Today I learnedToday I learned is a resource in which The Takeout writers share something they learned today.I had 10th grade English with a boy named Grant. Grant thought of himself as an amateur bodybuilder and was constantly handing out the kind of questionable nutritional advice you can get for free on the internet today. I forgot most of Grant’s advice a long time ago, along with the symbolism in The scarlet letter. But a piece of Grantspeak stayed with me, and involved the triple rinsing of the grains to rid them of their “anti-nutrient peel”.
According to my friend Grant, foods like vegetables and whole grains are wrapped in a dirty layer of “antinutrients”, which cancel out the nutritional content of the food. I accepted that as a fact for years – until the beginning of this week, when I read a play in Yahoo News by a professor of public health nutrition in Oklahoma, who explained that antinutrients are not as bad as they appear. In fact, they are very beneficial. Do you see this, Grant?
According to Harvard researchers, antinutrients occur naturally in plant and animal foods. The name, I must admit, sounds very serious, which is probably why Grant was always washing his bloody beans. And yes, theoretically, antinutrients block your body from absorbing nutrients like calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc. But it is not so simple.
To understand how antinutrients work, you need to understand why they evolved in the first place. Today’s Nutrition reports that plants originally developed antinutrients as a defensive mechanism against animals. Some antinutrients can make a food taste bitter; others have evolved to block the digestion of seeds once eaten by animals, ensuring that the seeds leave the other side and continue to live long and decadent lives.
Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about antinutrients hindering our nutritional absorption. Unless you’re consuming unrealistically high amounts of things, you’ll be fine. Many antinutrients are also removed how food is processed, hence Grant’s bean sauce frenzy.
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Antinutrients also have their own health benefits. For example, saponins in vegetables it can stimulate the immune system, lower cholesterol and even prevent cavities. Lectins in cereal grains are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. So we have friends tannins in teas, coffees and some processed meats and cheeses. They can inhibit the growth of bacteria and viruses and can lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
A caveat: vegetarians and vegans may be at increased risk of negative effects of antinutrients. That’s because plant-rich diets often depend on grains and vegetables, which means that people who eat mostly plants can consume more antinutrients than most people. If you are concerned about this, talk to your doctor about supplements and make sure – yes, Grant – to wet your beans.