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Gluten and Anti-Nutrients

MODULE #6 - Lesson 4

2Super Nutrition Academy – MODULE 6 - Lesson 4

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Gluten and Anti-NutrientsModule 6 - Lesson 4

Welcome to Module 6, Lesson 4. Today we will talk about anti-nutrients. This is an interesting topic and something you should be aware of,

What We’ll Be Covering TodayToday we will talk specifically about: gluten, lectins, milk, phytic acid, and oxalates.

Within these categories we’ll discuss the most common anti-nutrients and what they do inside your body. As you will soon see, some are worse than others


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What is Gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in most grains and it’s name comes from the Latin word meaning glue, which kind of gives us some indication as to what it does once it’s inside of our digestive system. It’s predominantly found in wheat, barley, and rye, but pretty much all grains contain it to some degree. It’s composed of gliadin and glutelin, which are kind of the two different types of proteins within the gluten protein itself.

If you’ve ever wondered why gluten-free breads don’t taste as good or have the same texture as regular breads, it’s because gluten gives the elasticity to dough, helping it to rise, and keep its shape chewy texture. Generally, gluten improves the flavor and the texture of bread. Again, it is glue to some degree, because what it does inside the digestive system is not that friendly.

Why is Gluten a Problem?So, why is gluten a problem? Well, first of all it widens the pores in the gut, which leads to leaky gut. Most of us don’t have the enzymes necessary to break it down, and it causes celiac disease. This is the position I have as human beings, we’ve only cultivated grains for the past 10,000 years or so which is not that long on the evolutionary scale. The percentage it reflects, the human evolutionary scale .01% of humans’ evolutionary process.


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So we’ve only given .01% of time for our bodies to be able to adapt to grains and agriculture. We basically have not evolved to the point where we can digest them, and we also don’t have the enzymes, in a lot of cases, necessary to break gluten down specifically, so gluten causes irritation and inflammation in the epithelial cells, in the gut, widens the pores in there, and it also—again, it’s kind of this glue kind of coating.

One of the easiest ways to start losing weight is to remove wheat out of your diet. Part of the reason for that is because gluten is pro-inflammatory in the body and holds on to water, so when you remove it you can shed 5 to 10 pounds within a couple days.

Secondly, gluten is mucus-producing. It causes this gluey kind of thickened mucus in the digestive system as well, so that’s one of the reasons why we call it glue.


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Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease directly related to gluten consumption. It causes the immune system to attack the small intestine. Celiac disease based on records and historical accounts didn’t exist before the advent of grains and agricultural revolution. We don’t know for sure but it seems the first known incidents of celiac disease weren’t until after grains were introduced into the digestive system.

Celiac disease affects 1 to 3% of the population; it has a strong genetic component, so, therefore, it pays to get tested. The two alleles, which you’d find in genetic tests, you need to look at, are either the HLA-DQ2 or the HLA-DQ8, if you do not have either you could develop celiac disease and you should be avoiding gluten at all costs.

The only known cure is a lifelong gluten-free diet. You could take all the anti-inflammatories you want but they won’t get rid of the problem. The only way to get rid of celiac, to keep it at bay, is to avoid gluten.

Celiac Disease ComplicationsThere’re a lot of complications with celiac disease because the immune system is attacking the small intestine, so it’s literally crushing the villi. It’s similar to Crohn’s disease, where we have destruction of the small intestine. This will lead to GI complications that are similar to IBS like, chronic diarrhea, pale, voluminous, and it smells foul, abdominal pain and cramping, bloatedness with abdominal distention, and mouth ulcers are also very common.

I need to mention that mouth ulcers are the number one predictor of food intolerance. If you ever develop a mouth ulcer after eating something glutenous that’s the number one predictor of a gluten intolerance.

Celiac disease is also associated with an increased risk of both adenocarcinoma, which is intestinal cancer, and lymphoma of the small bowel, also known as enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma. Luckily, the risk returns to baseline with a gluten-free diet.


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The more serious complications, are malabsorption from the changes in the bowel, in the small intestine make it less able to absorb nutrients, as we’ve seen in Crohn’s disease, for instance. So, minerals and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K won’t get absorbed properly which can lead to many other health issues.

The inability to absorb carbohydrates and fats may cause weight loss, stunted growth in children, and fatigue. Anemia may develop if you’re not absorbing iron or B12; calcium and vitamin D malabsorption can lead to osteopenia the precursor to osteoporosis.

