can be no credible conclusion about anything.
owner
Would it be possible to add phytase enzyme, such as is used in animal feed, to a soaking grain?
Yup.
Can anybody speak to soaking pulses – Indian Dals and split peas and lentils. We are trying to incorporate more pulses and less meat…..anybody have good data to support soaking lentils? and if so, how long and whether lemon juice or whey is the way to go??
I would say skinless pulses are low in phytates, but don’t call me on that. I usually just soak them in warm water overnight without any acidic solution, since the acids tend to harden the legume we want melted in the dhal.
Great article to balance reading “Wheat Belly” and Low Carbs High Fat / Paleo Diets
I found that the article helps to balance out what one can find in the Wheat Belly book, Low Carbs High Fat / Paleo diets. There is a leaning away from eating grains in these writings, to improve health. These recommendations do not seem recognize that traditional ways of growing and preparing grain based foods can mitigate any side affects from eating the grains, allowing them to be eaten. Of course, most people only have access to the mass factory produced foods, even in raw form, that are not that healthy to begin with. There is also the time factor, with many families having both parents working, where there is no time to prepare foods in a traditional way, and the old ways have been forgotten.
One comment on corn, there was no mention of a traditional native corn cooking technique where ash (or other lye source?) is added during the cooking to break the corn down and allow it to be absorbed beneficially into the body. Jamie Oliver remarked on this in one of his TV series when he ate with Native Americans. How does that work with the acid levels?
One comment on whole wheat/brown bread vs white bread. In Newfoundland, Canada, when refined bleached white flour became readily available in the early/mid 20th century, people turned from making the whole wheat/brown bread to just white bread because it was more modern, and well to do people did not eat brown bread. This apparently had a negative affect on health.
One comment on basic breads. While visiting a living museum in one of the outports in Newfoundland,(I think it was at Cupids) there was a set-up for an 18th century kitchen where the demonstrator baked a basic “traditional” white bread recipe (unfortunately did not get the recipe), cooked in a Dutch oven next to the fire. The demonstrator remarked that a guide at the site, who was a diabetic, could eat this “traditional” bread with no problem whereas she had problems eating store bought white bread.
WRT to breads, does pumpernickel bread have any particular benefits?
Thanks again for the article.
Having tasted the pure joy of homemade corn tortillas from masa flour, I did a little searching and discovered, according to wikipedia, nixtamalization is a traditional process, maybe 3,000 years old, whereby corn is processed to create hominy and masa. This process substantially improves the digestibility, taste and nutritional effects of corn. I suspect it removes some or all of the phytatic acid as well. Has anyone at WP Foundation looked into this?
Answer to “What about the benefits of phytate”
Susan:
The first study you linked is an epidemiological/observational study. It “calculated” an association based on “questionnaires conducted… 2 and 3 months after performing the first one”. Throw the study in the garbage. An observation linking phytate consumption with good bone health is much more likely to be a result of the participants adapting to their high-phytate diet via lessening their calcium excretion – just because phytates chelate some of the nutrients doesn’t mean that a high-phytate diet can’t be better for bone health than a terrible low-phytate diet (think refined grains, poor fats, low calcium, low vitamin D, and so on). That brings us to experiment two…
It says it’s a clinical study, and I agree insofar as the fancy chromatographic separation of urine samples was necessary to determine phytate presence. It’s basically another observational study becuase all they did was measure phytate in urine, separate the women into 3 groups (low-med-high phytate intake), make sure they ate similar amounts of phytate for a year by re-measuring phytate, and then measured bone loss. It’s completely worthless. They reference a bunch of fancy theories about phytate’s antioxidant, anti-kidney stones, and anti-calcium-crystallization (most of which were debunked above in the article). As for preventing unwanted calcification by binding calcium, it’s possible – but not proven, something the researchers state in their discussion (whereas the mineral chelating effect is). They say the benefits outweigh the risks, but their cited research is incorrect and their own study cannot make dietary suggestions based on a correlation. If they actually told the subjects to eat a certain diet and controlled for other minerals, THEN it would be a real clinical study. As it stands, it’s a pathetic excuse for actual nutrition research. Ignore it, eat low-phytate.
Well, you miss the core of this article nixing itself as hogwash!
The brief mention anout mice and mens’ gut developing flora and fauna to digest phytates is key to my 70 years good health consuming all these “bad” whole raw grains!
Go figure – half-assed research kills itself.
Nuff said
My body creates no plaque and I have no dental issues at all, in fact my dentist says the one filling I have was probably not even necessary. I eat whole grains, nuts and soy, etc. a lot and cured myself of issues that ended up being flora and fauna gut issues causing the problems. of course, the medical professions and meat and dairy industries, Monsanto, etc. do not want to own it.
Gina,
Please share what you did!
Great article! In regards to using rye flour to reduce the phytic acid, how is this done when soaking cornmeal in lime water? Shouldn’t rye flour be soaked in an acid medium or could it be soaked in the lime water? janeibbetson.authorsxpress.com
Could you kindly include a table about “PHYTASE IN GRAINS AND OTHER FOODS” in this article?
Thanks a lot for these information.Could you kindly include a table about “PHYTASE IN GRAINS AND OTHER FOODS” in this article?
Dabe
thanks
Being somewhat of a zealous food health rookie with abundant ability to eat, I was consuming boatloads of walnuts because of their omega 3 to omega 6 ratios, anyhow I had horrible results I believe due to phytate content. So thanks for the information!.
Walnuts are very high in Omega 6 and low on Omega 3 fatty acids! So, a bad choice in terms of 1:1 balance …
Oh good grief. The only nuts/seeds higher in Omega-3 than walnuts are flax seeds and chia seeds. Everything else has way less omega-3 and way more omega-6. In an image search for:
walnuts seeds nuts omega 3:6 ratio
I found a bunch of different tables from different sources that all basically include info like this example:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/43/6a/b5/436ab5062f51991cab16e85258be20ec.png
As alwas, increase quamtity of new diet item slowly. Recently I goofed and substituted sunflower oil for olive oil, and my urine system shut down! That’s what brought me here. Researching deeper into seeds.
Stay with the walnuts.
Over time and with the fermented dairy mentioned in this article, your gut will digest high grain-seed intake.
In my case, sunflower oil is 70% omega 6! My prostate reacted to high phytates PLUS high omega 6.
The fermentation of seed will reduce my phytake content making it easier on my gut to digest, and going back to olive and adding flax and North Atlantic cod liver oils will improve my omega 3 to omega 6 balance.
Stay with the focus on reducing omega 6! Also, read up on the way our metaboliam converts plant omega fatty acids. Some silly half-assed “gurus” say plant omegas are useless!
Fiber
No mention of fiber in this article, one of the main reasons for eating whole unprocessed foods, including the bran. The bran adds bulk and speeds up the passage of food through the gut. It also contains a lot of nutrients, not all of which will be absorbed, nor need to be for optimal health.
Eating white bread, white rice and and pasta leads to rapid assimilation of carbohydrate in the body which may lead to unwanted weight gain, whereas the fiber in whole grain slows down the digestive processes, leading to more gradual assimilation of the food.
Phytate is made out to be the Devil as in a religion. Everybody wants things in black and white….the goodies and the baddies. The real world is not like that.
Phytate does not “grab and deplete” the body of minerals. There is a competetive dynamic equilibrium which controls the amount of minerals absorbed and available to the body in the presence of phytate. This may not be a bad thing.
I have been making my own 100% stoneground wholemeal sourdough bread for a good while now, but not because of phytate, rather because it tastes good, has a wonderful texture and is nutritious. If I had to spend days preparing grains, nuts and seeds in the way you say I would definitely turn paleo. I love raw nuts and make my own butters from lightly roasted nuts. I eat freshly ground raw seeds every morning at breafast with fruit and yogurt. I have never had any problems at all with digestion or other particular health problems.
I think we are obsessing far too much with phytates. When you eat an egg, do you soak the shell in lemon juice to get at the calcium, magnesium and other minerals? I doubt it…it probably goes in the compost. It is enough to absorb the vitamins, proteins and essential fats. Nuts and seeds contain a lot of essential oils and proteins which can be absorbed with or without phytate as far as I know. A lot of the minerals will also be absorbed especially in mechanically processed nut butters where the cell walls are more broken down than in ground or chewed raw nuts…phytate does not grab hold of all of the minerals but will of course compete for a share with the digestive enzymes. Let’s enjoy nuts and seeds for what valuable nutrients, textures and flavours they freely give us. In my opinion, soaking and fermenting every phytate containing food is just not necessary.
Did you know that phytic acid is a major antioxidant that fights cancer? Phytic acit reduces the chances of colon cancer. Did you know that the studies that show phytic acid is an antinutrient were poorly designed and based on small sample sizes?
Would you mind sharing your sourdough recipe? I’ve never had a starter or baked it before but have baked typical whole wheat bread.
You”re spot on!
Fermented Oats
I’m looking for some clarification on the smell/taste. I used to soak my oats in water with a heaping tablespoon of fresh ground whole wheat flour at room temperature (about 69 F) and never had a problem. However, based on your article and others, I’ve started soaking at about 100 F. However, the smell is not sour (like my sourdough starter smells). To me, it smells bad – like a spoiled smell. I made two bowls. I started both the night before. The first, I ate in the morning. It smelled kinda bad, but I ate it anyway. I didn’t get sick (thank goodness). The second bowl I kept fermenting until the afternoon. When I opened it to eat, it smelled so bad I had to throw it out. To me, my sourdough starter smells good and I’ve eaten it raw (sour, but not bad). This smells much worse and the taste is not good. Thoughts? I thought about adding some probiotics to help ensure only good bacteria wins the battle, but I’m not sure if that would interfere with the phytase?
Also, what is the purpose of the acid medium?
Chia seeds: phytic acid and phytase levels?
Do you have any information on the amount of phytic acid and phytase in Chia Seeds? Does phytic acid tend to cause stomach aches in people? A friend of mine was getting painful stomach aches eating ground chia seeds, but now as long as he soaks the seeds overnight in plain water he has no problems. I assume that means chia has a reasonable amount of phytases (just like Rye?) The anti-inflammatory effects of the Omega 3 have completely resolved my rhinitis issues that used to have me flushing my nose with saline daily. I don’t miss doing that. I am a veterinarian and I used the product with my own and may clients pets as a omega 3 source and have seen some great health benefits in animals a well. Thank you for the great article. Regards, Murray
Chia seeds absorb water and most likely if enough water isn’t consumed after eating them they will bulk up in your intestines as they absorb water from your body and cause blockages and pain. Always soak your chia seeds at least 45 minutes prior to eating them, and it can’t hurt to drink a glass of water with it as well. I eat chia “porridge” (made by soaking them in liquid) with fruit for breakfast and have never had a problem with them like I do when eating phytate-rich foods such as nuts and coconut and beans; I get a cramp like pain on my mid-right side which starts anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours or more after eating these typical foods and the attack intensifies and lasts a couple of hours to longer, depending on how much and when I eat them. So far I have not had any such symptoms after eating soaked chia seeds, so it may not be the phytates in them (if any at all? I’m not sure), but the fact that they are consumed dry without soaking, which causes any problems.
Does anyone know exact or approximate amount of phytic acid in chia?
Phytates
Could you put this article on my Facebook Newsfeed? It is sooooo informative…necessary for all…Thanks!!!
Flax Seeds
Thank you for this very informative article. I eat cold milled flax seeds. Do you have any research on the levels of phytic acid and phytase in flax?
I believe that flax seed is the same thing as linseed. The amounts of phytic acid are listed. Just check under linseed. (Linseed oil is made from flax seeds, perhaps a different name due to biological name?)
You are correct.
“Living With Phytic Acid”
I love your information, but the thing that bogs me down here, is that it seems to be so time consuming & planning ahead for preparation to eat just grains or rice or beans or nuts & seeds, that alot of people eat every day! I guess it’s a kick-back from being used to going out to eat and not putting a priority to providing nourishing food AT HOME for our families & loved ones & friends. Thanks!
