Phytic acid: The good and the bad

Phytic acid is a component in grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds most commonly known as an anti-nutrient. It binds the minerals in your food and keeps you from digesting it. For instance, quinoa which could be a reasonable source of iron, has phytic acid which binds to that iron and keeps you from digesting it.

It is the anti-nutrient quality of phytic acid which lands phytic acid in the book Rebuild from Depression. The book contains a large food science section on increasing depression-fighting nutrients in your diet.

What if you already have too much iron in your body? Is phytic acid still a bad thing? What about the reports on phytic acid's antioxidant qualities? Is phytic acid good or bad? It depends.

Learn more in the phytic acid video.

Read more about phytic acid in various foods:
Soaking beans
Soaking grains
Phytic acid and rice
Phytic acid and soy

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.

Tags:

Posted by Amanda Rose on January 26, 2010 2:34 PM
Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackback (0) | Share With A Friend

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/414.

Comments (1)

Psychic Lunch | January 28, 2010 6:25 AM | Reply

Thanks, Amgrose! I really need to soak up as much info on this as possible :) I also have some friends that need to research it, too.

Posted by Psychic Lunch | January 28, 2010 6:25 AM | Reply

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Rebuild from Depression

Endorsements

The best book on postnatal depression and food I've seen is Rebuild from Depression, by Amanda Rose, who understands the condition from bitter experience.
Nina Planck,
Author of Real Food

Rebuild from Depression is going to be a very important book. Its dissection of the role of diet and nutrition is well-researched and an eye-opener.
Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Clinical Instructor, UCLA

Rebuild from Depression provides real answers for reversing depression caused by common nutritional deficiencies.
Jan DeCourtney, CMT
Co-author, Recapture Your Health

Read sample chapters
& more endorsements.

Buy the book!

Archives

Depression buster foods

From an analysis of over 5,000 foods in the USDA nutrient database, "depression buster foods" are the foods highest in combination of the seven nutrients most commonly associated with depression. Brains need nutrients to be healthy, particularly those nutrients in these foods for depression. The depression buster food list is published in the book "Rebuild from Depression." A subset are displayed here in the depression buster photo album.

Omega 3 foods

Omega 3 fatty acids are critical for brain health and they are disappearing in the Western diet. You need to consume more Omega 3s and fewer Omega 6s. These photos and descriptions of Omega 3 foods will offer you some guidance. Omega 3 fatty acids are one nutrient that helps fight depression. Read more about the Rebuild philosophy on depression-fighting foods.

Gill on the Hill:
Life after depression

There really is life after depression. I am so excited by that point, in fact, that I neglect this blog and find fun/quirky projects to do with my family. We live in the Sequoia National Forest in a house (and former brothel) designed by Irving Gill. My 7-year-old son Frederick and I chronicle our adventures at Gill on the Hill when we're not exploring. Frederick posts some of his homeschool projects at "Frankly Frederick."

Rebuild from Depression Blog