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Antinutrients in Grains, Legumes, and Potatoes

Revero Team

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Why you want to eliminate sugar, seed oils, and grains from your diet

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML

For decades, we’ve been encouraged to make grains, legumes, and potatoes the foundation of our diets.

What is the problem with that recommendation? Antinutrients. Plants have defense arsenals of compounds called antinutrients that protect them from predators (animals, humans, insects), disease, and bacteria.

Antinutrients can wreak havoc on our health. All plants have antinutrients, but let’s look at some of the most common ones.

Grains: The Triple Threat of Gluten, Phytates, and Trypsin Inhibitors

The three main defenses in grains are gluten, phytates (phytic acid), and trypsin inhibitors. Let's take a look at these antinutrients.

Gluten

Gluten is a protein in wheat and other grains such as rye and barley. This protein is what gives bread its structure. Gluten is used to make seitan, a meat substitute often used in vegan or vegetarian foods.

Gluten goes for the gut, literally. Our bodies have many digestive enzymes. One of these enzymes is a protease, which breaks down proteins. But protease can’t completely break down gluten, so it passes through our digestive system, potentially causing mayhem by damaging our gut lining.

Gluten has no respect for the gut lining and works to weaken this protective barrier. This can lead to leaky gut syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).

Phytates

Phytates “steal” minerals like zinc, iron, and calcium by binding to them and preventing your body from absorbing these important minerals. Zinc is essential for a healthy immune system. Iron is necessary for our red blood cells. Calcium is vital for our bones and teeth.

By robbing us of these precious minerals, phytates can put us at risk for deficiencies that can cause anemia, weaken our immune system, and weaken our bones and teeth.

Trypsin Inhibitors

Trypsin is a digestive enzymes that breaks down proteins. When we eat grains, we introduce trypsin inhibitors that can interfere with trypsin and impact the enzyme’s ability to do its job. Trypsin inhibitors impact our digestion and can trigger our immune system, leading to inflammation.

Legumes: Lectins, Saponins, and Phytoestrogens: The Legion of Doom

Legumes (beans and pulses) are promoted as good alternative sources of protein, and we’re encouraged to swap out traditional sources of protein—beef, pork, fish, and poultry—for legumes. However, legumes also have antinutrients.

Lectins

Lectins are a type of protein found in legumes. Our bodies can’t properly digest lectins. Lectins damage our gut lining by binding to the cells, interfering with nutrient absorption and allowing harmful substances like bacteria and toxins to pass through into the bloodstream.

Lectins also get into the bloodstream, then travel to organs like the thyroid and pancreas. When lectins bind to these tissues, our immune system causes antibodies to swarm in and attack the invaders. However, these antibodies attack the thyroid and pancreatic cells in the process, leading to autoimmune diseases.

Saponins

Saponins07997-X/abstract) also cause damage to our gut lining and prevent us from absorbing nutrients properly.

Our body breaks down old blood cells and creates new ones. Saponins interfere with this natural process by triggering perfectly good blood cells to self-destruct. This reduces the number of red blood cells in our system and can cause anemia.

Phytoestrogens

Phytoestrogens resemble the hormone estrogen and sometimes the body can’t tell the difference.

Phytoestrogens attach to and activate our estrogen receptors. This can imbalance our hormones, leading to several problems for women and men.

In women, this imbalance can cause menstrual cycle disorders, endometriosis, and issues with fertility or carrying a pregnancy to term.

In men, estrogen imbalance from soy consumption can result in sexual dysfunction (low libido, erectile dysfunction), enlarged breast tissue, increased abdominal fat, loss of muscle mass, fatigue, and depression.

Potatoes: The Deadly Duo of Alkaloids

Potatoes are members of the nightshade family. The presence of alkaloids makes nightshades deadly, and potatoes contain two of the most toxic alkaloids: alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine.

Alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine can accumulate in the body, especially if potatoes are eaten daily. When excess alkaloids build up, it leads to vomiting, intestinal pain, dry mouth, visual disturbances, and diarrhea.

Build a Solid Foundation for Health

The foods that support optimal health are meat and animal fats, along with non-starchy vegetables. Not eating grains, legumes, and potatoes will help you avoid potentially harmful antinutrients and eliminate major carbohydrate sources.

Grains, legumes, and potatoes are also high in carbohydrates that break down into sugar, working against the goals of a low-carb plan.

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