In Episode 1 we covered 2 nutrients – vitamins and minerals. In episode 3, we focus on anti-nutrients. This guide is more practical than the first and teaches you a few methods how to reduce anti-nutrients – so less, almost no, science this time! Pinky promise!
If you’re only interested in one or the other method, use the “jump to” menu above. Or if you’re like, I’m too lazy to read all of this, I’ve provided the most important facts down below again (use link in the menu, so you don’t have to scroll down for ages).
With that being said and you’re still with me, let’s get started!
What are anti-nutrients?
Anti-nutrients are plant compounds that interfere with the absorption of nutrients. They are found at different levels in almost all foods, however, the highest amounts are found in seeds like grains, legumes, beans, nuts, and in vegetables. Generally, you don’t necessarily need to worry all too much about anti-nutrients. Unless, perhaps, you’re on a plant-based and/or gluten-free diet, and you tend to eat those foods a lot – or even only these.
Phytic acid (a storage form of phosphorus) is the most common and most known amongst anti-nutrients. It binds essential minerals (like calcium, iron, magnesium) making them unavailable for our bodies to absorb. This might lead to deficiencies.
The Methods
Don’t freak out – the fact that anti-nutrients do that is well known, it’s ancient wisdom in fact. People have been cooking their food to make it more digestible for centuries, right? Well, that’s one way to kill (or reduce) anti-nutrients! And there are more!
In most foods containing phytic acid you also find the enzyme phytase which is its opponent. It needs to be activated first though, in order to eat up this anti-nutrient. The methods I’m going to explain next are excellent ways to reduce or even almost eliminate those badies.
Please note: yes, these methods may also affect the amount of good nutrients in your foods. But, bottom line, you definitely end up with enough or more of them because you don’t have that many anti-nutrients to take them away from you.
Vitamin C comes to the rescue
When I first learned about phytic acid, I freaked out – to be honest! I already tend to have lower iron levels, and now there is this thing and makes the absorption even harder! But then a thought crossed my mind. When Vitamin C helps you with the absorption and utilisation of iron, could it be possible that it works quicker than phytic acid? That it binds the essential nutrients before phytic acid has a chance?
Thanks to Google, I found my answer right away: YES, it does! There are studies apparently that show that vitamin C counteracts the phytic acid levels in food.
So, make sure to eat foods high in vitamin C (as we learned in episode 1, part 1) with your foods containing high amounts of phytic acids!
Soaking
To reduce anti-nutrients in nuts, legumes or grains, you can soak them for a certain amount of time. Here are a few examples where you could include the soaking method:
Overnight Oats
Soaking your oats over night or for several hours makes them more nutritious. The soaking process draws out anti-nutrients. If you add lemon juice (or anything acidic like vinegar), it helps to activate the enzyme phytase and it can do its job – eliminating/reducing phytic acid.
Lemon juice is also a good choice because it’s rich in vitamin C. Oats contain a lot of minerals and as we learned in episode 1 and 2, iron for example needs vitamin C to be absorbed!
Rice & Legumes
Before cooking rice or legumes (like chickpeas for example), soak them first! Rice, as it is rather thin, doesn’t need as long, so 15-30min are usually fine. Interesting fact about rice: apparently cooking rice in a rice/pressure cooker reduces the amounts of anti-nutrients more than cooking it in a pot.
Chickpeas or beans will need several hours before cooking. I soak chickpeas up to 12 hours (at least 8 hours). Drain, rinse thoroughly and cook them like you always do.
Nuts and Seeds
You’ve probably come across a few recipes that mention “nuts, soaked for 4-6h”. I always thought that people do it to make nuts softer for further processing (which, in some cases actually, is right). The other reason why you shouldn’t skip this step? Well, you know now.
How long you need to soak nuts for really depends on their consistency. Soft nuts like cashews or macadamias, or seeds like sunflower or pumpkin/pepitas, need 4-6 hours whereas harder nuts like almonds, walnuts or Brazil nuts need 8-12 hours. When soaking nuts, it’s also helpful to add a bit of salt to help reduce anti-nutrients. Don’t forget to drain and rinse your soaked nuts or seeds thoroughly!
Activating Nuts
soaking... 
followed by dehydrating
Maybe you’ve heard of “activated nuts” before (some people like to use or mention them in their recipes). What activating nuts simply means is: soaking followed by dehydrating. You reduce the levels of anti-nutrients and “activate” the good ones.
Once you’ve soaked the nuts for whatever time they needed, put them in a single layer on the trays of your dehydrator. Depending on your dehydrator and the temperature you’re using, this process can take between 5 and 20 hours, until nuts are dry and crunchy again. Alternatively, you can use your oven to dehydrate nuts when putting it on its lowest temperature.
Fermenting
Fermentation is a chemical breakdown of substances through bacteria, yeast or micro-organisms. In this process, the pH-levels are changed which makes degrading phytic acid possible.
The most popular one, coming to fermentation of grains, is probably using yeast in baked goods.
Sourdough which is a method to create or activate natural yeast, is also a great method! Little sneak peak: we’re going to discuss the art of making your own sourdough (including gluten-free!!) in some later episodes!
Sprouting
During the sprouting process, seeds germinate and put out shoots, to then further grow into a plant. But before they do, you can eat them!
Sprouts are not only jam-packed with great nutrients like proteins, vitamins and minerals, they also contain significantly reduced levels of phytic acid, making them even more nutritious.
It’s very easy to sprout your own seeds. Depending on what you want to sprout, you need different equipment. Small seeds or mucilaginous seeds like arugula or cress rather need trays whereas bigger ones like mung beans and chickpeas germinate well in a sprouting jar.
How to use sprouts? You can add them to salads, sandwiches, soups, stir fries, smoothies, or sprinkle them over your muesli/cereal!
Did you know, you can easily make your own sprouting jar by using a wide-mouthed mason jar and a piece of mesh? You can buy special sprouting screens online as well or use an old fly screen (make sure so sterilise it before using!). The holes have to be big enough for the air to circulate, and small enough so your seeds don’t fall out.
I'm too lazy to read, but don't wanna miss out - Quick Facts
- anti-nutrients are natural compounds found in foods
- they interfere with the body’s absorption of nutrients and make them unavailable
- highest levels are found in grains, legumes, beans, nuts, and in vegetables
- vitamin C binds minerals like iron quicker than anti-nutrients
- these methods reduce anti-nutrients in our foods: cooking, soaking, activating, fermenting and sprouting
