Mineral Absorption
A reader commented on Try it Again, Dr. Kim!:
I’m in such a quandry over beans, nuts and grains. I have a grown son who has been reading books/articles/websites about how our bodies are not made to absorb the nutrients from nuts and beans. Grains are the cause of inflammation and such things as ‘leaky gut’. When I shop now, I’m not sure what to buy. … What is the truth about beans, nuts and grains?
Phytates are the main reason for the concerns about mineral absorption in plant foods. Soy tends to be the highest food in phytates and I have a run down of mineral absorption from soy in Soy: What’s the Harm?
As for inflammation and leaky gut, I cannot speak much to that, though I’m not aware of any research on humans that shows grains to cause either of those conditions in people who do not have an allergy to such foods.
Here are two posts I made on whole grains that shows they are generally associated with good health:
April 7th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Yes, whole grains have phytates, which cause certain beneficial minerals to be drained from our bodies. On the other hand, people who eat meat are probably overmineralized (zinc, iron) and this would help to counteract that. For those who don’t eat meat, I’d suggest consuming refined grains, which are easier to digest. This would include fermented or long-raised white bread, and white rice. The orientals knew what they were doing when they decided to strip some of the bran from their rice.