Celiac disease is also associated with bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine, which can worsen malabsorption. This might be due to having undigested foods in the gut around leading to the purification, and proliferation of bad bacteria.

There’re other associations specifically related to an IgA, if you remember that type of immunoglobulin. That’s usually the one that’s related to the mucus membranes. It’s kind of like the first line of defense, the first barrier to different pathogens. With celiac disease, there’s a deficiency in this immunoglobulin, and there’s an increased risk of autoimmune disease.

Specifically, celiac disease is related to type 1 diabetes; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which is an underactive thyroid; microscopic colitis; and probably others we don’t know about yet.

This picture depicts dermatitis herpetiformis, a type of skin condition that causes little, red, itchy, pus filled bumps, and the reason for this is because there is a pronounced amount of transglutaminase, which is an enzyme in the skin. This it’s not necessarily caused by celiac, but in a lot of cases, they go hand in hand. They feature similar small bowel changes and issues in the small intestine. A gluten-free diet seems to lessen this disease. It can every go away when gluten is withdrawn from the diet. We do know there’s a common link between celiac and that dermatitis.

There’s also some really interesting stuff with recurrent miscarriages and unexplained infertility in both men and women. I guess more specifically in women in this case. Actually, celiac disease is much more common in women, as are most autoimmune conditions, so that’s something to really consider as well.


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Antigliadin antibodies, which are an older way of diagnosing celiac disease, are sometimes detected in this case as well, but sometimes there’s also small bowel disease that are link with having these antibodies. However, having higher amounts of these antibodies is linked to a lot nervous system-related stuff, including peripheral neuropathy, which is something diabetics have to deal with at the advanced stages, schizophrenia, and autism. All of these improve somewhat with a gluten-free diet.

Gluten has far-reaching effects on our body that we’re just starting to comprehend, and below this presentation I’ve actually included an interview I did with a friend of mine who’s really, I believe, one of the world’s leading experts in gluten. His name is Dr. Peter Osborne. Again, I’ve just included the download for you. It’s free, about a 30-minute interview that we did and he’ll go into more depth about some of the stuff, and it’ll just give you a really interesting perspective as to the real problem gluten is causing in humans.

Where’s It’s Found - GRAINSWe’re looking at pretty much all the grains here. The ones with the asterisks, millet, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, they don’t have any gluten. They’re true pseudo grains. Millet is a little bit problematic sometimes. I would stay away from it, also because it is a little bit higher on the glycemic index side of things. If you need to include grains, go for the amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa, but do keep them at a minimum. You don’t want to really base your diet around grains.

Again, gluten is found in grains, the top three are wheat, barley, and rye.

Where It’s Found – CONDIMENTS & SEASONINGSGluten is also common in condiments and seasonings. This can be a problem because most packaged foods contain condiments and seasonings which include gluten as an ingredient. It’s glue, so for manufacturers, it’s very easy to increase the volume, and look lot of these sauces because it sticks them together. For instance, Worcestershire sauce, MSG; modified food or corn starch; malt products; bouillon like, those chicken broth cubes, barley malt; many gravies and dressings are thickened with gluten.


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Again, the rule of thumb is: Stick to whole foods. If it comes out of a bottle or a packet, most likely, it’s going to contain either gluten or MSG.

Where It’s Found - ALCOHOLA lot of people don’t consider: beer, malted beverages, grain-based spirits. Remember, these are all coming from grains.

What About Wheatgrass, etc…?Does wheatgrass contain gluten? Wheatgrass, barley grass, all of those grasses, technically do not contain gluten, as they are the grass part of the plant. From a gluten prospective, you are okay to, for instance, juice wheatgrass or juice barley grass, enjoy those types of grain juices. However, wheatgrass juice and wheatgrass shoots, all these grass shoots do contain lectins, which are perhaps equally as problematic. So, for strict celiacs, it may be best to avoid due to the possibility of cross-contamination. You don’t know what happened in the manufacturing plant, so as a strict celiac, if that’s the issue, it might be better off to avoid this kind of stuff.

A Gluten-Free Diet?A gluten-free diet, is it worthwhile? Well, in general, I believe that most will benefit from a gluten-free diet. This is not just my perspective; once you understand the physiology and when you think about the historical timeframe it’s a no brainer. I’ve never seen a gluten-free diet worsen someone’s health. Removing gluten can only improve things, so that’s something really to consider.