I have brown rice almost daily. I use just two jars Jar A has the rice and water. When preparing to cook the rice at night some of the water is transferred to jar B along with top up water and fresh rice for the next evening. The jar A is drained of the water, rice is transferred to cooking vessel and jar A is cleaned for the next evening. ITS SIMPLE unless I’m missing something.
This article is wrong-headed! A tiny, brief mention about mice and Man developing gut flora and fauna that digests phytates is buried in the middle, like this author wants to kill his very biased and WRONG focus, but his obsession with being a “guru” takes precedence!
Go find the timy mention and then go out in the real world to find how to develop gut flora and fauna to gain raw food nutrition.
https://xkcd.com/1471/
Gut flora, Claude, gut FLORA!!
Lol. Claudea is obsessed with gut flora.
What you refer to is noted at the beginning of this articleç
Studies on phytic acid reveal that for some people, the phytic acid in whole grains blocks calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and copper; others seem immune to these adverse consequences, probably because of favorable gut flora, which in some cases can break down phytic acid. In addition, when animal fats providing vitamins A and D accompany dietary whole grains, the effects of phytic acid are mitigated.
Interesting… people used to mix grains(bread), legumes with fat like butter lard cream tallow, they contain vitamin A and/or D.. nuts/seeds contain fats
I find it interesting that when we start looking at one nutrient in the foods we eat, we start to often get into heated discussions and factions often may form. People then often relate everything to this one nutrient and forgetting that nothing in nature is offered only by itself. Natural whole foods are probably still the best foods to consume and processes “food-like” products are probably best avoided completely on a regular basis.
Here is a snippet from an important article I found:
Grains are loaded with minerals; therefore, the more grains you eat the more minerals you consume. Phytic acid, also plentiful in grains, is considered an anti-nutrient because of its ability to bind with minerals, such as zinc and calcium, and prevent their absorption. Two often-cited examples of zinc deficiency are among people living in small communities in rural Iran and Australia (Aborigines).10-11 Multiple nutritional factors, not just phytic acid, were involved in both examples. Consumption of large amounts of unleavened bread seemed central to the development of zinc deficiency. Once the bread is leavened, then the activity of phytic acid is reduced, and zinc becomes readily available.12 Soaking, germination, boiling, cooking, and fermentation all inactivate phytic acid and free up minerals for absorption. In real-life situations, for otherwise healthy people, the consumption of grains in recommended amounts has had no adverse effect on mineral status.13
“Grains are loaded with minerals; therefore, the more grains you eat the more minerals you consume. Phytic acid, also plentiful in grains, is considered an anti-nutrient because of its ability to bind with minerals, such as zinc and calcium, and prevent their absorption. Two often-cited examples of zinc deficiency are among people living in small communities in rural Iran and Australia (Aborigines).10-11 Multiple nutritional factors, not just phytic acid, were involved in both examples. Consumption of large amounts of unleavened bread seemed central to the development of zinc deficiency. Once the bread is leavened, then the activity of phytic acid is reduced, and zinc becomes readily available.12 Soaking, germination, boiling, cooking, and fermentation all inactivate phytic acid and free up minerals for absorption. In real-life situations, for otherwise healthy people, the consumption of grains in recommended amounts has had no adverse effect on mineral status.13
Phytic acid actually has many beneficial health effects—you won’t want it out of your diet. It acts as a powerful antioxidant and has been shown to reduce blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides.14 Phytic acid is linked to a reduction in heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases in people.”
quoted from this page: http://www.drmcdougall.com/mis…grains.htm
Blessings,
Demeter
Spot on!
“has been shown to reduce blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides.” let me rephrase that……… REMOVING ALL SUGAR AND FRUCTOSE from your diet has also been shown to reduce blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides.
Fruits are VERY important to stay healthy. Antioxidants properties, lowering blood pressure, etc
Study on popping sorghum
OK after reading all of this I am left with more questions. In reading all of the questions posted I was excited that many of my questions had been asked but disappointed that they had not been answered. Having recently begun learning the science of gluten free baking I had embraced many new whole grains, only to learn they all needed to be soaked and fermented, I also learned the hard way that starches don’t fare so well when fermented. They pretty much cease to work and turn the recipe into a runny chewy mess. I was unable to validate my findings until reading this article. For that I am very grateful. I have begun extolling the virtues of all new grains and healthier ways to prepare them only to learn one by one there are inherent problems unique to each grain. (OMGosh how will I ever keep the process straight? Yes we need a chart) I have so many unanswered questions and feel so overwhelmed. I was just about to order 5 pounds of my new favorite whole grain sorghum for grinding and popping. As it works very nicely in recipes. Only to learn that it may be near as difficult as corn but not a lot of suggestions here as to how to break down the phytase. HELP!!! So far I have found the following study to share which soes answer someone else’s question posed previously as to whether popping sorghum effected the phytates.
Abstract
Effect of popping on carbohydrate, protein, phytic acid and minerals of three varieties (pop sorghum, maldandi and red sorghum) of sorghum were studied. Significant changes (p ≤ 0.05) in the starch degradability including total and soluble amylose content, and resistant starch occurred due to popping; in-vitro protein digestibility along with the content of albumin proteins increased. Starch characteristics had substantial differences among these three varieties which are based on the nature of endosperm and amylose content. Phytic acid content had a reduction of 20%–25% after popping. Glycemic index (GI) determined from kinetic study of enzymatic hydrolysis of sorghum starch was between 85 and 92; the rate constant for hydrolysis for these three varieties were in the range of 0.025 and 0.029 min−1. Popping helped to control phytic acid content in sorghum and enhanced protein as well as starch digestibility.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13197-011-0336-x
Glutin-free? Why? Because some scare tactic food “guru” claims it’s “bad”?
Gut flora and fauna. When encouraged with all 90 minerals and attendant enzymes, digest glutin protein into vital bofy nutrients. Why rob yourself of these because some nut case says they’re “bad”?
Go watch “dead Doctors Don’t Lie.” Dr. Wallach details the old farm way we farmers keep our herds and flocks disease-free, and why you should follow the very same whole body, whole nutrient regimine.
@Mary White.
LOL. I agree with you. Our society just is not set up for the lengthy, somewhat complicated, food preparation techniques necessary for optimum mineral availability. We have to work around these things somehow. Maybe the proliferation of supplements, including spirulina and similar foods, etc., would compensate for eating high-antinutrient plant foods. Just saying.
All I know is that while I would like to make all plant foods high in phytic acid (seeds, whole grains, nuts, beans, etc.) as healthful as possible but it is not do-able. I do thank the various scientists and health writers for making this info available, of course, so we can each of us pick and choose how much we can use these techniques.
Equipment for soaking
What do people use to soak legumes/nuts/etc.? My oven has a minimum temperature of 50C (that’s 122F) — although I doubt it is really 50, to be honest, probably more like 40 if I have it way down. I was thinking of buying a dehydrator to soak my stuff in, however, I’m uncertain because I would need some sort of shallow pan to hold the seeds. Any ideas anyone?
Cheers
Try your oven with just the light on. If that is still to hot–try propping the door open with a wooden spoon. This has worked well for me. TradCookSchool.com is a great site for traditional cooking methods.
B vitamins
Are there any B vitamins left after soaking and sprouting (rinse rinse rinse) beans? My aunt, fan of Adele Davis, wants to know. Thank you.
Isn’t There Another Solution?
I always soak and rinse my grains and legumes. I also add ACV toward the end of cooking legumes. However, it seems to me that, if you regularly consume grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes, you would simply ensure an overabundance of minerals and a good source of probiotics. Phytic acid does not remove any and all of your minerals, and a healthy guts flora, according to this piece, can deal with it by producing adequate levels of phytase to neutralize it. From a practical standpoint, it appears that it’s much easier, and equally healthy, to combat the negative effects of phytic acid, as suggested above, rather than take these heroic measures to eliminate it. Just a thought.
Absolutely correct!
I’ve referred to Dr. Joel Wallach’s awesome “Dead Doctors Don’t Lie Presentation it’s two hours and on YouTube – here before, but you go watch and learn how good ol’ farm animal health applies to us people!
all gluten grains (spelt, hard wheat, soft wheat, barley, etc) have gluten, but especially wheat, which has been hybridized through the years to contain a LOT of gluten. The non-gluten legumes & grains (amaranth, mesquite beans, millet, quinoa, teff, etc) do not have gluten, but still have phytates and other anti-nutrients (as do all seeds, per Sally Fallon’s article) so you still have to soak them.
Here’s an informative article you can read & see what you think:
FERMENTATION STARTER
In the 2008 paper “Effects of soaking, germination and fermentation on phytic acid, total and in vitrosoluble zinc in brown rice”, Dr. Robert J. Hamer’s group found that soaking alone didn’t have much of an effect on phytic acid in brown rice. However, fermentation was highly effective at degrading it.What I didn’t realize the first time I read the paper is that they fermented intact brown rice rather than grinding it. This wasn’t clear from the description in the methods section but I confirmed it by e-mail with the lead author Dr. Jianfen Liang. He added that the procedure comes from a traditional Chinese recipe for rice noodles. The method they used is very simple:
1.Soak brown rice in dechlorinated water for 24 hours at room temperature without changing the water. Reserve 10% of the soaking liquid (should keep for a long time in the fridge). Discard the rest of the soaking liquid; cook the rice in fresh water.
2.The next time you make brown rice, use the same procedure as above, but add the soaking liquid you reserved from the last batch to the rest of the soaking water.
3.Repeat the cycle. The process will gradually improve until 96% or more of the phytic acid is degraded at 24 hours.
This process probably depends on two factors: fermentation acidifies the soaking medium, which activates the phytase (phytic acid-degrading enzyme) already present in the rice; and it also cultivates microorganisms that produce their own phytase. I would guess the latter factor is the more important one, because brown rice doesn’t contain much phytase.
You can probably use the same liquid to soak other grains and beans http://wholehealthsource.blogs…-rice.html
Does removal of the phytates in brown rice make the arsenic in brown rice even more available to our bodies?
The phytates & arsenic are both rinsed out in soaking & germinating brown rice.
Broken link in comment. This works as at 2016-04-13 > http://wholehealthsources.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/new-way-to-soak-brown-rice.html
In answer to Belle Burche’s question: no you cannot use nut flour for a sourdough starter. (see recipe below)
SOURDOUGH STARTER (GF)
2 c GF flour (non-gluten grain or bean flour only – no nut, coconut, or other starches like tapioca, etc)
2 c kefir-fermented apple juice (or kefir whey) (helps keep starter from getting moldy in a humid climate) (or water * + honey in a regular climate)
Mix thoroughly & let stand at least 24 hours before using.
*Use filtered water or water that has been boiled and cooled (if using tap water, you can let it sit out overnight so the chlorine evaporates out of the water.
There will be a separation of liquid on top (called the hooch or alcohol) that is darker than the start, and you can just mix it back in (w/a plastic or wooden spoon). Never use metal spoons or bowls w/sourdough.
Stir, and feed your start with another 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water, and stir again.
Repeat this process for 7 days (every 24 hr), and you have your sourdough start! When you see the bubbles, you have captured wild yeast. Isn’t that crazy? The start should have a sourdough smell. At this point, you can refrigerate it (see FEEDING DIRECTIONS below)
http://practical-stewardship.com/2012/04/18/sourdough-starter-and-basic-3-ingredient-sourdough-bread-recipe/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/sourdough2.htm
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10375/lactic-acid-fermentation-sourdough
Nutritional Benefits
Typically the nutritional important things about limes will not differ quite definitely from your lemons.
They are outstanding sources of supplement D, B6, potassium, folate,
flavonoids and also the excellent phytochemical, limonene.
Limonene get anti-cancer effects and help enhance the degree of enzymes this detoxify carcinogens.
Don’t know where you found your information, but lemons do not contain Vitamin D. I would hardly call them an outstanding source for B vitamins as most are under 2% of the daily recommended amount. And what does that have to do with this discussion, anyway?
Acid.
Nothing like salted, preserved lemons! Yum! In moderation with other food, of course.
You must mean vitamin C-complex in lemons & limes, not vit D.
OK. I believe that chia seeds can be sprouted, not soaked at first. After sprouted, with a sprayer for a few days. Soak in acid water or salt water a few days. Any idess on this?
