Phytates

Avoid Phytic Acid

A few foods ↑ phytates:
↑ nuts
↑ seeds
↑ legumes
↑ grains
↑ beans

Phytic acid is the major storage form of phosphorous in cereals, legumes, oil seeds and nuts.

Phytates are produced by the plant to prevent animals (including man) from eating it. Phytates assure that the animal eating the plant will drop the seed or grain from the gut incased in a nutrient rich fertilizer assuring the plant of its best chance for propagation or growth. Phytates and lectins are different. Phytates and lectins are what we call anti-nutrients, or plant toxins that bind to vitamins and minerals, making those nutrients bio-unavailable. They occur in numerous foods including wheat, barley, rice, beans, nuts, legumes, seeds, and soy. Phytates diminish a body's minerals as they exit the gut, taking with the phytates much needed body calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium. These items also contain lectins.

Phytic acid is the major storage form of phosphorous in cereals, legumes, oil seeds and nuts.

Soaking or roasting diminishes phytates and increases the digestibility of the item. Phytates actually bind to the magnesium, calcium, zinc and iron in your intestines and transport them OUT of a body attaching the mineral to the phytate molecule. This lowers the much needed body minerals. Phytates are considered an anti-nutrient.

There are several methods to reduce phytates or phytic acid:

Soaking: Cereals and legumes are often soaked in water overnight to reduce their phytate content.
Sprouting: The sprouting of seeds, grains and legumes, also known as germination, causes phytate degradation.
Fermentation: Organic acids, formed during fermentation, promote phytate breakdown. Lactic acid fermentation is the preferred method, a good example of which is the making of sourdough or non-yeasted breads.
Roasting: Helps diminish phytates in nuts.

Nuts

Alkaline nuts are coconut, chestnuts, and almonds. Soaking increases their digestibility making these nuts even more alkaline. Limit eating nuts as these are phytoestrogens. Soak nuts 1-2 hours.

Whole Grains Organic Ø Wheat

A study showed oatmeal and Vitamin E alleviated the vascular changes. Wheat did not do the same thing. These are phytoestrogens, Spelt, brown rice, oats, rye, are better whole grains to eat than wheat. These too require soaking. Un-yeasted breads fermented a long time with rising result in diminished phytates. Try not to use wheat flour. It can cause browning of our organs leading to diabetes and death of the islet cells of the pancreas. Soak grains over night. Of all the grains, spelt has the lowest amount of phytates. Wheat contains the highest amount.

Seeds

Soaking seeds even for a little while helps diminish their phytic acid content. One can then roast these seeds to bring back a crispiness to the seeds. Soak seeds for about 1-2 hours, then if you desire, put in an oven on low for about an hour to make seeds crisp up again.

Legumes and Beans

Legumes and beans require 3 days of soaking and rinsing (with a sieve) under running water to diminish their phytic acid content. Each morning, or more often, change the soaking water by pouring the beans into a sieve and rinsing under running water. Afterwards, pour the beans back into the glass container, add fresh water and continue soaking. Repeat this process each morning. Beans soaked for 3 days greatly have an increase in their digestibility and this helps to eliminate gas formed after eating beans.

Beans Contain Inositol

Myo-Inositol is produced in many human tissues and it is also found in many food sources. Some of the best sources of Myo-Inositol are beans.

Beans

Soak beans to reduce intestinal gas, the phytic acid. Soak the beans for three days and pour them into a sieve then rinse under running water from the spigot then put it back into the jar for the next day. If you can soak the beans until they get little tails this is even better. Soaking aids beans digestibility. Beans are also phytoestrogens.

Beans bought in a can or purchased from a fast food restaurant are usually not prepared by this method. See for yourself if you note an increase in gas. To aid further digestibility, cooking the items in pressure cooker greatly helps to further breakdown the product making it even more digestible.

Another method used is to sprout the seeds, grains, legumes, or beans. Sprouting to the first jointing stage tricks the plant into thinking it is getting ready to make a plant. This shuts down the phytate production.

Grains A Source of Inflammation?

A few have noticed bloating from all grains. Following my liver resection I was unable to eat any grain that had been ground into a flour, even freshly ground by me. If that flour was made into a bread, flat bread or a cracker, I noticed pain emanating from my liver. This did not occur if the whole grains were soaked and made into a cereal.

Some have chosen to try avoiding all grains. They have noticed an increase in inflammation while eating grains. Inflammation contributes to the formation of degenerative diseases. Inflammation within cystic organs has always existed. One researcher has said if the cause of PKD kidney inflammation could be found, perhaps this discovery might lead to a cure for PKD.

Gluten Diminishes Proteinuria

Proteinuria can be decreased by becoming gluten free, This article was talking about diabetes. To be gluten free is great to try, what the article suggests but it was not speaking about PKD. The best way to try this out is to see if going gluten free for say 2 weeks makes you feel any better. If it does then continue it, if not continue to soak your beans, seeds, nuts, and grains to diminish their phytate content.