Jenna of kidAppeal left an insightful tip in response to Getting Enough Iron on a Vegetarian Diet:
soaking grains with whey reduces the amount of phytates, that should boost iron absorption.
I decided to research this further to understand why this might be so. First, a few definitions:
Whey: is the liquid portion of milk remaining after it is curdled with lemon juice or vinegar. Curdling is a common technique to make cheese. Only whey proteins from milk remain in this liquid while the majority of the milk proteins called casein are separated out in the curd. Because of the lemon juice or vinegar, the whey liquid is also acidic in nature.
Phytates: are salts of phytic acid, which is found in bran (outer layer of grains), seeds and plant tissues. Phytic acid binds to minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc to form these salts. When this happens, they become insoluble which reduces their absorption in the GI tract. Phytic acid and phytates are therefore not very desirable because of the risk of low mineral absorption in people who rely primarily on plant sources for nutrition. As a result, phytates and phytic acid are sometimes collectively referred to as anti-nutrients.
Soaking grains in water is an ancient practice. It works very well to remove phytic acid especially when the soaking medium is acidic as in case of whey. Sprouting and lactic acid fermentation are some of the other methods of phytate removal.
Interestingly, the probiotic micro-organisms in the GI tract also provide an enzyme called phytase which can break the phytate salt complex to make it more soluble for better absorption.
Whey works, but you can also get the same benefit by using water with a little lemon juice or other media such as apple cider vinegar, coconut milk or water, kefir, buttermilk, thinned down yogurt (see The Nourishing Gourmet link below)
Don’t, however, treat phytates as the enemy – it does have some benefits especially for the health of your colon. Cleaerly everything in nature has a purpose!
Other resources:
Be kind to your grains – Weston Price foundation website
Soaking grains, soaking grain part 2 – The Nourishing Gourmet