Are all phytates destroyed in whiskey and spirit making. Like wold rye whiskey be better than wheat whiskey, and those both better than corn whiskey?
What do people think of using Kombucha vinegar as a starter? What about using salt, as other sites have used it as a lacto balili producer? Could you possible use Rejuvelac because it is teeming with lacto bacilli? I am about to try these things. thanks ejteacher@riseup.net
also how do i get teh whey out of my raw milk?
i was four weeks late to get my milk? its still good but is now clumpy? how would i use that as a souring medium?
To ej: Any of the contents in the container can be used as a souring medium. Simply drain the liquid and save-that is the whey. The milk solids have soured. The whey and the solid milk will last indefinitely.
They sure do last forever! I have stored in the bottom of my old rrfrigerator whey from five years ago! Still fresh!
Also, do you know plain yoghurt keeps years in sealed contaners at room temp?
I’ve kept yoghurt this way up to three years, still ftesh and tasty as new!
i did this – and put the whey in one jar, and the milk ‘solids’ in another jar. i put them in the fridge. after a few weeks, the milk solids rotted -the smell when tossing it almost made me vomit. i eat a lot of fermented foods and am not one that is sqeamish easily, but that ‘cheese’ was def. rotten. therefore, i don’t think it lasts indefinitely, or even a few weeks!
also, i forgot to mention that they whey had grown some mold on top, but i think it was still good, but the ‘cheese’ (milk ‘solids’) were def. rotten only after a few weeks. i also wanted to mention that to make this, i left the milk out on the counter to sour. i then strained the solids for several hours, collecting they whey in a bowl underneath. i then immediately used the ‘cheese’ in a curry i made. i actually had food poisoning that night. i don’t understand how everyone is making this and it working out for them. every time i’ve tried to make this the cheese never tasted right and made me sick. i’ve made all sorts of other fermented foods with no issue.
Whey is a by-product of making cheese and yogurt. Use your raw milk to make those products and you will have plenty of whey.
I used pasteurised the same as raw. Can’t afford raw.
Makes any cheese you want.
I’m fascinated by the amount of comments regarding cereal grains. Everyone is willing to go to great lengths to render them digestible for humans. There are no cereal grain requirements for humans. Why don’t people just stop eating them?
So, what’s your grain-free diet?
This information about proper preparation of grains is very enlightening. However, from a practical point-of-view, in today’s society very few people have the time to do this between earning a living, raising children, maintaining a home, etc. I am not sure it is realistic. To resume preparing foods the traditional way, one would have to hire someone to help with such tasks.
Cary, go to YouTube and watch “Dead Doctors Don’t Lie.”
Dr. Joel Wallach spells out the true health methods we farmers have used for eons to keep healthy livestock healthy. Can you imagine us taking diseased animals to the hospital?!!!
Never!
So, maintaing animal health is a no brainer! Dr. Wallach details whole body health and if you listen careful, explins that whole food raw diet with proper moderate prepping plus addition of the 90 minerals in our biosphere make us healthy.
Instead of expensive supplements, get seafoods, especially plants
Hello: I have a question. So, I love Cashews, eat them just about every day..and you probably guessed it, my dentist told me that my two back molars are starting to decay. So, if I eat the cashews and then floss and brush really really well, does that help mitigate the phytic acid issue? Or does phytic acid get into your bloodstream and cause enamel erosion from the inside out? Just wondering. Thanks!
Yes, I believe tooth decay is from the inside out. Rami talks about it in his book Cure Tooth decay. It sounds to me like we all have to buy our nuts raw, soak them for many hours and then dehydrate/roast them. (I’m just replying to your question because there’s so many questions on this site not replied to, its totally frustrating!!!)
I tell ya, its getting harder and harder to know what the hell to eat and what not to eat, especially when you’ve got a health issue, like tooth decay, going on. Frustrating….but I do wish more of these comments and questions were addressed!!!! Why do people publish things if they are not prepared to follow up on them?
Anyone here know anyone with no tooth decay! I know one person and she is a vegan and had tooth decay that has now healed. What’s her secret??? For me, the proof is in the gluten-free pudding – whatever she’s doing, its working.
how bad was her decay and how did she heal it?
ps…agree about wishing some of these comments/questions would be answered! I love reading these articles followed by questions posted.
I believe that tooth decay is directly linked to intestinal flora. Focus on boosting the good bacteria with lacto fermented foods and beverages and supplements if needed. I have found that to be the key- and stay away from antibiotics.
Read my reply to Suzanne about hydrogen peroxide.
Also, go watch “Dead Doctors Don’t Lie” on YouTube, by Dr. Wallach.
Learn whole food -whole body health from us farmers’ critical need to maintain heslthy livestock. Dr. Wallach began his career as a vet. Then he ear
Check out a web site on good oral hygiene and decay prevention.
orawellness.com
im vegetarian and havent visited the dentist for about 20 years
Since 2009 I have zero tooth decay, and zero mouth disease. Back tjen there was a fast-developing lump in my throat that started choking my wind pipe. I searched and found that free blood oxygen destroys malignant cells on contact.
Then that hydrogen peroxide in the blood releases oxygen. I soaked my mouth with dilute H2O2 for three months. The lump disappeared.
So did all tooth decay, gum sensitivity, nad breath, and internal disrase, especially colds and flu.
Zero colds and flu now for 6 years!
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for yeast diet
I soak Mornflake Oatbran for 24 hrs in water, cider vinegar and salt before making porridge with it in the morning. Should I pour off excess liquid that accumulates on the top, before cooking, or stir it in?
Does it matter, if the physic acid has been neutralised?
If I discard some of the liquid I will be throwing away some of the nutrients also, surely?
I have been eating large quantities of oat bran everyday for the past 2 months (200+grams dry weight per day). I also take a vitamin D supplement and eat grassfed butter everyday only use 175ppm spring water. I drink probiotic beverages such as kevita and kvass every day. My teeth and bones feel stronger than ever. I attribute that to the elimination of sugar and stabilization of blood sugar. The oat bran can help people escape sugar and flour products.
I could be wrong, but I suspect that as long as you have a solid diet, it does not matter if you eat foods high in phytates on a regular basis.
Wait a minute..every other nutritionalist and doctor alternative or not agree that btown rice and brown bread is better for you, while here he is saying yo eat the more processed white rice and bread. And what about the heat sensitive omega 3s in nuts that becone free radicals once heated?
Great points this author ignores.
How exactly does one sprout a grain under such high temperatures mentioned in the article? these temps are way above room temperature
if i boil water to use for sprouting to remove phytic acid, would canning with a mason jar hold the heat for a couple days? i dont think it would
so is there a way to maintain such high temperatures in a closed jar for several days without interruption?
I saw this article after I searched ” does nut cause tooth cavity”? I am a Chinese, and never had cavity when I lived in China for 29 years, even I only went to the dentist to clean my teeth for no more than 3 time; however, I was told I have two teeth with cavities in the third year of my life in the US. I had one deep clean and three to four times of regular cleans each year. I keep my similar diet. The only difference is I eat oatmeal for breakfast much often than before, and I totally took three-week antibiotics this year. I am thinking the antibiotics and oatmeal are the main reasons for this problem.
Antibiotics definitely destroy health gut FLORA.
does anyone know how much is in a cup of coffee and medium brown chocolate ?
and if we eat it seperated from the dinners, can we avoid issues ? anyone knows the timing of its funcioning in the intestines ?
I actually did some research on coffee and phytic acid before. I’ll share what little I found. First of all the type of coffee matters. The brewing method also matters. To be concise I recommend dark roast arabica and espresso method. Reason being darker roast is exposed to longer roasting time and of course roasting reduces phytic acid. Espresso is a fast extraction method. The longer the brewing takes the more likely phytic and tanic acid will leach from the grounds into your water creating a unpleasant taste. If the temperature exceeds ~200 degrees fahrenheit it’s too hot and will cause over extraction and burn the coffee. When coffee is astringent it’s generally over extracted. Some technical information below with sources.
“some of the phosphoric acid present in coffee extracts is produced by HYDROLYSIS of phytic acid (IP6) and other inositol phosphates during extraction and storage. In green coffee, mainly IP6 and a small quantity of IP5 were found. On roasting, IP6 (phytic acid) was DECOMPOSED, while the amounts of other inositol phosphates increased at the beginning and decreased at higher roast degrees.”
Franz and Maier (1994)
“Phytic acid was analyzed in four soluble coffees and five varieties of coffee beans (green and roasted) (McKenzie, 1984). It was found that roasting coffee beans reduced their phytate content. All soluble coffee samples had a phytic acid content of AT LEAST 0.6g/100kg. The content in green coffee ranged from 2.2g/kg in Colombian, 2.3g/kg in Brazilian Santos and 3.4g/kg in Tanzanian to 3.5g/kg in Papua New Guinea beans. Roasting of the beans resulted in a reduction in phytate content of 35% (Colombian) to 53% (Tanzanian).”
Coffee: Recent Developments by R. J. Clarke and O. G. Vitzthum (2001)
Concerning chocolate it is listed here that in 100g of cocoa powder (approximately 1.16 cup) there is 1796mg of phytic acid. If you used 1 cup of cocoa powder in a recipe, to make brownies for example, that is 1544.56mg of phytic acid total (from cocoa powder). If you cut your brownies into 8 pieces that is 193.07mg of phytic acid per piece. The other ingredients may have some phytic acid of their own depends on the recipe. Cooking the brownies in the oven should reduce phytic acid a little. I can’t really say how much. Yes eating between meals will reduce mineral absorption interference. Hope this helps you.
amounts of phytic acid in coffee & chocolate and its varieties is listed in the tables above. Use control f to search for significant words.
R
Hello I am relatively new to soaking. I’ve been following the brown rice soaking instructions listed here for a few months. There does seem to be an overall improvement my only concern is that the water I’ve been saving in the refrigerator smells faintly sour now. I used it just recently in my soak and I didn’t feel ill or anything but is it normal for the soaking water you save to smell this way? If it’s bad I’ll just toss it out and start over again. Any advice appreciated, thanks.
The unpleasant smell is a sign that it’s still alive and working. If left in fridge too long without use (feeding it rice) it will die and no longer smell and be of no use.
Do you know anything about the phytic acid content of hemp seeds. there are conflicting reports some say there is none while some say there is a lot of phytic acid in hemp seeds. Also what would the content be like for protein powders made from peas which are ungerminated?
This info is from PubMed, National Institutes of Health: Variability in Seed Traits in a Collection of Cannabis sativa L. Genotypes
Regarding antinutritional compounds in seed, a high variability was detected among all genotypes analyzed and phytic acid was particularly abundant (ranging between 43 and 75 g kg−1 DM).
If you want to read more just Google that title.
what about chia?
Great, all those foods contain big amounts of phytates?? what about air??can i eat AIR? or has air phytates too? assuming all these foods contain phytates, which i believe, and that non raw animal based foods are even worse, whats left?? raw fruits and raw eatable veggies (not all of them are eatable)..Edward Howell(father of modern enzymatology) tried raw nuts,bran and seeds for 2 months an was forced to stop because of the gastro intestinal bloating and pain he had every day.that gave us a lesson what phytates and enzyme inhibitors can do…Regards from Greece
Supplement phytase if you want to enjoy these foods without worry and laborious preparation. You should keep in mind that your gut health is important here as well. A healthy gut should be able to break down phytic acid well enough. Do some research on “bacteroides thetaiotaomicron” if you’d like to learn more.
Have you made an effort to apply this answer? Although you are trying to be helpful, do a one minute online search. There is not one product sold that is “phytase” enzyme. The specific species of bacteroides you mention has not appeared, so far, in one single probiotic supplement sold.
