Anti-nutrients are not as bad as it sounds

I had tenth grade English with a child named Grant. Grant believed that he was an amateur bodybuilder, and he constantly dished out the kind of questionable nutritional advice that you can get for free on the internet these days. I forgot most of Grant’s advice long ago, along with the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. But one piece of Grantspeak stuck with me, and it involved triple rinsing beans to remove them from their ‘anti-nutrition shell’.

According to my friend Grant, foods like legumes and whole grains are encased in a dirty layer of “anti-nutrients”, which ignores the nutritional content of the food. I have accepted it for years – until earlier this week, when I read a piece on Yahoo News by a professor of public health nutrition in Oklahoma State, who explained that the nutrients are not as bad as they sound. Actually, it’s pretty beneficial. Do you see that, Grant?

According to Harvard researchers, anti-nutrients occurs naturally in both plant and animal foods. I’m going to admit that the name sounds pretty serious, and that’s probably why Grant always washed his damn beans. And yes, theoretically, the nutrients prevent your body from absorbing nutrients such as calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc. But it’s not quite that simple.

To understand how anti-nutrients work, you need to understand why they evolved in the first place. Today’s nutrition reports that plants originally developed anti-nutrients as a defense mechanism against animals. Some anti-nutrients can cause a food to taste bitter; others evolved to block digestion as soon as it was eaten by animals, to ensure that the seeds sprouted on the other side and would lead a long, sloppy life.

Fortunately, we do not have to worry about the nutrients that the nutrient absorbs. Unless you consume unrealistically high amounts of things, you’re fine. Many anti-nutrients are also removed how food is processed, hence Grant’s bean-wet madness.

Anti-nutrients also have their own health benefits. For example, saponins in legumes can strengthen the immune system, lower cholesterol and even prevent cavities. Lectins in cereals is associated with the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. Then we kindly tannins in tea, coffee, and some processed meats and cheeses. It can inhibit the growth of bacteria and viruses and can lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

One caveat: vegetarians and vegans are at greater risk for adverse effects of anti-nutrients. This is because vegetable-heavy diets often depend on grains and legumes, which means that people who eat mostly plants can consume more anti-nutrients than the average eater. If you’ve worried about it, talk to your doctor about supplements and make sure you – yes, Grant – soak your beans.