Should I worry about anti-nutrients?
Email your questions for Dr Libby to askdrlibby@fairfaxmedia.co.nz. Please note, only a selection of questions can be answered. has antibodies to some dietary lectins, so our responses to lectincontaining food can vary. Eating a variety of foods reduces the impact and some people benefit from fermented foods, such as sauerkraut and kombucha. Cooking, sprouting or soaking your grains, legumes, nuts and seeds helps decrease lectins. with other minerals such as calcium, which under certain conditions form a salt known as an oxalate. Oxalic acid interferes with the absorption of calcium and iron, making it unusable by the body. Some individuals are more prone to problems with oxalates than others.
While some plant foods contain these anti-nutrients, the benefits of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and beneficial phytochemicals that they also contain far outweigh any potential negatives. It’s the dose that is important – if we consumed huge quantities of one particular food, anti-nutrients may be of concern, but so would nutrient deficiencies.
When we eat a wide range of nutritious foods, there’s no need to worry about anti-nutrients.