Incorrect. There are many supplements containing phytase. Maybe searching “digestive enzymes” will help you find them. I don’t know if you can and never implied there is a way to supplement bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. I mentioned researching it if you were curious to learn how it interacts with phytate. I ferment my own food. One head of fermented cabbage (sauerkraut) contains more lactic acid bacteria than you would believe. Just 8 ounces of sauerkraut is equal to roughly 4 entire bottles of store bought probiotics. Do yourself a favor and save your money.
bacteroides thetaiotaomicron
I realize your comment is several months old, but last year in health food store, out of 13 different digestive enzymes only 2 had proteolytic, systemic enzymes. Do a little research on that and find ones that work for you. The ones I buy are made by a company Enzymatic (I have no affiliation) but they make several different varieties so you have to research a bit. There was another company, but don’t recall. I had shoulder pain from a year old injury that wouldn’t heal, I read that proteolytic enzymes on an empty stomach would help heal the injury. Supposedly, when there is no food to digest in the stomach, the enzymes look for other things to “fix”. I read it would help with tartar, injuries, etc. I don’t know if it helped with tartar, but within an hour, my shoulder was much better. I’m not saying it completely healed it right then, but it started a whole new respect and understanding of enzymes. I no longer have the shoulder pain either. Also, at first I noticed a big difference when I took the enzymes with food for digestion; but after a while, the difference wasn’t as noticable. Maybe the body gets used to them, not sure.
I really like Gluten Defense by Enzymatic.
I’ve been having heart palpitations ever since I went on a no flour/no grain/no beans diet….I think I’m going to listen to my body.
Okay the one thing I am confused about is that the Tooth Decay book said that it is okay to use white flour (unbleached and unenriched) to make sourdough bread. From this article, I see it is not recommended and that freshly ground is the best way. I ordered 40 pounds of the unbeached unenriched white flour…and now I do not know what to do after reading the changed information. I hope I am still on the right track. I remember I had an eating disorder during the time that I was consuming a lot pumpkin seeds, nuts. It was a binge eating disorder. Not something easily describable when you simply can’t control your body trying to desperately get nutrients by grabbing everything in its way. My mother never taught me how to cook and I didn’t know my grandmothers. So this is all hard to learn for me because I am a slow learner. But I’m thankful for all of this info and I know that I can never be began. But it is true that the seafood supply even from the ocean is toxic. Everyone knows this if they don’t live under a rock. So we need to look into that aspect of the theory a bit closer and incorporate current state of the planet into the conclusion. Chicken and turkeys are good enough… eggs, and raw milk is enough, with butter…I think my teeth are generally good if I avoid sugar…
Is it just me or is the paragraph self-contradicting: “Germination is more effective at higher temperatures, probably because the heat encourages a fermentation-like condition. For pearled millet, sprouting at 92 degrees F for a minimum of 48 hours removed 92 percent of the phytate. At 82 degrees F, even after 60 hours, only 50 percent of phytic acid was removed. Higher temperatures above 86 degrees F seem less ideal for phytate removal, at least for millet.”
?
Higher temp LESS is ideal but MORE phytate % removed? Please tell me this is a typo or I must be going crazy…already…
Also noticed this mistake. Probably the last figure they meant was 96 or sth…
Lots of contradictions here. The best we can do is read the article, the comments, and go out elsewhere to gain more understanding. Tjis author is unvetted as an author!:-)
Valuable Nfo, just incomplete, and a bit confused.
I am having trouble reconciling the following: “Sweet potatoes and potatoes contain little phytic acid but yams and other starchy staples contain levels of phytate that we cannot ignore.”
with
“Yams contain an amount of phytate equal to or less than that in white potatoes, and sweet potatoes contain no phytate at all.”
Also, this sounds contradictory: “I don’t have further details on corn preparation, an entire article could be written on corn and traditional preparation.”
THanks…:(
Yes… I am so confused. Trying to care for my teeth here…
Same here! I’m trying to read up on what to feed my toddler to reduce tooth decay and this article makes NO SENSE TO ME. Erg!
A couple people asked about nutrient loss with soaking, but I haven’t seen any clear answers, esp. about nutrient loss from soaking nuts. I just checked PubMed, and found no studies/experiments looking at this.
Does anyone have any educated guesses about whether more than a tiny amount of nutrients might be lost when soaking nuts? I would guess the risk is much lower than with grains, since the nuts comprise a large matrix of cells and other elements that would keep most nutrients “in place”, but that might not be true for the smaller nutrients, like minerals.
Soaking is necessary. Be sure that you’re soaking raw nuts though. Soaking roasted nuts won’t do anything beneficial. That would be like soaking canned beans. As far as I know soaking accomplishes 3 things. 1) Helps remove foreign material. 2) Hydrates dormant nut. 3) Releases enzyme inhibitors which have kept them from growing at the wrong time. You really shouldn’t lose any mineral content because if that were true they would fail to germinate (sprout). When something sprouts it uses the resources it has to grow. This is why white rice cannot sprout it has lost most of its nutrients. The best nuts you could eat are the ones you prepare yourself. The process would involve a soak, sprouting and roasting. Cooking is necessary because it removes moisture that would eventually cause mold growth and improves digestibility. If you don’t want to prepare your own nuts you don’t have to. I don’t think there is much concern simply eat them in between meals if you’re worried.
As a vegan to be on the safe side stick with Hemp seeds (no phytic acid) Avacados, and coconuts (no chelating power) as your main source of fat. For carbs I would stick with Tapioca, sweet potatoes, chestnuts (45 mg phytic acid per 100 g) fruit, and squash. As for breads, consume only sprouted wheat/rye bread or sourdough white bread.
Just wanted to point out that the phytic acid mg/100g of brown rice listed here is not correct. It seemed absurdly high so I checked the Food Phytates book the information came from. In Food Phytates brown rice is 1250mg/100g not 12509mg- 10x lower! It’s a simple typo but very misleading. This information needs to be corrected. I also encourage those interested in phytic acid to hear the other side of the story. Phytic acid appears to have preventative properties when it comes to cancers. It also helps prevent hardening of the arteries, prevent kidney stones and may reduce the glycemic response from meals. If you would like to read more check the website I entered. I think few would argue 10,000+ mg a day is ideal but reasonable intake of phytic acid does appear to be important for human health.
John, great responses here! But, what website do you refer to? Reading over your replies I fail to find it. At least on my Andoid phone.
Hello. When I wrote that I was not sure where the URL would be listed. You have to click on my name to go to the website (it’s underlined).
Hi,
Very interesting.
How much vitamin c, d, and calcium is need (typically, approximately) to help neutralize 1,000 mg of Phytic Acid.
Thanks,
Steve
Vitamin C won’t neutralize phytic acid but it will significantly aid absorption of non-heme iron. Going by a study I read vitamin C won’t help you absorb much else. It does not appear to help with the absorption of zinc at all. As far as I know iron and zinc are what you lose the most with phytic acid. There are four ways around this. 1) Soak, germinate and or ferment your foods. 2) If a meal contains important amounts of iron or zinc avoid any unnecessary phytic acid for a few hours eating, e.g. chocolate/nuts/coffee. 3) Eat more food! Phytic acid only reduces absorption it does not eliminate it. For example, pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc but there is a significant amount of phytic acid. I would eat an extra quarter cup half cup in hope of increasing intake of said mineral. 4) The easiest thing to do would be to supplement phytase and never worry about it again. That being said you should always have some fermented foods in your diet. Lactic acid bacteria strains, commonly referred to as probiotics (meaning “for life”) are incredibly important to overall health.
Hi,
Does anybody know about how to reduce oxalates? Does fermentation help reduce oxalates? I ahve read that the bacteria oxalobacter formingenes in the healthy gut helps degrade the oxalates.
I believe cooking greatly reduces oxalic acid. That is why I steam my spinach instead of eating it raw. I used to believe it helped with absorbing iron but according to this study it does not significantly interfere with iron absorption anyway.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17440529
Or maybe it takes extremely high amounts of oxalic acid to cause significant interference?
I read the opposite. oxalic acid exists with cooked spinach, and none with raw spinach?
Info on oxylates:
http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/oxalates/
When I was a teenager I had oxylate kidney stones and read in an Adelle Davis book that magnesium and B6 will prevent oxylate kidney stones from forming. After the stones came out they measured my oxylates in my urine and said they were quite high.
I then began taking B6 and magnesium and later had my urine test done again. This time there were no oxylates in my urine.
I am wondering how a person who has high iron, or a “high iron” situation, (that is triggered by a genetic predisposition) prevents high iron absorbtion. Phytates and phytic acid, oxalics help to prevent such an occurrence. High iron is highly toxic to human tissue, resulting in many diseases and breakdowns that can be fatal. I am always looking for help in this question, but so far, I am eating whole seeds and nuts (not soaked), in small amounts in my diet. Avoiding most heme irons is best fitted to controlling my iron levels. I have read, reread and found new articles suggesting the benefits of phytates and phytic acid. I am really looking for some answers as to how to deal with iron issues. I am aware how phytc acid and phytates affect other minerals within the body as well. But iron seems to be the most destructive when over loaded. I have for years been a consumer of soaked grains/nuts/probiotics/fermentation processes etc. Unfortunately, these processes seems to be a hinderance than help. Any help is always appreciated.
That is a very interesting and challenging predicament. You should definitely avoid vitamin c during meals. Reduce or possibly eliminate dietary heme iron. Choose tea, milk or coffee with every meal (if you have poor thyroid health steer clear of soy milk variety). If you can find a multivitamin containing no iron it may be a good idea to take that. What concerns me is how you will avoid iron but maintain adequate zinc. Most people will say that oxalic acid interferes with the absorption of iron but a Swiss study regarding iron absorption from bread served with spinach/kale found that the impact was insignificant.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17440529
By the way I think you should resume soaking your nuts. Enzyme inhibitors may cause digestive strain. I believe cooking is what reduces phytic acid the most. If you plan on not cooking the nuts don’t soak large batches because they’ll likely develop mold. Keep in mind that you can actually supplement IP6 (phytic acid) if you want to.
I just wanted to say that there have been more recent studies on phytates which shed some much appreciated light on this whole issue.
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/phytates-for-the-prevention-of-osteoporosis/
and
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/new-mineral-absorption-enhancers-found/
These are 3 minute videos on the topic.
The site referenced has many videos on current scientific studies, topics can be found under the heading health topic or nutrition videos at the top of the page.
Thanks for sharing. This is very interesting.
Wow! Thanks so much, Sandra!
Got any up to date references? The reference you quote are so out of date as to be worthless
Overall, both the article and responses are most rewarding reading!
My gratitude to all authors here:-)
ClaudeA, the article, all the comments and particularly your comment on factors in loss of your wife caught my attention as one with a shrinking aortic valve. Please comment further if comfortable doing so.
I (a long healthy half-Finnish male in his mid-70s) have eaten most all the common “offending” grains, unhealthy flours, brans (and sweets and peanut butter)in all forms, and lots of coffee, as a major part of a vegetable-rich meat- eater and milk-drinker diet.
Calcium mal-absorption, mis-distributon and depletion/excretion are probably key areas requiring my attention
I joined the LAD-stented cohort (pre-heart attack) in December. I have been viewing calcium barnacles flapping with the valve in sonograns. Recently I was told I have (is it?) osteopenia, the predecessor of osteoporosis. Too little attention too late, probably, but I have legacy things in my bucket list I’d like to do before the Lord causes/suffers that last grain of sand to fall in my hour glass.
Dear Jon, There is hope!
I recently came across a really excellent book, which answered a number of questions I had about Vitamin K, and cleared up some confusion and misinformation I did not know I had, around vitamins A & D.
I highly recommend “Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox” by Kate Rheaume-Bleue, Toronto Naturopath. I read it first in hardcover, then purchased the e-book from Amazon.ca for $1.99!
There is a useful FAQ on her website at http://doctorKateND.com.
Take-home information:
Vitamins A, D, and K work in synergy to regulate calcium metabolism (among many other valuable functions in the body): specifically, to build strong bones and teeth (preventing and reversing osteoporosis and dental caries), and to mobilize calcium out of soft tissues where excesses often end up (especially the calcified plaque that causes hardening of the arteries).
Vitamin K comes in two forms, K1 and K2, with completely different actions. There is a small amount of conversion between the forms in the body.
K1 regulates coagulation of the blood, is abundant in plant foods, and is efficiently recycled by the body (warfarin acts by interrupting this recycling, creating a vitamin K deficiency in the body).
