Hello! I have been working as a doctor for 22 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article I will talk about phytic acid.
Recently I read a horror story about the harm of phytic acid from legumes and grains.
Phytic acid can bind different metals like calcium, iron, or zinc. Insoluble complexes are obtained that are not absorbed in the intestine. This can lead to a loss of many valuable minerals.
The author of the horror story claims that phytic acid will suck calcium not only from food, but also from bones. Why they will become fragile. This is nonsense.
If phytic acid were so brutal, it would not be packaged in biologically active food supplements. Usually too poisonous things are not put there. In supplements, phytic acid is referred to as IP-6. This is all because of the phosphorus. The phytic acid molecule has six atoms. This is how plants store phosphorus inside themselves.
Inositol
In addition to IP-6, biologically active food supplements also contain inositol.
In phytic acid, six phosphorus atoms surround the middle. This middle is called inositol.
Inositol is a sugar. They even tried to call it another B vitamin. But this is not entirely correct, because we do not know how to make vitamins ourselves, and inositol is easily obtained inside our body from ordinary glucose.
They are now trying to adapt inositol for the treatment of mental disorders and polycystic ovary syndrome. But these are only experiments so far. Normally, we also eat up inositol with food.
Vegan
The phytic acid scarecrow came from vegans.
Vegans don't eat animal foods. Therefore, they need a lot of vegetable protein. Therefore, they eat legumes, all kinds of sprouts, bran and other nutritious parts of cereals. Ironically, these foods contain a lot of phytic acid.
We've already discussed plant sources of calcium. This is where vegans do it. But we get iron and zinc mainly from animal products.
It turns out double harm. Vegans do not eat meat with trace minerals, but they do eat a lot of phytic acid, which binds trace minerals.
So vegans have to take iron and zinc supplements. And also soak legumes, be careful with unleavened bread and other grains.
Unleavened bread
There is an opinion that the lack of some trace elements in Asians happens precisely due to the fact that they eat unleavened bread. Microbes know how to ferment phytic acid and break it down. Sour bread contains less phytic acid.
That is why herbivores do not suffer too much from micronutrient deficiencies. They have microbes in their multi-tiered stomachs that digest phytic acid.
So what about supplements?
In wheat bran, phytic acid can be 5%. And in rice - even up to 10%. This is probably why Asians suffer.
It turns out that we eat grams of phytic acid with regular food. Inositol also comes from food and is synthesized inside us from glucose.
I wouldn't spend money on supplements. Moreover, as a doctor, I still do not understand why these supplements contain phytic acid in addition to inositol.
There are some hints that phytic acid can be useful to us, it somehow affects immunity and so on, but so far I often hear that it is removed from products.
Biofortification
A couple of years ago, I wrote here about a new direction in food fortification. Fortification is the enrichment of food with something useful.
Earlier, iron and vitamins were added to corn flakes, but now a new direction has appeared, which is called biofortification.
Such cereals are removed, in which there is little phytic acid. It turns out that a small amount of phytic acid less interferes with the absorption of ordinary iron from foods, and nothing needs to be added anywhere. Very witty. Biofortification
Who shouldn't eat supplements
I have heard about phytic acid as a dietary supplement only in the form of restrictions. That is, such supplements should not be for vegans who already gorge on phytic acid, or for pregnant women who should not risk their zinc and iron. So this is a serious matter, and it is better to consult your doctor.
Have you heard anything about phytic acid?
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Vitamin in the sense of vitamin K
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