How to Get More Nutrients From Beans, Nuts, Grains and Seeds By Countering Phytic Acid

Vegans, beware! Although a plant-based diet is healthier in many respects, you need to be aware of food preparation methods that reduce phytic acid in beans, nuts, grains and seeds so that you don't end up with deficiencies of key nutrients and minerals.

With all the talk about the health benefits of eating "raw", we tend to forget that there were some very good reasons for food preparation methods in the first place. Plants protect their next generation by locking up phosphorus and minerals with phytic acid, which also chelates calcium, iron, zinc, and other minerals as phytate. Phytate is not "bioavailable", which means you cannot digest it. Traditional food preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting, fermenting, boiling and baking developed to increase human nutrient absorption, in part by depleting phytic acid in seeds. Some seeds, such as kidney beans, are even toxic if consumed raw.

How do animals get by without sophisticated food preparation techniques? Ruminant animals, such as cows, have a few extra stomachs and some helpful microbes. Modern farmers have found that feeding pigs and poultry phytase, which breaks down phytic acid, means less feed and healthier animals that grow faster. Rodents, such as mice, rely on bacteria in their gut that produce phytase, the enzyme that degrades phytates and phytic acid. Humans have but one stomach and most of us can't produce phytase, hence we can develop deficiency disorders such as osteoporosis, rickets, and pellagra if we eat too many seeds without preparing them properly.

Some grains, such as wheat and rye especially, are naturally high in phytase. Soaking and/or sprouting these grains, fermenting them to make sourdough, and then baking them results in highly nutritious bread. Other grains, such as brown rice, contain very little phytase, therefore phytic acid does not break down when you soak the grain. This is why white rice is more easily tolerated by some people. Of course, fermenting brown rice with Bacillus or Lactobacillus species would improve its nutrient profile if you took the time to do that.

Most seeds have a 20 or 30% reduction in phytic acid if soaked for a day or so. Soaking dry beans for 2 or 3 days at room temperature makes them easier to cook and far more nutritious. Lentils, which naturally have low phytic acid levels, only need to be soaked for a few hours before cooking. Sprouting most grains will result in phytic acid levels being reduced to almost nil as phytase is released during germination. Even "toxic" soybeans will lose their high levels of phytic acid as fungus turns them into tempeh.

Tempeh will be the subject of my next experiment.

Meanwhile, understanding the effect of phytic acid on human health and wellness explains why a number of diets, such as the Paleo Diet and Microbiome Diet, require the avoidance of grains and legumes. For those wishing to avoid consuming meat, this can be too restrictive. Better food preparation methods can allow you to enjoy your grains and live longer too!

Ciao.