What You Don't Know About Phytates

You may have seen statements that warn against eating foods that contain phytates. But what are they and are they bad for you? Plant seeds store the mineral phosphorus naturally as phytic acid. When you eat plant foods with phytic acid, it binds to other minerals in your digestive tract, like calcium and iron, and creates what are known as phytates. The main foods that contain phytic acid are nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and whole grains. Research shows that you may not absorb as much of some minerals when they are bound to phytic acid. But this varies depending other factors.

Food Preparation

For many foods containing phytates, the way you would regularly prepare them is often enough to eliminate, or significantly reduce, phytic acid content. This is because baking and cooking help to break down phytic acid. Other ways to reduce the phytic acid content in food is by sprouting, fermenting, or soaking. Yeast fermentation of grain based flour is another way to reduce the phytic acid content in breads.

Food Combining

Certain foods can improve the bioavailability of some minerals. Vitamin C, onion and garlic are great examples of this. Vitamin C is known for it's ability to increase the absorption of iron. If you want to improve your ability to absorb calcium, consume calcium rich foods with vitamin D rich foods like salmon, sardines, tuna, mushrooms and egg yolks.

Should You Avoid Phytic Acid?

Consuming one meal that contains phytic acid does not affect your absorption of minerals from other meals that don't contain it. So if you are eating a variety of foods, it shouldn't be an issue for you. However, if you have a malabsorption issue or are have health issues related to insufficient iron, zinc or calcium, then you may want to avoid foods high in phytic acid.

Benefits of Phytic Acid

While there is a small amount of risk in consuming phytates for some people, there are also many health benefits. It has been studied for it's anticancer abilities and it's immune boosting effects. Because they bind with heavy metals, there has been research into it's ability to help remove them from your body and aid in detox. Phytates are also a powerful antioxidant which helps prevent oxidative stress in your body. Other studies suggest using phytate to treat kidney stones.

Phytase Enzymes

One possible solution to the controversy of consuming foods known to contain phytic acid is to supplement with phytase. Phytase is an essential enzyme and is one of the many essential enzymes necessary for the digestive process. It helps to release the phosphorous contained in plant based foods and is useful in breaking down phytic acid.

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