K2 (in synergy with vitamins A & D) regulates calcium & bone metabolism, and is found almost exclusively in animal foods.
K2 exists in 2 forms: MK-4 and MK-7; there is some conversion from MK-7 to MK-4 in the body.
MK-4 is the more active form, but is quickly consumed by the body; to get sustained action, you need to take it every 6 to 8 hours, in doses of 5,000 to 15,000 mcg. Since 120 mcg is the maximum dose available in supplements in Canada, this is not feasible north of the border.
MK-7 is slower-acting, but lasts a couple of days in the body, so a daily dose is fine; and recent clinical trials use daily doses of 180 mcg for good bone metabolism, and 360 mcg for removing calcified arterial plaque.
MK-4 is available from seafood (especially cod liver oil) and from grass-fed animal meats (especially liver), eggs, butter, cheese; but absent in these products from factory-farmed and grain-fed animals. It is quite rare in our modern diets, though abundant 100 years ago.
MK-4 in supplements is synthetically produced.
MK-7 is available from natto, a fermented soybean product; supplements use this product.
Vitamins D & A produce proteins that potentially regulate calcium metabolism, but in inactive form. Vitamin K2 activates these proteins. So without adequate K2, the benefits of D & A are unavailable to the body; and without adequate D & A, K2 has nothing to activate.
Take vitamins A & D in roughly equal amounts (despite the fact that vitamin A is typically sold in capsules of 10,000 IU, and vitamin D in capsules of 1000 IU). Take 100 mcg of vitamin K2 in MK-7 form for every 1000 IU of A and D.
For example, take 1 capsule of A every other day; and daily 5 capsules of 1000 IU vitamin D, or equivalent of a higher dosage D product; and 4 capsules of 120 mcg MK-7. Some formulations of MK-7 also include 1000 IU vitamin D. Do the math!
‘Toxicity’ of vitamin A or D occurs only with inadequate supplies of K2 and the other (D or A). Excess supplementation of vitamin A or D without adequate intake of the other, induces a further deficiency of the other, and of vitamin K2.
Beta carotene is NOT vitamin A, though a valuable anti-oxidant in its own right.
Beta carotene can convert to vitamin A in the body, but only in small amounts, and unreliably.
For calcium regulation benefits, take vitamin A (retinol).
Soak all seeds: nuts, legumes, grains, to disable the phytic acid which keeps the seed from sprouting and prevents the body absorbing the nutrients in the seed.
An effective way to reduce phytic acid in brown rice is outlined in the link as supplied.
Whilst it looks rather complex initially, after reading/absorbing the info a few times, it is quite manageable and – apparently – extremely effective.
I suggest that some of the principles involved couls also be applied to other grains & beans.
Now for the link which I forgot to insert:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/new-way-to-soak-brown-rice.html
It seems to me that the very best ways to almost eliminate phytate are just too complicated in our culture, and we don’t wish to be restricted to fermented versions of legumes, though I agree that idli, for example, is a great food (Indian fermented urad + rice cakes, steamed).
So, my thinking is, just don’t be a vegan. Consume some fermented dairy products and lactofermented vegetables.
Phytates dont need to be eliminated. This article is just an opinion, some things are interesting but the vast majority isn’t backed by science. Dairies products increase the risk of prostate cancer and contains tons of hormones.
Why bother? Because elimination of phytate in grains is the holy grail, as far as our food supply goes. We need people who don’t think it’s enough to find an answer for themselves alone and are willing to work and experiment on their own to find solutions; those who know how to think for themselves and independently from what they’ve heard and read. We all have a curious inclination to advocate what we really want to eat. Coffee lovers find studies that support coffee as healthy. We all want to find studies that say whipped cream is great for us, but butter will do. etc All Americans were raised to believe that animal protein builds you up. If that’s true then it’s also true that to be ‘built up’ or healthier, you need boron and magnesium and silicon and all sorts of nutrients that come only from plants! If you’ve never been curious enough to play with your food or brave enough to control your appetite, then you won’t know that meat by itself ‘don’t taste that good’ You won’t know that. We all just think what we think and we never want to venture outside the limits of our own self imposed boxes. Why is it so important? Because the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry have us trapped, and the fda has sold us down the river.. Heaven help them in the day they are really discovered and exposed. Your interests are not their interests.. Two more corvettes for each of them and we can all go to hell.. It is way past time for us all to wake up. You think you’re young and cool and hip? You’re not cool. You’re ‘dead sound asleep’ as my Mother used to say, and your children are going to want an answer as to why you were content with doing nothing, when they’re grown. Can you even imagine how much money they make off from us just by scaring us about candida ? 2 spoonfuls of hull less barley a day and you would never have candida. The good bugs love it. It’s better than all the pills and bottles of pre biotics and pro biotics you can afford. Simply by soaking them on a heating pad for a day, 24 hours, morning to morning, with a little apple cider vinegar, gets rid of most of the phytic acid and unlocks all the goodness of the grain. If you then pressure cook them, it’s even more perfect. Add them to chilli or soup or anything! It’s not that hard. We’re all just catching up after a hundred years of being kept in the dark, intentionally. A spoonful of fresh ground rye flour speeds up the process and is necessary for grains with no phytase, like oats and rice. Spelt and wheat and buckwheat are stuffed with it, but rye is best. The revolution to re humanize our world and take back our lives from the corporations has begun, and if you have no brave part in this, history will remember you, not as people worth talking about, or writing about, but as a duped, tired, thoughtless people, that were used and abused so much by their own government and the corporations that rule us, that there was no good thing left to effect a change. By taking your money away from the junk food, animal circus food processed fake food world you sap the strength of Goliath. The night of hypnotism and materiality is far spent. Day is upon us.
Some would call your perspective pessimistic and paranoid but it is unfortunately closer to the truth than some people are comfortable admitting. I don’t believe all men are soulless and out for themselves but business can be cutthroat and cold. In a hyper capitalistic society that uses planned obsolescence and cheap labor for big profits the common man is often left debilitated. A fine example is how much red meat is consumed in the United States. The risk of colon cancer and heart disease is very real but most people not only believe it’s great for you but necessary for survival. These people may be setting themselves up for serious problems down the road. Most people are under the impression that flouride is added to water for health benefits. It is actually a business byproduct that should not be dumped into the water. The only way to remove it from the water is reverse osmosis filtering. Research shows that flouride may have oral benefits when used topically but it probably should not be swallowed. We don’t necessarily know long term effects of flouride but some research shows that IQ is lower in areas with flouridated water. Coincidence or neurotoxin? Brushing your teeth with sodium bicarbonate prevents cavities. Is flouridated water really worth the risk?
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/fluoride-childrens-health-grandjean-choi/
what a phenomenal article…
After decades of experimenting with eating only whole foods, vegetarianism, veganism, macrobiotics, raw foods (both with and without raw meat), paleo (including nuts), I have settled on a whole food, seedless, high-raw, paleo diet, cooking only with water (steaming, boiling, pressure cooking), and that has brought the greatest results, by far. I make one exception: I add one or two tablespoons of either flax or chia seeds, soaked overnight, to my green smoothie every morning.
Hi Norman,
I’ve experimented with diet a lot too and have not hit that sweet spot yet. Do you think you could share with me the details of your diet? I am interested in hearing about what you’ve found that works for you.
“Seedless” oh yeah so you trust all these conspiracy theories about “harmful seeds”?
Hello! I’ve recently found this link about phytates: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/phytates-for-the-prevention-of-osteoporosis/
I’d like to hear your opinion about it.
Hello, I have a quick question to ask. Can I soak dehulled oat groats along with whole rye berries as a starter? I’m not talking about either rolled oats or rye flour, just plain groats and berries. Is it a good way to break down phytic acid in oats? Or do I still need to grind rye berries and use rye flour as a starter?
There’s so much phytase in the rye berries that they will provide plenty of it even if left whole. In fact I’v started a jar of rye soak water that s kept in the frig that adds lots of phytase to any soaking grain, especially for grains with high phytate and low phytase, like oats. If you cut or roll the rye you have to use it immediately. An easy way would be to soak a few hours, then grind in the vitamix. That mush will be stuffed with phytase. But the rye water trick seems to work better. Pour most of the jar out, into some cereal or flour, then add more fresh water to the top. Change out the berries every ten days or so. I think it’s a kind of natural ferment, like the rice soak water that guy invented/
The finer the grain the more phytase will be available. So ideally both the rye and the oats should be soaked together as cereal. The oats in this country are always heated. So you must have rye berries or some other high phytase grain soaking with the oats. The whole berries can’t get out as much phytic acid as the the ground or mashed grain, but it can work if you use a slightly fermented rye water. I plan to replace brown rice with oat groats for stir fry, and this is how I will do it.
Does ROLLED Rye & ROLLED Buckwheat still do the job in removing the phytic acid from rolled oats?
No, all oats in this country have been heated-no more phytase. Any grain will lose most of its phytase shortly after it’s ground crushed or rolled. So, without a roller, just buy any whole berry and soak for awhile. Then pulverize them in any blender. ie Soak new rye berries with oat groats and then pulse together. Or soak rye berries, pulverize, and then soak with rolled oats. Warmth helps speed this up.
I’m so confused… Trying to limit/avoid phytic acid consumption by my kiddos because of their cavities. If we are to use a nut butter in moderation, which would be the best? Was just reading this article and its shows cashews hold the highest amount of phytic acid, yet they don’t even make the list that was in the article on this site. Feeling overwhelmed and confused…
http://paleoleap.com/are-nuts-and-seeds-healthy/
The number one way to avoid cavities is to eliminate processed food and beverages from your diet. Soda, candy, anything that is processed and has sugar in the ingredients. Number two way is to have good oral hygiene by brushing after meals. I’d like to point out that natural whole foods do not fall into the same category of sodas and candy even though they have high sugar content. Reason being is that due to the high fiber content the sugary fruits are slowly broken down and fuel the brain and body energy requirements. Compared to soda, which spikes blood sugar levels, fruit is superior in every way imaginable. Even something like medjool dates, in which 2 are equivalent to 12 ounces of Coca Cola in grams of sugar, they pose no risks of diabetes or disease. There have been medical studies documenting this fact. If your kids drink sugary beverages or candy this is almost certainly the reason behind their tooth decay. Speaking from personal experience as an ex soda drinker and candy eater I know the havoc they can wreak on your teeth. My advice is to drop these things or minimize them as much as you can and switch over to bananas, dates, mangos, any whole unprocessed fruit. As a bonus they come with protein, vitamins and minerals that soda and candy do not. Soda is so sweet and unnatural to me now I can’t force myself to drink a can of it. Best of luck to you.
Study about dates referenced here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Wa_PkWbPg
Good observations Sara! However, I would like to point out a couple of things. One, the populations which Dr. Price studied and found to be enjoying robust health (consuming their native diets rich in animal foods including insects, raw and cultured dairy products, fermented foods and sprouted or soaked grains) did not use toothbrushes or dentists, and yet had excellent oral health! They were almost entirely free of cavaitation and also had very straight teeth with plenty of room in their pallets for all of their teeth. He described how the Swiss had a sort of slimy film covering their teeth, but no cavieties!
So, oral health goes beyond eliminating processed foods and sugar (super important for sure!), and doesn’t even necessarily include brushing or flossing! But must include a truly nutrient-dense diet filled with properly prepared foods including animal fats and organs, bone broth, fermented foods, some grains (for most), and raw cultured dairy.
Our family lives on a diet such as this and, when visiting the dentist recently, found that amongst the 6 kids being seen, only 1 tiny cavitation was found amongst all of them!
Keep up the good work and observations, and thank you for commenting!
What they did and what they ate is very significant, yes, but it would not be wise to gloss over the reality that sometimes people are simply gifted with good genes. Precisely how much of their diet is responsible for their impeccable oral health is unknown. Some people will never experience a cavity in their whole entire life. It is all very interesting of course and it sometimes seems the more we know the less we know. Wishing you and your family further success in cavity free living.
