Should You Avoid Grains And Legumes Like Paleo Diet Recommends?

Intro

so let’s look at these issues first of all issue number one the avoidance of grains and legumes so the Paleo rationale for eliminating grains and legumes include the following they say they were not a part of our ancestral diets they say they’re high in harmful anti-nutrients especially phytates and lectins and they say they cause inflammation and disease so let’s take a quick peek at those claims

so we’re grains and legumes truly not a part of our ancestral diets well actually there’s quite strong Evidence evidence that grains and legumes played key roles in pre agricultural diets

so we have some I’ll just give you a little flavor of some of the studies we have we have studies on Neanderthals showing that they ate wild legumes peas and fava beans and grains we have studies showing the icons sand of the Kalahari relied on the sin bean as a dietary staple only the mongongo fruit they consumed in greater quantity

we have studies showing legumes where the main energy source in the spring for the middle Paleolithic humans in Mount Carmel Israel we have studies on middle Stone Age with looking at middle Stone Age tool from Mozambique that showed home Ian Howe Pia homeo sapiens relying on grass seeds

so these are just a few of the studies that we have showing that our ancestors did rely on legumes and grains now there’s a another group from the University of Sydney and I actually just printed this out before coming but quarterly a review of biology and if you can read the small letters under there it says the importance of dietary carbohydrates in human evolution

and what they suggested is that Paleolithic humans would not have evolved on today’s Paleo diet vase that cooking starchy food was central to the dietary change that triggered and sustained the growth of the human brain and so very interesting research by this particular group

but even so even if our ancestors didn’t eat grains and legumes sure Domitian in Paleolithic times mean exclusion today and I would argue that excluding foods because of their alleged absence in Paleolithic diets defies rationality

grains and legumes stand out as exceptional food sources for a growing human population when we consider the health economic ethical and environmental attributes of these foods

Antinutrients

so the next claim is that these foods are high in anti-nuclear ah hey Leo grains equal leaky gut say goodbye to grains and gluten let go of legumes why we should say no to beans and this is the this is the mantra of the Paleolithic movement

and I took this off turd off of dr. Denby dr. Ben Boles nur’s Paleolithic diet web blog and here’s what he says about anti-nutrients he says anti nutrients are toxins the vast majority and highest levels of anti nutrients are in neolithic foods like grains beans and potatoes

the Paleolithic diet has incredibly low levels of anti nutrients compared to the usual modern diet I believe that this is the number one advantage of this diet so he’s saying this is why because of the anti nutrients in plants this is why people should eat paleo

What are anti nutrients

well anti nutrients are compounds like lectins and phytates these are the two examples most commonly used that actually interfere with the absorption of nutrients or are toxic at high levels the highest levels of anti nutrients are in plant foods especially legumes and grains

so why are they implants well anti nutrients are necessary for the propagation and survival of plants they have two main actions number one to ensure that nutrients are not released prematurely because they need to be used by the plants slowly as it’s growing number two to serve as a chemical defense system against predators so to protect the plants that’s why they’re there

so let’s take a look at lectins and phytates just briefly so first lectins so what are lectins well lectins are a type of sort of carbohydrate binding protein they and and so they combine to both carbohydrates and to cell membranes so their type of protein

they can a gluten eight red blood cells which means they can cause red blood cells to stick together and make us quite sick in doing so they’re most concentrated in legumes and in grains

the paleo perspective they say that impaired intestinal integrity produced by dietary lectins may cause low level inflammation in our blood streams and this is a necessary step for atherosclerosis and cancer so they’re basically blaming atherosclerosis and cancer on these anti nutrients

they also go on to say that they may look like cells in your brain pancreas etc so the same antibodies that were created to attack lectin will actually go launch attacks on your own body and that’s the cause of autoimmune disease

so they’re saying you know type 1 diabetes celiac disease lupus ms are all you know this is all a part of causing these diseases

What science says

so let’s take a look at what science says well what science says is that some lectins are very damaging they can cause severe adverse food reactions like food poisoning and they can damage the lining of the small intestine and interfere with nutrient transport

others are actually very health promoting they decrease the incidence of disease they help the body with inflammatory modulation decreasing in inflammation and they have actually quite powerful anti-tumor activity and there are just dozens of studies going on looking at specific lectins and even using them to treat cancer

so there’s a lot of research in this area but the bottom line is intakes of lectins are rarely high enough to threaten health and the reason is is that the the damaging lectins are lectins that we cook out of foods before we eat them

so and the studies suggesting adverse effects are predominantly on animals that are fed raw legumes humans cook legumes and conventional cooking practices completely destroys lectins

so for example red kidney beans if you don’t soak them you need to cook them for at least an hour at a high enough temperature bring them to a boil and boil them for about an hour if they’re soaked overnight 10 to 15 minutes will kill all the lectins like a hundred percent gone so we just need to be aware of that

a germination and fermentation can reduce lectins by seventy five to a hundred percent depending on how long we ferment and how long we sprout so you know we they red kidney beans probably not a good plan to eat them raw sprouted because there’s still lectins that are very dangerous elect ins that would remain

