Osteoporosis? Watch what you eat. by Pauline Robinson

Many people who need extra calcium in their diet may not be getting the amount they think they are getting. There is actually a few reasons for this.

First thing is an acid called Oxalic acid. This is a naturally-occurring substance found in some foods that binds with important nutrients, making them inaccessible to the body. Oxalic acid may combine with calcium, iron, sodium, magnesium, or potassium to form less soluble salts known as oxalates. Oxalates also occur naturally in plants.

Foods generally found include: apples asparagus, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, most berries (especially strawberries and cranberries), most nuts (especially peanuts), beans, beets, beet greens, bell peppers, black pepper, parsley, rhubarb, spinach, swiss chard, summer squash, sweet potatoes, and tea.

Plant foods with high concentrations of oxalic acid (over 200 ppm) include (but are not limited to): lamb's-quarter, buckwheat, star fruit, black pepper, purslane, poppy seeds, rhubarb, tea, spinach, plantains, cocoa and chocolate, ginger, almonds, cashews, garden sorrel, mustard greens, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, soybeans, tomatillos, beets and beet greens, oats, pumpkin, cabbage, green beans, mango, eggplant, tomatoes, lentils, and parsnips.

The good news is that cooking destroys the oxalic acid therefore asparagus, beets, beet greens, chard, cranberries, green peppers, rhubarb, and spinach are all best eaten cooked.

Although spinach has a lot of calcium, it also contains a substance -- oxalic acid -- that binds up its calcium and prevents absorption of all but about 5 percent of it. However, the oxalic acid in spinach and other foods does not interfere with absorption of calcium from other foods eaten at the same time.

The second is a substance called Phytate. Phytic acid, found in the bran of whole grains, nuts, and the skins of legumes, can bind to calcium to form and insoluble complex, thereby decreasing the absorption of calcium. Phytic Acid binds with calcium (and iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc) in the intestinal tract preventing absorbtion. Phytates/phytic acid are the storage form of phosphorus bound to inositol in the fiber of raw whole grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts. Although these foods have a high phosphorus content, the phosphates in phytates are not released through the digestive process. Phytates, particularly in such raw foods as bran, are a concern because they can bind a portion of the iron, zinc, and calcium in foods, making the minerals unavailable for absorption.

If one looks back at traditional cultures you will see that for thousands of years whole grains have been prepared by soaking or fermenting them prior to cooking. Phytic acid which occurs in unsprouted grains, seeds, and legumes, is particularly rich in the bran. When bread is leavened by yeast, enzymes degrade phytic acid and phytates pose no problem. Phytic acid is also destroyed during baking and food processing.

Enzymes, called phytases, destroy phytates during certain food processes such as: the yeast-raising of dough, the sprouting of seeds, grains, legumes, the roasting of nuts, presoaking beans, cooking, fermentation as in tempeh, miso, and natto, combining acidic foods with zinc-rich foods, etc.

Soybeans contain high levels of phytates; some researchers say more than other beans. Additionally, soy's phytates are so stable that many survive phytate-reducing techniques such as cooking. (The phytates in whole grains can be deactivated simply by soaking or fermenting. It is possible that only long periods of soaking and fermenting - as are used in making miso, natto, shoyu, tamari, and tempeh (but not tofu, soymilk, texturized soy protein, or soy protein isolate) - significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans.

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BIO:

Pauline is HealthSmart Nutrition's nutritional therapist. She has spent 20 yrs. doing medical research at the University of Manitoba in the field of lipids and nutrition. For more information go to http://www.air-water-nutrition-healthsmart.com/index.html

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