Fun fact: not all foods are created equal.
Nutritional profiles vary and the level at which your body can obtain the benefits from those nutrients varies as well.
bioavailability:
the fraction of absorbed and utilized macro and micronutrients. While macronutrients are our first priority (check out our blog post on macros here) micronutrients are still very important. These include things like vitamins and minerals that our bodies need on a daily basis to produce energy and prevent disease (among other things).
While nutrition labels on foods may claim a certain macro and micronutrient content, some foods contain anti nutrients. Antinutrients are defense mechanisms given off by plants known for hindering digestion by making it harder for your body to benefit from them. A few examples are phytates, oxalates, and lectins . All plants want to reproduce and some can't do that if you eat them so they release these chemicals when consumed to trigger to your digestive system not to eat them again! While fruits have seeds that can be pooped out and later sprout, things like broccoli want to flower and cannot if they are eaten. These antinutrients are common in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kale as well as things like nuts and seeds!
So how can we obtain the benefits of these plants? First we want to look at nature. Think of squirrels - they collect nuts and bury them waiting to retrieve them until later on. What they don't realize is that by burying the nut, it begins to sprout, which improves digestibility! Similarly, cows (or more accurate - bovine) snack on grass all day but our human digestive tracts aren't designed to be vegetarian based. Cows have several stomachs to break down the many antinutrient properties of grass. We can mimic this and attain the benefits of veggies like kale or broccoli by cooking or boiling them first to begin breaking down the antinutrients. Think of cooking or boiling as the first stomach! For grains, nuts, and seeds, soaking or sprouting provides the first level of digestion. It is also worth noting that animal protein is much more bioavailable to the human body and that the anti-nutrients in veggies get in the way of allowing the human body to utilize the protein content.
I don't know about you but learning this was quite alarming to me (Charity) especially as someone who used to be practically vegetarian and ate a LOT of salads. I thought I was doing what was best for the planet and my body but I hadn't considered the aspect of nutrition being absorbed by my body! When I switched to eating more and adding animal protein back in, the change was night and day. I was absolutely mind blown. I went from being lethargic, exhausted, and impatient (I'm talking almost falling asleep while driving EVERY day) to my more energized and kind self. I'm always learning new things and will be sharing them here :) I hope this article challenges you to think a bit more about things you believe to be absolute truth but haven't looked into any deeper!
book rec:
Eat Like a Human https://eatlikeahuman.com/
Interesting article:
Davidsson and Haskell, Bioavailability of micronutrients: Stable isotope techniques to develop effective food-based strategies to combat micronutrient deficiencies https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/15648265110321S104
Author: Charity Behage
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