Chris Kresser

now I thought I came across this quote and I thought it was it was interesting because I don’t know if you’ve heard of Chris Kresser but he’s a paleo advocate he wrote your personal Paleo code and he’s he’s quite astute he’s really quite a bright guy but this is what he said about about legumes

he said to my knowledge there’s only one study demonstrating humans being harmed by consuming legumes this study is often used by paleo advocates to prove that legumes are dangerous however what is often neglected is that this study described a case of food poisoning that occurred in hospital patients who ate gyms that hadn’t been cooked properly

now he’s wrong there are dozens of studies that show this as a matter of fact there was one in 2015 I believe from Japan where somebody started this weight-loss craze where they were recommending that you you a toast white kidney beans for three minutes on a frying pan then grind them up in a blender to a powder and sprinkle the powder on your rice and thousands of people got violently ill it was a nightmare

and so we do have other reports of people consuming raw legumes with these very toxic lectins so that’s a lesson we know we need to cook large legumes but to me the acid test and have said this before the acid test is to examine the diets of the longest-lived healthiest people on the planet the people of the Blue Zones

and of course you recall the five Blue Zones Okinawa Sardinia Loma Linda it Korea Greece and the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica and the lifestyle patterns that are common to all of them are the the family the not smoking socially engaged the physical activity they all eat plant-based diets and they all eat legumes

if legumes if the lectins and legumes were so poisonous these people wouldn’t be the healthiest longest-lived people on the planet their their their main diet main dietary staples for all of them so I think that’s just a really important thing to remember

and we have a study that that we you know I just thought was amazing they them they found legumes to be the most important dietary predictor of survival in older people of different ethnicities and when food intake patterns of people seventy years plus from a variety of cultures were examined the only statistically significant food intake ur food indicator of longevity was legume intake

for every two-thirds of an ounce or 20 grams of legumes consumed there was a seven to eight percent reduction in mortality you do the math how much reduction in mortality would you get if you actually ate a whole cup forever

so you know that we know there are so many benefits of beans legumes have been associated with improved gut microflora they’re one of our most powerful prebiotics they reduce risk of diabetes metabolic syndrome heart disease in some forms of cancer

why because they’re our richest source of dietary fiber there they have very low glycemic index they’re nutrient-dense they have a lot of protein iron zinc potassium magnesium and folate they’re high in phytochemicals and antioxidants they’re high in plant sterols

and they’re very low in fat and a particularly low in saturated fat with the exception of soybeans and peanuts which are a legume as well which are a little higher in fat

Fight AIDS

so what about fight AIDS well phytates first of all what our phytates phytates are phytic acid bound to minerals in in plant foods so it’s really the storage form of phosphorus in in foods

in the so they’re bound to calcium iron magnesium and the richest sources of phytates are whole grains legumes nuts and seeds we get smaller amounts and roots and and other vegetables and the most the richest source by far is is bran like wheat bran and rice bran are particularly concentrated

so as a vegetarian or a vegan one thing you do not want to do is sprinkle wheat bran on your food remember people who are you know sprinkle wheat bran to help with constipation and stuff vegetarians get enough fiber you don’t want to put a phytate bomb on your food

you already reduce about 50% less zinc than a non-vegetarian would say you need to do what you can to maximize absorbed absorption of those minerals you don’t want to be sprinkling phytate bombs on but it doesn’t mean that you can’t have some phytates in your food

the paleo perspective here’s what they say about phytates beans and legumes unlike nuts and seeds are the primary source of calories for many people around the world and eating foods it’s so rich and phytic acid as a new as a nutritional staple is quite unhealthy basing your diet on these foods can lead to severe new additional deficiencies this is ridiculous

but anyway here’s what science says phytates can impair mineral absorption however we reduce phytates when we sow sprout ferment blend juice roast yeast like raising of breads or expose foods to acid like lemon juice or vinegar so there are a lot of things that reduce phytates

but here’s what’s really interesting people eating largely plant-based have intestinal bacteria that are more capable of breaking down phytate mineral complexes than omnivores so our bodies adjust to a little bit higher load of fight AIDS

but here’s the other thing a growing body of evidence suggests that phytates have multiple potential beneficial actions they’re strong antioxidants they help to repair DNA they protect against amyloid plaque formation where have you heard that before amyloid plaque formation is associated with dementia like Alzheimer’s

they lower cholesterol and triglycerides they inhibit tumor growth they improve glycemic response they inhibit bone loss and they reduce kidney stone formation so maybe we want a few phytates in our diet

you know what’s really interesting is legumes and grains are not the only sources of lectins and phytates many Paleo approved foods including not seeds vegetables fruits berries spices are also significant sources

and if you look at this list what you can see is the things in in pink are paleo forbidden the things in in green are paleo proved and so they approved some of the things that are actually at the very top of the list of phytate foods even higher than wheat bran is spinach and they eat plenty of spinach sesame seeds almonds walnuts pecans so they do eat phytates

so they have a little bit of a selective exclusion there and then finally do grains actually cause inflammation well absolutely if you have celiac disease or a grain intolerance otherwise the evidence suggests that whole grains read inflamation and refined grains increase inflammation that’s what we know