Are foods high in phytic acid bad?

Hi Jordan,

I noticed that I always feel lethargic and weak after I eat a meal containing oatmeal, nuts, or whole-grain bread.

After some research, I found that all these foods are high in phytic acid which blocks mineral absorption. Suppose I eat a meal containing eggs and oats, the oats will prevent zinc from the eggs from being fully absorbed for example.

Of course, that’s according to what I’ve read and seen on youtube videos.

But then I know you eat a ton of oatmeal every day and you seem to be healthy and full of energy.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

This “blocking” has been mostly demonstrated in vitro, but not much in vivo, e.g. in actual humans. Rather, humans who consume minimally processed foods that are higher in phytic acid tend to have better health outcomes (including those tied to mineral status) across the board. I know there are some individuals on the internet with large megaphones who say phytic acid and subsequent mineral deficiencies are BIG problems, but this is not supported by evidence:

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That study was insightful. It looks like there’s no reason to worry about phytates as long as a balanced diet is consumed. Many thanks.

Is there any validity to the idea that some individuals might be uniquely bothered by foods like oatmeal, and/or that sprouting or soaking grains/legumes is helpful for digestion?

Anything is possible, but in general, cooking or processing on some level improves how easy things are digested. I don’t think there are a lot folks without celiac, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or similar who have issues with cooked oats. Acute changes in dietary patterns can do weird things in the short-term, of course.

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I found that eating a source of saturated fat with fiber tends to bother me. Like eggs with oatmeal or bran bread with chicken thighs. I get brain fog and feel like sleeping after eating such a meal.

Don’t know what causes this and I haven’t found any studies on that either.

I’d bet that if you ate half of your normal meal size, you would not have that experience.

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I do not think that overdosing the protein is contributory to feelings of fatigue after a meal, though I’m not sure diet is a causal factor in your case anyway.

Still, a very high Calorie and/or high fat meal is going to take some more resources to digest. Alkaline tide is a thing, whereby the production of acid in the stomach produces a concomitant release of base into the blood stream to keep the cell’s resting electric potential within normal physiological parameters. The increase in base in the blood raises the pH a small amount, which drives a reduced respiration rate and nappy time in some.

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I’m a little late to this thread, but it’s so relevant to what I’ve experienced the past few weeks, I thought I’d chime in.

For the longest time, I’ve known that the first part for me to start a cut is to limit carbs. The reason being, eating carbs just made me crave more food later. I’d get so hungry I couldn’t stay “in compliance” with anything! From there, I could dial in other elements of a healthy diet.

Dr F just about nailed my diet one time in aside he wrote about Joe Gunz (i.e. what Joe Gunz SHOULD be eating). It was years ago, but it was such a dead ringer for what I was already doing, I could never forget it.

That said, NO carbs was never a possibility that I could sustain or even recommend. I might make it through the day without ingesting starches/sugars… but with my carb count under 30g, I couldn’t sleep. I’ve always been a bad sleeper, but this was another level. I resorted to Nyquil… which worked surprisingly well in the short term… but clearly not a long term solution.

What I’ve come up with recently is “no carbs before dinner.” So I have a sweet potato mash at dinner, then I throw in a spoonful (about 1/2 tbsp) quick oats into a bedtime barbellmedicine protein shake.

The thing that makes it relevant to the thread here? The carbs at the end of the day are like a knock out punch. I can’t remember a point in my life where this was the case, but I’m suddenly finding myself wanting to shut down and pass out within minutes of being in bed.