Newest Reads
Melissa McEwen
Hi! I originally started eating paleo because of stomach problems and I've stuck with it because it makes me feel great. I am also a co-organizer for NYC's Eating Paleo in NYC Meetup Group. I was recently featured in the New York Times in an article about caveman-style life in NYC.
Connect
Get Updated!
Phytic Acid: taking off the paleo blinders
Nuts are delicious...they aren't a grain, they are full of fat, low-carb, they are "paleo" what is there not to love?
Apparently, lots. I addressed their imbalance of fats in a previous post and how they probably aren't paleo, but today an article on Cheeseslave about dental health got me interested in more:
In the interview, Rami told me that peanuts are as bad as soybeans when it comes to phytic acid content. He said that nuts are extremely high in phytic acid. He said that he thinks peanut butter that has not been soaked and sprouted is a “garbage food”. Rami told me that seeds are the absolute worst. Even worse than soy or peanuts. Sesame seeds have double or triple the phytic acid that soy has.
Let's look at the data:
How can paleo dieters bash grains and legumes for antinutrients when they are eating just as many in the form of nuts and seeds? It makes me wonder... which is really a better choice: a "paleo" pancake made from almond butter or a traditionally fermented idli? The idli probably has less phytic acid, that's for sure.
Since phytic acid robs the body of minerals, I think I will avoid it best I can. If I think about it carefully, since I am eating expensive meat...when I eat phytic acid it is robbing me of money!
The paleo diet can blind people by forcing them to argue about the history of food rather than its objective properties. But nuts lose either way. The only evidence of large-scale consumption of nuts comes from mesolithic and neolithic societies. They were between agrarian and foragers, as they still consumed wild foods, but they also engaged in activities that boasted nut production. As I was reminded in a recent permaculture workshop I took (you can view the slideshow from it here), agroforestry is still a form of agriculture.
- huntgatherlove:
- Tags:
Comments
This is very interesting.
This is very interesting. Always get stomach discomfort when I eat too many nuts. Good post. Hope it gets picked up.
"phytic acid robs the body of
"phytic acid robs the body of minerals"
Not exactly. The phytic acid combines with the minerals in your digestive tract and the resulting phytates precipitate out. So it keeps the body from getting the minerals.
If you eat a single food snack with phytic acid then no minerals to combine with.
Your chart only lists two paleo foods: the two tree nuts. However the chart maker picked the nuts with the highest phytic acid. As the phytic acid is in the bran, for both of these you can reduce it by soaking off the brown covering. For brazil nuts you may be able to scrape it off.
As almonds have higher Omega 6, I wouldn't consider it my top paleo nut. I give that to walnuts.
You definitely have a point
You definitely have a point about the phytic acid content of nuts and seeds, but that's hardly the only antinutrient to be concerned about. Phytic acid from nuts is relatively low on my list of things to avoid, frankly.
I do agree, however, that it's very easy to devour huge quantities of nuts and pretend that we're following a paleo diet. We used to have to work hard for those dense calories, getting through the tough outer shell for each one slowed us way down - instead we get them pre-shelled in a giant container. Almonds are one of my new comfort foods, which of course means over-consumption. I find that if I eat too many it causes major intestinal distress, and I generally just feel and perform better if I avoid nuts/seeds.
Something else to consider is that the paleo diet is already cutting out a huge amount of food that most people eat, so having nuts as a tool starting out can be very helpful. It really does have good macronutrient properties relative to what we're eliminating, and can help in the transition. I'm working to largely phase them out now, or use them more as a seasoning than a food group, but I definitely couldn't have done that when I had just started.
Peanuts are legumes not nuts.
Peanuts are legumes not nuts. Nuts are almonds, walnuts and macs.
I really wish we had better
I really wish we had better info, in a centralized place, about antinutrients and what gets rid of them. We're still learning this information and you have to run all over the Internet to find it. I wish I had a lab in my home where I could soak and toast and dry nuts and see which removes more phytates but hey, I don't.
I've been doing the Weston A
I've been doing the Weston A Price "crispy nuts", and I find they are a lot more digestible.
It's kind of odd to me that I don't see Paleo types doing it, just WAP types.
facinating...
facinating...
Melissa, very good
Melissa, very good observations. I agree with your statement regarding the blinders coming on when people use as their sole criterion how long a item has been in our food supply to determine what is healthy. I think along with other data, this "food history" fills in the missing pieces but it can't be the whole puzzle.
A couple of months ago I made the choice to give up dairy after I read that the acidity in cheese (along with then taking a bite of asparagus) is a recipe for kidney stones. Since "going paleo" I had stopped drinking milk, but still ate cheese very often (especially with wine, it was ugly) and yogurt frequently. I noticed since giving dairy up almost completely that I leaned out additionally very nicely, less mucus, less binging, too. The only time I have had cheese is a sprinkle of parmesan on a salad, or sprinkle of cheddar on chili. Maybe just a few times a week. De Vany had great advice to look at cheese as a spice, not as a meal.
OK, coming back full circle... that's what I hear Stephen saying here. Perhaps, he may eat nuts a bit more than I sprinkle cheese on food, but the point is the same. Nuts (and cheese) may be a spice for this life to be used in moderation for flavor with no ill effects. But your point, Melissa, of nuts not being a good idea for paleo adherents to walk around with all day in a feedbag also certainly holds up. If people are just getting their fats from nuts, rather than nuts complementing the other fats in their diet, I can't see this being something good for the long term.
I had diverticulitis, after going paleo the pain from it has been a thing of the past. However, with a handful here and there over the last year of almonds, I haven't felt any recurrence of the pain, but 99% of the time I stay clear of them and just stick with the trail mix of meat, vegetables, fruit, coffee and wine.
Hi Melissa, Just my two
Hi Melissa,
Just my two cents. I don't think it's necessary to avoid all phytic acid. Diets based on improperly prepared whole grains can cause severe mineral deficiencies, but that's different than eating a handful of nuts each day.
It's important to remember that nuts are more calorie dense than grains. So the phytic acid per calorie is actually considerably less in nuts than in grains, especially if they're roasted, which degrades a portion of the phytic acid.
The effect of phytic acid also depends on the mineral content of the diet. If you're eating a diet rich in easily absorbed minerals, having 30% of it go down the toilet due to phytic acid may not be a big deal. If you're a Bantu living mostly on grains, you might end up with mineral deficiency rickets.
Personally, I eat hazelnuts and macadamias regularly, because they're relatively low in PUFA and I like the taste. If I were trying to heal a cavity, I'd probably stop eating them for a while.
Post new comment