And sometimes, that “gift” is actually due to the influence of pre-natal and even pre-generational, high-quality diets which pass on to succeeding generations! Epigenetics…
Maureen, I am currently trying to heal some tooth problems, and I appreciated reading about your family’s good health through the nutrient-rich diet on which you live. Although I have avoided ultra-processed foods and refined sugar for years, I also fell for all of the modern marketing of ‘healthy’ foods which actually weren’t so healthy. That is, I ate a lot of foods rich in phytic acid, and not enough of the good stuff (homemade bone broth, organ meats, raw and fermented dairy). I do miss my homemade sourdough porridge and sourdough bread, however. How do you prepare your grains for your family, and how often do you eat them? How often is too often? I used to eat grains, nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate on a daily basis, but for the past 1 – 2 weeks I have only been indulging in scant amounts of sprouted and fermented almond butter, and unsweetened chocolate. Hoping for a reply! Thanks!
Hi there Sorcha, glad you are on the right path now! As to how much and how often to consume properly prepared grains, this is an individual thing and something I can not answer for you. Most of our family eat soaked or sprouted oatmeal several times a week, sprouted or fermented breads at least that often, and soaked rice several times a week. They consume “nixtamalized” corn products often as well. But others of us can only tolerate this once or twice weekly, and my husband not at all (he is working on healing severe gut issues). Most of us also enjoy sprouted nuts, but again my husband does not feel well when consuming them (although not as poorly as with grains). So you see, how much/how often we consume these things totally depends on the individual and, especially, their gut health. We live in a world with many health problems relating to poor diet (including maternal, pre-birth or conception), use of antibiotics, vaccine damage, toxins in our air, water and soil, etc. I wish it were easier to answer your question, but I am afraid this is SO very complicated in today’s world! That said, I would at least suggest that all grains/nuts/seeds be soaked, sprouted or fermented, and be consumed with “eyes wide open”, being aware of possible problems. All of these should be nourishing and good for us, but for those with a compromised digestive system, may be problematic. It makes me sad to realize how off-track we are as a culture with our dietary and health principles, but I am so grateful for what I have learned here, from the Weston A. Price Foundation. This has put my family on the correct path to healing!
What about frozen green beans? Do I need to soak them too before cooking? And cook for how long period? As I understood, water from cooking needs to be wasted as it will contain phytic acid from green beans
Phytic acid caused my ms. The day I eliminated high phytic acid foods is the day I started to heal.
Phytic acid leaks from your gut.
In animal studies it crosses the blood brain barrier. I think it does in humans as well. Then it triggers an immune response that damages the cns in genetically susceptible people. Like me. If you have an autoimmune disease eliminate phytic acid as much as possible.
This is interesting.
What kinds of “high phytic acid foods” were you eating before, and how is your diet now?
I got about 1/3 the way through and had to stop reading. I’m disappointed to see that so many foods can’t be eaten without an intense regime. If I were retired I might be able to give some of this a try, but for now, I will look for other alternatives; maybe cutting out many of these foods for the most part. I don’t use fluoride, and look for better ways to protect my teeth, etc. I prepare most of my own meals, but I just can’t imagine soaking foods for days and days before being able to dry them or cook them. I can’t imagine where I would store all this food while it is soaking.
Lots of good information, kudos to those able to follow up on all the references, and if it is all accurate stuff, how great that you took the time to put it together.
By the way, the print size is so small in this comment section, that I can barely read what I am typing.
Thanks again.
In your article you ask the question ‘How do we square what we know about oats with the fact that oats were a staple in the diet of the Scots and Gaelic islanders, a people known for their robust good health and freedom from tooth decay?’
One possible answer is that they consumed some of the starch in their oats in the form of resistant starch which appears to be protective against the adverse effects of phytic acid.
While normal cooked oats contain just 0.2 g of resistant starch per 100 g, rolled oats contain 11 g (1). Presumably the heating of the oats as part of the rolling process followed by being cooled again causes the creation of resistant starch. Porridge is typically made from rolled oats. Re-heating the rolled oats to make porridge would probably further increase the amount of resistant starch (2).
Studies on the effect of resistant starch on the absorption of nutrients that have been inhibited by phytic acid have found that the inhibitory effect is mitigated or eliminated altogether. For example, a study of zinc and magnesium bio-availability in rats where bio-availability had been reduced by phytic acid found that ‘resistant starch restores zinc bio-availability’ and ‘increased magnesium absorption’ (3).
(1) http://www.csiro.au/hungrymicrobiome/food.html
(2) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29629761
(3) http://www.nrjournal.com/article/S0271-5317(03)00266-5/abstract?cc=y=
Very interesting and good to know!
RE sweet potatoes versus yams
I found this link helpful in clarifying which vegetables this article is referring to in the info about sweet potatoes and yams:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/difference-between-sweet-potatoes-and-yams_n_1097840.html
Basically the long orange tubers are sweet potatoes, not yams.
Hello,
I’ve recently found out that pearl barley has a low glycemic index and glycemic load. It is the refined form of barley, but it has fiber thoroughout the grain, which explains the low GI and GL values. I’m still concerned about its phytic acid (and other anti nutrients) content, however, because it has fiber thoroughout the grain (do fiber and phytic acid go together? I’m not sure). I haven’t been able to find anything about it and I was hoping someone would know.
Thanks.
Would beer have a significantly reduced content of phytic acid, due to the fermentation process?
I’ve cut out a lot out of my diet in an attempt to heal a tooth, and I was hoping to be able to indulge myself. Thank you!
Does sprouting basmati brown rice reduces phytates? And what to do if i cant consume meat because i dont have a healthy organic meat source… I try to sprout as much as possible.
And can i soak the nuts and then slowly roast them? Since i dont have a dehydrator
I sprout the organic brown basmati. Smells so good cooking. It reduces much of the arsenic & anti-nutrients like phytates.
great article – love the citations.
I can infer a sprouting/souring method for black beans – but is there a satisfactory just soaking method? and what to soak with – acidic or alkaline?
Nourishing Traditions says use whey for legumes, except for black beans use lemon juice. Anyone know why? Anyone have a start to finish method for black beans that they believe is well founded? THANKS!
If you eat black beans every single day and depend on them for survival then I would suggest soaking and then sprouting them, if for no other reason than it being easier on the stomach and intestines. If you eat them occasionally or do not necessarily depend on them as a major source of nutrition in your diet then I would suggest avoiding the hassle of sprouting and simply do a 12-24 hour soak at room temperature. This followed by cooking removes a decent amount of phytic acid. Discard the soak water and rinse at least twice before cooking.
Something that is often overlooked when it comes to phytate is that while it does have mineral binding effects this can be offset by simply eating more of said food. The mineral difference between the beans that were sprouted and beans that were only soaked may be as little as 1/4th to 1/2 cup more beans on your plate. So do you experience discomfort or pain after eating beans? If the answer is no then you may not need to go the extra mile when it comes to eating beans. Simply consider eating 1/4th to 1/2 cup more.
When you consider that phytate may also offer some health benefits such as cancer prevention or prevention of bone loss a little phytate here and there may not hurt whatsoever. To me this entire subject is very complicated and the answers and solutions are sometimes difficult to see clearly. There are so many different diets and ways of living like raw vegan and paleo. Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle. Following a strict diet and the general confirmation bias that comes with it may be dangerous. My two cents.
According to your article, reducing phytic acid lelels down to minimum is very important for human health and it is possible to remove phytic acid in nuts by soaking, fermenting, roasting or germinating. However, I have a question. If I process nuts by the methods i mentioned above, do they reduce the nutritional value of them?
Thank you!!
In almost all cases no. Phytate is essentially stored energy which fuels the growth process. For instance when you are dealing with dry beans they are in a dormant state and can be kept this way for years if packaged right. When you soak the beans they become hydrated and swell in size which one step removes them from the dormant state allowing better digestion and lower cooking time. If you decide to sprout (germinate) them the phytate is broken down and the energy is used during the transformation of seed to plant. Depending on how long you sprout beans for this may or may not be obvious to the naked eye. To enjoy the benefits of sprouting beans you technically only need to allow about one to two centimeters of growth. However if you continue watering them and further the sprouting process you will see the development of leaves. Most sprouts are very healthy and packed with nutrition. For example sprouting brown rice increases the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels ten-fold (!!!). That being said as with any raw food you run risk of illness from bacteria. Raw sprouts carry this risk so use your best judgement. As long as you intend on cooking the rice, beans etc. this risk is essentially mitigated.
On the other hand some things should never be sprouted. Potato is one of them. Potato spouts contain glycoalkaloid poison and shouldn’t be eaten. I can’t speak from personal experience but I doubt it’s life threatening if someone mistakenly does this but they may experience varying form of illness. If you come across a sprouted potato you must first judge its outer appearance. If it’s shriveled, wrinkly and or smells foul always toss it out. If outer appearance is good cut open to see if the inside has a normal appearance. If the inside checks out you may simply cut off the sprouts and use what remains of the potato for cooking.
Anyway spouted food may vary slightly in nutrition but it’s practically always beneficial. Hope I helped, thanks.
If people take you at your word and avoid phytic acid, they will miss out on its cancer-preventive effects. That’s harmful.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2621.2002.00620.x/abstract
The bit about (human) gut flora digesting phytic acid is interesting, but if you just upped your mineral intake from other foods, and ate them in separate meals from high-phytic foods, you’d have no problems and all the benefits.
Hello,
I soak nuts and steel cut oats daily in mason jars. When I am ready to consume, I drain the water, and rinse the nuts or oats. Recently, the thought occurred to me to add an extra step: after draining the soaking water, I could refill the mason jar, close the lid, and shake it. Then I could drain the jar again. When I add this step, the oats or nuts appear “cleaner” than if I just rinse them gently. But I worry that, by adding this step, I am rinsing away too much (good) “stuff.” What do you think? Do the oats or nuts lose nutritional value if I vigorously shake them during the rinsing process? Thanks for your support!
Please make your merchandise fully nonGMO!
Ramiel Nagel died of cancer on August 3rd, 2017. Not sure what type of cancer, but in context with this thread, if he avoided phytates or phytic acid, he may have downplayed the BENEFITS they showed towards colon cancer.
Several studies show phytates lower the risk of colon cancer. I hope that wasn’t the cause of his death.
Hello,
Wow, where do I start?! I’ve been vegan for alomost 2 years, suddenly in the past 3 months I’ve lost 13lbs (probably because I haven’t been going to the gym, new job, and I’ve noticed a change in the amount of food I eat being less) but recently I’ve noticed severe hair loss it’s has me very worried. When I read that phytates can block minerals that also help with protein absorbtion It hit me! For the past 2 months ive been eating grape nuts bran cereal religiously with pumpkin seeds… lots of it. I think this is my biggest culprit.
So im wondering if anyone has experienced this??
Hey! Im vegan too. Good sources of proteins are important to avoid hair loss and weight balance.
I would cut out grape nuts bran cereal: extruded cereals aren’t good to eat but to sell. I would switch to whole grain sourdough bread.
Pumpkin seeds, otherwise, are magic: i have recovered 6kg eating 60-100gr per day. And my hair is better than ever. Also i added spirulina (2teaspoon daily, about 6gr) and coconut oil (i use this like butter: over the sourdough toasted bread). I eat quinoa daily (not fermented), just washed and boiled then brown rice, and buckwheat. Chickpeas 2 or 3 times daily, tofu once a week (organic) and some soy sometimes.
PSeeds: i eat them without soaking them, processed with water, olive oil, salt, turmeric, and sometimes nutritional yeast: this is the best/easy vegan cheese ever. I also put this over bread or veggies.
Please comment here if u are better.
Re: Hair loss
Many factors can contribute to this. Consider glandular
supplements, especially for adrenals. LIfe changes,such as a new job and additional stressors can affect hair growth…
With all the discussion of calcium (which I am so TIRED
of) everyone seems to ignore silica. Silica is more important than calcium in the diet. Flora brand silica
is a good source of silica…good for hair, bones…
Won’t get into the details on this… trust me, please.
Consider ConcenTrace trace minerials. The tables
are best, I think. However they are chunky. Might
have to pulverize them first. They get soft, though,
if allowed to sit out in the air a couple hours.
Have studied all kinds of alternative health things
since was 12 and am over 60 now.
