phytates
I have a Cronometer gold account. A recent post on social media stated that Cronometer is now tracking phytates. However, I cannot find phytates listed on my page. Suggestions?
Also, can anyone suggest an easy read or listen that clearly explains phytates? Many of the foods I eat are seeds, grains, and legumes along with lots of vegetables. I am concerned about absorption of nutrients, specifically calcium and Vitamin D.
Thank you.
Answers
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To track phytates, go into your app. Targets/ Nutrient Targets/General/Phytate (Visible). When you go to your web version, you may have to log out and Log back to refresh your display.
Regarding phytates, yeah I'm with you. It's causing me a bit of concern. Not sure how to interpret the data in the context of a vegetarian diet. I'm interested in the science.
Edit: I might do my rolled oats, seeds as soaked overnight oats. Maybe I'll ferment some vegetables, not sure if I will soak my nuts and dehyradate them.
In case you missed it: https://cronometer.com/blog/cronometers-new-nutrients-and-compounds/
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Thank you for your reply to my comment about phytates.
If you soak some of your food, as you referenced you might do, how do you indicate that when putting it into your diary. It is my understanding that when you soak beans, nuts, etc it decreases the phytates and/or oxalates. Though I have a long way to go in my understanding of this topic.
Best regards.
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Honestly, I have no idea. I'm really perplexed. I bought some sprouted rolled oats for my oatmeal and I don't see any data. I'd like to know if Cronometer is going to update the database with phytates. I'm looking for lab analysed data and I believe its out there but I don't know how it alligns with the USDA and whatever sources they have. Do food manufacturers even report this? You would think it would be selling point to claim your nuts, seeds, oats etc. are lower in phytates. I was even eyeing a food dehydrator today to soak and dehydrate nuts and seeds. And there are nuts on the market that are soaked and dehydrated. Honestly I don't know how to interpret the data. There's a flip side to phytates in that people who consume them also have lower incidence of some chronic diseases. I'm going to raise it with my Registered Dietician and see if she has any answers. She usually just advises me to take iron supplements on an empty stomach with vitamin C away from coffee and tea and consume non-heme iron rich foods with vitamin C. We never discussed lowering phytates as a strategy to absorb iron more effectively. (And Vitamin D away from calcium and coffee with a fatty food or fish oil.)
Thanks for raising the topic! I am hoping for more information from Cronometer about the data and the science.
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I would like to add @Surrey that the blog post I shared to you https://cronometer.com/blog/cronometers-new-nutrients-and-compounds/ doesn't have any references in it. I would like to see likes to the sources so I can educate myself on the topic. The call to action in that blog post is to upgrade to Gold to see the Calcium absorption score. I am a Gold subscriber already, I want to see the sources and improvement in data which I've always valued.
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I am also struggling with the new phytate situation and how to integrate this into my daily life. So far, what I have decided to do, since there seems to be no scientific data (yet) that reliably calculates how much phytic acid is removed when soaking, fermenting, etc., I have decided to simply do the things that reduce phytic acid (which results in phytates in the gut, which binds to iron, calcium and zinc according to what I read at clinical sites) and ignore the phytate number in Cronometer, knowing that it is based on raw seeds, nuts, grains, beans and legumes. My custom recipes are always based on raw ingredients, and then I edit the cooked weight afterward.
I am currently anemic and getting iron infusions. My healthcare team and I are currently running tests to determine the cause of anemia, it appears to be iron deficiency and could likely be because my diet has been high in phytates. Even if there are other contributing factors, it will be wise for me and anyone who wants to maintain blood, bone and immune support to soak, ferment and sprout these foods as much as possible. My Registered Dietitian knew exactly what I was asking about and provided this link as a good guide to fermentation (and this is NO SALT / LOW SODIUM, for those of you who, like me, are keeping sodium in check for kidney concerns). https://cornersmith.com.au/blogs/recipes/how-to-soak-your-grains
She also provided these educational links about phytic acid and iron.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15743020/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9219084/Author, herzenity.blogspot.com