The above should help. Be good to yourself. :.)
You said: Cooking with a handful of green weed leaves, such as dandelion or chickweed, can improve mineral assimilation.
What does the green weed leaves do to the legumes for improved mineral assimilation? Or, what does it add that makes assimilation better? Please explain.
Thank so much for the article!
What exactly is cultured molasses? Is it blackstrap molasses?
What about this study – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235770840_Phytate_reduction_in_whole_grains_of_wheat_rye_barley_and_oats_during_hydrothermal_treatment
In experiment #8 they took raw, naked (hulless) oats and ground them into a flour. They then soaked the flour 8 hours in plain water at around 70 degrees F and achieved an 83-87% reduction in phytate. This process did not work for unground oat groats. So maybe if you can buy raw hulless oats, freshly roll them yourself and simply soak in plain water overnight (no whey, starter, etc) the phytic acid will probably be mostly broken down by the time you are done cooking them. Yay! no more sour oatmeal!
Hello, i have been having a full grain vegan diet for the last 4 years , without fermentation beyond sourdough bread and my minerals are perfect. Though, I try to vary which grains or nuts i’am eating (almonds, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts are my everyday, without soaking or toasting sometimes). And then chickpeas, quinoa, buckwheat, a macrobiotic brown rice called “Yamani”, lentils one a week.
Then spirulina and a couple of fruits, coconut oil and olive oil.
Two or three meals a day.
I try to avoid cashew, sesame, peanuts, oats (they are heavy for me estomac either fermented or not) barley, millet and corn: i would absolutely ferment this ones.
Nice article, but a bit difficult to achieve nowadays!
Hello guys. Can you please help me out with this question.
Do oils contain anti-nutrients such as phytic acid as well. For example almond oil or peanut oil. If the original product contains phytic acid, does the acid get removed when it is being turned into an oil?
Thank you so much for your reply.
can’t give a straight answer but perhaps you can derive the solution to your question from this:
in order to render the phytates useless, you combine the seeds with oil (such as with a classic tahini recipe: sesame seeds+a lot of oil). it binds the free radicals to the oil
I use chickpea flour in some baking and in making gluten-free tortillas. My understanding is that commercial chickpea flour is made from roasted chickpeas but some people make their own chickpea flour by grinding up uncooked chickpeas. Is this something you would advise against?
Hello
Some help is needed. I am very confused. When to know if you shall soak just in water or soak in acidified water? Shouldn’t be used the word fermenting if you are going to used acidified medium?
I get confused specially when they talk about acidified medium activate phytase. So I wonder then everything shall be soaked in acid medium.
Also when to use rye flour?
Thanks so much.
Everything should be soaked in acid medium. We’re just trying to avoid crunchy beans and sour oatmeal, so are taking the long way around with certain things. Acid speeds up the process, but soaking rye berries and then using that soak water in anything will be even better. It’s stuffed with phytase. It becomes a kind of ferment. Rye flour works when you need fast phytase for anything and especially in any flour recipes, like biscuits or pie crust or cake.
I was just wondering about the amount of phytic acid in things like rice and bean flour. Is it still bad for you or is the acid stripped away during the process?
That was a really good article! Two things: I would like that based on this article there would be a bunch of recipes published (or even linked). Preferably traditional recipes, because they somehow ‘got it’ or often grasp what modern science can’t get. Basically interviewing old people exactly how they used to do things. And I would love if the articles here would not contain F and other weird measurements! What about soaking and pressure cooking beans?
I have got more questions:
1) Does the Weston Price Foundation recommend to sieve out the bran after milling whole kernels? What size of a sieve? Fermentation times?
2.) There is a very yummy bread which is called ‘pumpernickel’ with whole rye – is it high in phytates, it is very traditional and is baked long and slow.
3. ) In Australia, I only find wholemeal and white flour. Whereas is Germany there are more kinds likee 400 (white) 1000 (half white) and so on. The 1000 should be what’s recommended here?
I must be stupid because I am SO confused about everything now. How long do I ferment each bean/grain? That is NOT clear at all from this article.
I am convinced that this article was created to confuse people and to just kill all of their self confidence…This article, I gained nothing from it bu confusion and wasted so much of my time..
Why does the book Nourishing Traditions say that sprouting neutralizes phytic acid? Here, it is stated that sprouted grains still have phytic acid…What is the end goal here?
Take down this article.
Anastasiya, I am sorry that you find this article frustrating. For me, it was extremely informative and helpful. As to neutralizing physic acid, the real goal is not to neutralize all phytic acid, as this is an unreasonable expectation, but to neutralize most.
This article also is not intended as an instruction manual, but for information about physic acid and its effects. It links to other articles with more information, as well as NT.
I hope this helps to clarify some of your confusion.
Maureen
Maureen,
The word “confused” shows up about 12 times in the comments…The WAPF can do better since it has so many followers. I was thinking of making a chart to organise a lot of this info, and making a link for people here…The mistakes in the article are not helping. Ramiel was a genius. Geniuses need secretaries who defuse confusion of regular people. Are you such a person?
In the end. I am turning to a book written by a Doctor..The Dental Diet: The Surprising Link between Your Teeth, Real Food, and Life-Changing Natural Health by Steven Lin.
I don’t know why I keep coming back to this page. God bless Ramiel’s family and my prayers are with them. Goodbye
You have to think about how far out to sea we’ve gone. We can’t even cook the white foods from the fifties anymore. Noone wants to cook at all. All of our non foods come from boxes or freezers. Or having sandwiches handed to us out of a window. it’s gotten really bad. We are so far down the charts on the world scale. Think of getting rye and spelt and barley berries and soak-grinding them as replacing going out and growing it..Once we get in the groove it’ll be easy. And we’ll be out of the loop. The people in the near future will take to it easily, like the zombie kids took to cell phones. So- the finer the berry is cut, the faster it’ll soak the phytate out. The warmer it is in the beginning, the faster it’ll soak it out. Make rye soak water and replenish every fortnight. And remember, barley is a panacea to get away from pre’s and pro’s and all cravings. Oatmeal should ALWAYS be half soaked barley. Oats are too high sugar and not nearly as good fiber as barley.
Traditional methods seem to remove a part of the phytates. Which is probably the right thing to do. And that includes removing the bran or a part of the bran in wholemeal flour. Modern healthy cookbooks don’t recommend that – would the sourdough recipes still work? If you freshly grind wheat or rye you would have to sieve a part out, whereas if you buy wholemeal flour nothing is sieved out, is it still healthy or does it contain too many phytates even after fermentation? Do you have to boil or soak the leftover bran before feeding it to your chicken? That article should be turned into a recipe book!
I am so sad to learn of Ramiel Nagel’s death from brain cancer in 2017. He gave us all so many gifts. I was so excited when I read his book ‘Cure Tooth Decay’ and he explained about truly traditional ways of preparing grains, beans, and nuts. So many people on this thread are saying that these traditional preparation methods are too time consuming or they are wrong, becuase some studies are saying that phytates prevent colon cancer, but I don’t think that we can go wrong with truly traditional preparations. If you eat these things without traditional preparation, you are lucky! But everyone is different and I feel some people will need to prepare them traditionally. I only wish there was information about how to traditionally prepare wild rice. I live in the Midwest, USA, where the Native Americans harvested wild rice in great quantity and consumed it. They still do in some places. If anyone has information how to traditionally prepare wild rice, please share.
Felicia, we were all saddened at the news of Rami’s death. There is so much about our own personal histories, especially pertaining to food and emotions, that we just can’t be certain, even with a clean and perfect diet *now*, we don’t have a guarantee that we will live healthfully and happily into old age.
Traditional methods certainly are more time consuming than cooking with scissors and microwaves, but definitely worth it! Dr. Price noted some of these practices in his seminal work, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. The Scottish in the Outer Hebrides come to mind, as he noted how their oat groats were being continually added to the pot and left, warm and moist, for the next meal. There are also old cookbooks and other historical scripts that detail how grains and legumes were to be prepared. For instance, it is not uncommon to read instructions in cook books from fairly recent history to soak dried beans in an acidic medium before rinsing and cooking.
Rice is very low in phytase, and from what we have learned it is best to soak in water for 24 hours, hold back a small portion of the soak water when draining and then rinse. Add the portion of soak water to the rice and cover again, soaking/draining/rinsing/ all over again for several days, always keeping back a little of the soak water to add back; this will contain active phytase, which will increase with each soaking. Save some of the last water to start the next batch, and you’re on your way!
Maureen
Hi Maureen,
This is an old post but so full of great information! I have a question on your comment about Weston Price noting in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration that the Scots continually added oats to their pot and left them warm and moist. I have looked through his book several times for this description and cannot find it. Could you point me to where he wrote it?
Thanks!
Alison
Please help.
1. I soaked chickpeas for 24 hours, changing the water once.
2. then i drained the water and let the moist chickpeas sit, rising them every 8 hours or so for a few days. they got really smelly, but would get less smelly when i rinsed them.
3. i then dried them in the oven on very low heat the oven door cracked.
4. then i roasted them at 400 degrees.
5. THEN, i finally put them in a pot of water and cooked them. THE MOST AWFUL SMELL EVER.
i am going to see this through and taste the darn things, but wow, they STINK something AWFUL.
what did i do wrong here?
Hi, sounds like your chickpeas got mold from not being rinsed and aerated frequently enough. Eight hours is way too long between refreshing their environment. See if you can do it every two hours. You can’t be at work, of course. Well, perhaps at some jobs, but you have to set a time that reminds you every two hours to rinse and shake your c-peas.
I suggest that you do very small batches, like less than a cup of dried chickpeas inside a quart jar or even a larger jar. Soak for 6-8 hours, then rinse and position jar at a tilt to let water run off. Don’t have so many c-peas that some of them get buried under the others. This will definitely precipitate mold. Shake them frequently to keep them aerated. If they start to smell bad, throw them out. I just had to throw some out yesterday — I just couldn’t stay with my own program, and my garbanzos went bad.
Does anyone know where the recommendation to soak in an acidic solution came from? Having trouble finding a source/study!
Thanks,
Taylor Stolt, RDN, LD, CLT
The acidic solution confused me because I’ve always read you should never add acid to beans before they are fully cooked or it will cause them not to be able to soften.
Hi
I read this article about 3 years ago and it saved me.
I appear to be sensitive to phytic acid and as a Vegetarian I was relying heavily on foods that have high phytic acid levels. I have since changed my diet and how I prepare food. Symptoms like constant stiffness in muscles and joints, muscle weakness, head aches, sensitive, sore stomach that feels as though I have swallowed a grater, bruised feeling in abdomen, fatigue, irritability and more have reduced drastically. I cannot thank you enough…
Heidi
I think that the best answer to phytates is to eat chewable digestive enzyme that have phytase such as : Ness chewable enzymes or Klaire Labs Vital-Zymes Chewable or Seeking Health Pro-Digestion Intensive chewables. It is important to break down phytates to make phosphorus, iron, zinc and copper available to your body.
As a vegan and someone who raised a very healthy vegetarian boy, now 6-2″, I am just learning about phytates and very interested in reducing them. I very much appreciate this information. However, having been someone who is counter to the meat culture for some time, I have to say I was disappointed that many preparations or recipes ended with the author’s personal choice of adding meat or dairy, without giving any vegan examples of completing the mix as well, for which there are also many. He talks of the depletion of vegetable nutrients in their production, but meat and dairy are somehow sacred and natural? This could not be further from the truth and these products start and end with immense cruelty of a living and feeling being, as well as their surrounding environment (our planet) and are pumped full of antibiotics, chemicals, etc. Please be fair to those of us, who choose this ethical and HEALTHY way of being. Look at Serena Williams and countless others who adopt vegan diets to improve their health, fitness and longevity, not to mention their spiritual well being. Also, vegans are the ones who need to consider this phytic acid information the most, since we rely more on beans, nuts and seeds. Please include evidence-based options for us too.
I hope you come back to this site
The question is simple: How did you do it?
Two questions.
1. Doesn’t cooking/roasting nuts remove the nutrients? Also I read we should soak nuts, legumes etc for 18 hours or more not just overnight.
2. I eat sourdough bread but what about rye bread? Rye is good for fermenting, but what about eating actual rye bread? What other store bought breads are ok to eat?
I’m very confused; all I want to do is find out how I cook a little buckwheat; I really don’t have time for long and confusing articles.
👍
Same here, wanting to learn about soaking and then cooking buckwheat is how I ended up here.
Although I truly enjoy informative and scientific articles, I also enjoy tables with neatly presented, EASILY DIGESTIBLE (pun intended 😉) info.
Anyone who isn’t going to die, raise your hand!
Y’all are wrapped a little too tight, me thinks.
Eat your oatmeal and enjoy…
Because someday you’re ALL going to die. It’s a fact.
Lighten up, Francis.
I may have misinterpreted your comment. So I apologize if I’m missing something, and I hear what you’re saying too.. We may die, but to me this is kinda about conducting ourselves consciously. If you are perceptive enough to see the causes and the effects of our actions then wouldn’t we want to conduct everything consciously? One generation may ride on the hard work and awareness of their forefathers and not notice subtle cumulative changes, priding themselves on strength and ignorance. The subsequent generations will undoubtedly pay a price for this mentality. Survival of the fittest is good when we’re animals and our environment untainted by the desires of man. Animals are robust and just eat the food. Would we have been better off if Ougaboug listened to Tuma, just ate the meat instead of putting it in the fire. Or is it only because of this awareness that we evolved from horizontal animals to humans..
I’d really like it if a book was written, dedicated solely on recipes for various ways of preparing grains/seeds/legumes, that show quick ways of preparing tasty recipes etc. Basically, a more in depth cookbook from Nourishing Traditions, but specifically for these foods, as in our day, it is rarely practiced in western society, and we don’t have a great working experience with it. And our lives are so busy, many of us, just need good, quick easy recipes to follow, preferably with some Color photos too please. I am a super busy Mum , who just wants to give the best to my family, but I need easy to follow and inexpensive recipes, and I don’t have time to even watch you tubes. Maybe some WAPF members could share some of their favourite recipes, such as sourdough, oatmeal, legume recipes too. The variety would be amazing and creativity so inspiring! Just like how the Nourishing Broth book focuses solely on broth, we need a Nourishing Traditions book specifically for Nourishing Nutrients from properly prepared grains, seeds and legumes please!!
Can you please specify what kind of yams you cite as having significant phytic acid? The one commonly found in N. American stores, and hailing from the family Convolvulaceae (the morning glory family), or is it the kind from SE Asia of the family Dioscorea, and rarely found in N. American stores?
Can store bought rye flour be used in the fermentation process or does it actually have to be freshly ground?
Hi I am planning to cut out processed and addes sugar as well as phytates in the next few weeks. Does anyone know the phytic acid levels of other sweeteners such as honey or stevia?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! 😊
Just look on line yourself and you will find all the info. In couple of seconds I found this_ https://www.longdom.org/open-access/selected-antinutrients-and-proximate-compositions-of-honey-apis-mellifera-sample-collected-from-biase-southern-senatorial-district-2167-0501-1000261.pdf
thanks for the info- very valuable as wanting to have a more vegan diet and this is definitely something g to think about. The levels of phytic acid i presume is calculated in dried beans , lentils etc …. my question is ….. are levels of phytic acid lower in canned/tinned/boxed beans and lentils ?? they come already soaked in water and you just have to drain the juice and rinse or would you still need to soak before cooking?
cheers
Hi there!
As a chef I find FIGURE 3: QUINOA PHYTATE REDUCTION in this article extremely helpful as it quickly tells me the efficiency of each preparation method related to a specific grain. I understand that there is extensive research behind this article, however my question is that has all this information been organized and categorized in a similar format like FIGURE 3 for all the major grains, nuts, seeds and legumes specifically?
Many thanks!
There is a study showing that, unfortunately, soaking doesn’t reduce the phytate concentration in almonds and hazelnuts. Here’s the link https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/7938/KumariShivani2017MDiet.pdf
This is a really valubale and much needed article to have a deeper understanding of the Phytic acid. Thank you for this writing.
Is there a sortlike article (maybe of the same author) about other anti-nutrients?
I’m trying to find information about the health effects of WGA (wheat germ agglutenin) found in freshly ground wheat/spelt/rye/…. and information about the reduction through fermentation. I haven’t yet found thourough information about this.
Thank you!
Jan
Hi us there any phyttic acids in spirits like Gin? And also if cocoa is high in phytic acids then how about cocoa butter in body lotion like palmers? I heard about dark leafy green vegetables like kale/spinach containing phytates aswel? Any one with info on vegetables high on phytates? As alot of people who are malnourished usually have trouble with vegetables like kale/spinach/watercress/arugula! Need answers if any one knows about this
I was unable to locate scientific studies supporting the use of vinegar in the soaking of grains and legumes to reduce phytic acid. If you are aware of such study, please share. Many thanks.
This is just SO MUCH information to process! I’ve been doing a lot of research on phytic acid and this article pretty much shoots all of it down (in regards to reducing or eliminating it in oats).
Oats are my main focus. If I’m understanding it correctly, I should soak them with freshly milled rye flour?? Otherwise it’s pointless??
I’m still trying to figure this phytic acid thing out. I read an article just last night that says phytic acid doesn’t hinder the absorption of HEME iron. That’s been my concern. I thought phytic acid was preventing the absorption of heme iron. This article also says zinc from meat is well absorbed even in the presence of phytic acid.
SO, maybe I don’t need to worry about phytic acid after all?? How are we supposed to know exactly what to do when there’s so much conflicting information out there?? It’s honestly driving me quite bonkers, lol.
This is the article, one of MANY I’ve sifted through. It was actually this Weston Price article that screwed everything up for me. I thought I had it all figured out and then realized perhaps I didn’t……
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/phytic-acid-101
Jodie, if your main focus are oats, try Russian oat kissel – antient Russian fermented oatmeal jelly.
https://www.beetsandbones.com/russian-fermented-kissel-porridge/
This Russian Oatmeal recipe could be perfect for your oatmeal diet. The traditional KEY ingredient is RYE starter. Some recipes recommend to add rye bread for fermentation. It is WRONG! To find whole sourdough100% RYE bread is impossible in the US. It is better to start your own rye starter. As you know, beta-glucans are found in several foods including oats and certain mushrooms. Beta-glucans increase healthy gut bacteria, improve blood sugar control, and may reduce cancer risk.
This was a great article!!! My question is “Is there phytic acid in canned beans?” I would think because they are already cooked and then warmed up, there would be less phytic acid.
Candy, if you eat your food with fermented food such as raw (live) sauerkraut or kimchi, kefir (live, not store bought, made with kefir grains), lacto-fermented pickles (no vinegar), home fermented ketchup (yes, it is a fermented product!), low gluten sourdough bread made with Einkorn wheat flour or Rye flour, you will be fine. For example, when fermenting most vegetables, lactic acid and lactobacilli are produced. They significantly reduce phytic acid.
Hi Please read
Cancer inhibition by inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) and inositol: from laboratory to clinic:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14608114/
Yours Sincerely
Barrie Dale
Hello
Does long term storage of grains decrease the phytase enzyme?
Also does storing the grains at a low temperature destroy or lower the phytase content?
Many thanks
Anna
Hi, as a non-secretor (25% of the population) of the antigens on my blood cells into body fluids, I have had a life long struggle with tooth decay. I just recently understood the relationship between the non-secretor gene and how it affects my health. So, I am revisiting these pages and am wondering if they have been updated or there is other information available to supplement this information listed here from WAPF or from anybody else? I am wondering if other people in this situation with the phytate issue, what kind of diet are they consuming? Are they doing the work to process the high phytate items as per above? I did well on a keto diet, low carb, up until I started having problems with electrolytes, especially, magnesium and calcium balances. Skin infections were a result. So, have added the white rice back in, along with sweet potatoes, etc. Would the diet he proposes to heal cavities be a good standard every day diet? Also, now it is possible to purchase supplemental phytase for human consumption. I am trying it now, but it doesn’t seem to be helping with the tooth sensitivity and decay issue. It may be only good for iron and other nutrient liberation from the phosphorus bound up. If anybody has any experience with phytase supplements, it would be great if you could share here. Thanks.
Hello,
Can you please recommend how much acid we need per 1 cup of grain or legume, nut or seed when soaking? And whether lemon juice would suffice?
I am also wondering about Vitamin C, D and calcium and their ability to mitigate phytic acid effects. Must the Vit C, D and calcium be consumed at the same time as the food high phytic acid? Or can it just be on the same day?
Thank you very much. 🙂
Lara
Hi! Thank you for the amount of research and work you put into this article and subsequent updates! The only problem I’m having is trying to narrow down the information into step-by-step instructions. I would love to see detailed instructions for each food so that I know for sure that I’m doing the soaking process right for each food. Will there be something like that in the future?
As one of your authors pointed out, phytates don’t really become an issue unless your diet is very high in raw grains and nuts. I drink supplemental flax milk with calcium – – and take strong multivitamins with minerals, that counteract the oxalates and phytates I get from handfuls of walnuts and ground seeds in my diet.
I have been researching for my husband, and I came upon this article. He is 81 and very
fit looking and acting- runs every other day and lifts weights, feels energetic and has healthy
color. However, in his last physical he came up low on iron, so began taking supplements of
“gentle iron”. He has no symptoms; are these tables skewed for non meat eaters? We are
vegetarians, he only eats sour rye bread, a little basmati rice, lots of organic veggies and
berries, and yoghurt and kefir. Since reading this we are really trying to spot any phytates
causing this. I soak and blanch almonds to make almond milk. We also eat a little quinoa
and buckwheat but really no high phytate foods like lenils or chickpeas.
Caveat: I’m not a doctor or nutritionist. I am a scientist, but my degree is in one of the social sciences. However, as a scientist, there’s a certain amount of etymology (how do we know what we think we know?) that I engage in when trying to learn what is most likely to be true about things like biochemistry, which we’ve studied extensively, and continue to do so.
Vegetarians have a hard time getting enough iron, especially if their ability to absorb plant-based iron (aka “non-heme” iron) becomes inhibited for whatever reason – such as aging. The fact that your husband is so healthy at 81 that he can run and lift weights is great!
I think that’s about the best a human can hope for at that age. It sounds like you all are doing everything right, and it’s just normal aging making some biological processes less efficient.
Our bodies use two different processes to absorb heme iron (from muscle meat) versus non-heme iron. The process for non-heme iron can be disrupted by phytates, and also by the calcium from calcium supplements – not sure if naturally-occurring calcium in dairy impedes non-meme iron absorption or not; I’ve heard it both ways.
If your husband takes a calcium supplement, the best way to counteract its tendency to inhibit non-heme iron absorption is to take a little vitamin C along with it. 125mg should be plenty. Or eat a serving of citrus fruit.
If your husband does not take calcium supplements, might I suggest taking a heme iron supplement? Heme iron can now be made with processes that involve only bacteria and yeast – such processes are used to make the new “impossible meat” products, in fact. ***However, he should consult with his doctor on how much to take,*** because on the other hand, it’s possible for humans to consume too much iron.
You can read more about human iron absorption here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_iron_metabolism
and here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9219084/
The following comes from the study linked above:
“The absorption rate of iron has been reported as 25–30% in the consumption of organ meats, 7–9% in green leafy vegetables, 4% in grains, and 2% in dried legumes, indicating that food types or other dietary factors might influence iron bioavailability.6 For instance, ascorbic acid is a well-known dietary factor improving iron bioavailability; however, calcium, polyphenols, and phytates reduce intestinal iron absorption.”
Hi. It’s not clear to me, when you discuss anti nutrient content of legumes, if you are referring to their complete state (with the skin) or their partly refined version, such as split peas, lentils & beans, which need much less cooking and no soaking that I know of.
You refer to white rice and white flour as much lower in anti-nutrients but these are refined grains, not legumes. And, how about skinned almonds? And so on and so forth.
All in all, this is a helpful article, but these endless factoids need to be sorted out and published in a way for everyone to understand and use. As, I think someone else here pointed out. 🙂 Thank you.