I’m not saying that you have to go gluten-free. I know that I’m not going to go 100% gluten-free at this point because I haven’t reached the degree of pain need do so. But remember, gluten equals inflammation, so if you’re eating gluten, you’re creating inflammation in your body, and inflammation is the foundation of disease in the body.


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We simply haven’t evolved to digest grains; plus, most of us lack the specific enzymes necessary for the digestion of gluten. I believe that if you remove or lessen the breads, pastas, cereals, that are coming into your diet, you’ll be much better off.

A lot of people ask me, “If I don’t eat bread, what do I eat?” If you want to consume bread, my advice would be to go with a sourdough or a rye sourdough. Yes, there’s going to be gluten in it, but from the lectin perspective, which we’re going to look at in a second, is actually better off. That type of kind of fermentation process is actually better. The sprouted grain breads, they’re not really as healthy as a lot of people think.

It’s about looking at alternatives. You don’t have to have a sandwich for lunch. There are other alternatives and if you have the Super Nutrition Academy cookbook, you’ll have those different recipes, those different alternatives to the typical kind of sandwiches and any kind of bread-based stuff.

Instead of having oatmeal all the time, you can use quinoa to change things up and to bring less gluten in your body. Technically, oatmeal doesn’t really have gluten in it; however, they’re often processed in plants that do contain gluten-containing grains, so, again, there’s that issue of cross-contamination.


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Lectins

Lectins are a type of glycoprotein, so, glucose and protein combined, that help the plant defend itself against microorganisms, pests, and insects. Animals have teeth and claws to protect themselves; plants don’t really have anything, so they develop these compounds that will help the plant propagate. Lectins are not digested by animals, including humans. Everything on this planet, its main goal is survival. Humans included; we do everything out of survival at the basic level.

Lectins are essential to the survival of the seed of the plant as a way for them to remain intact as they pass through the digestive system. Fruits are a little bit different because they are from a tree. They’ve developed in a way where we eat them and poop them out the waste goes into the soil, that composition from that fruit will eventually make its way back into the soil and, therefore, it can pass its seeds to further growth of that same plant that gave rise to that fruit.

Lectins are a little bit different because we’re actually eating the seed here. Lectins are most pronounced in grains, nuts, and seeds so they need a way to protect themselves so we can’t really break them down. We cannot digest them; they enter the blood unchanged. There’s more lectins in whole grain than the finished product, which is weird. And soy are also pretty big in lectins to a lesser degree in nuts, dairy, and nightshade plants like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes.

As I just mentioned, lectins are highest in unrefined and sprouted grains, which is counterintuitive, because we think that whole wheat bread is better, sprouted grains are better. In some cases they are, but from the lectin side of things, they’re a bit worse.

Lectins and Gut DamageWell, like with gluten, lectins can damage the intestinal lining and perpetrate leaky gut and symptoms of IBS; so, very similar to gluten at the intestinal level. Legume and cereal lectins also alter the microflora of the gut, causing


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both inflammation and increased intestinal permeability. So, a lot of these antinutrients, at a fundamental level, actually damage the epithelial cells in the gut, which widens the pores, allows things to come into the body then the immune response kicks in.

There is a big correlation between lectins and the immune response. Since they increase gut permeability, also known as leaky gut, they elicit an elevated immune response, because things are coming in, and then we have that gut-associated lymphoid tissue just outside those cells of the small intestine. That’s going to stimulate an immune response to different foods that should not be coming in, like lectins.

Because we can’t digest them, we often produce antibodies to them, leading to possible intolerances and molecular mimicry so when it identifies a foreign protein, it remembers that, but then it can attack similar proteins inside your own body because it identifies a similar kind of protein makeup as that foreign protein.

We have this T lymphocyte, T cell receptors; and then this amino acid sequence. On the left here we have this amino acid sequence of a foreign protein. It identified three amino acids. Look at the whole sequence of the protein now, because here on the right side, we have the exact same three amino acid sequence within that chain of protein.

The left one is outside the body, from a food, for instance. Because the immune system has identified that three amino acid sequence, even if the whole protein is different, it sees that three amino acid sequence that was the same as before from that various food or lectin. It can now mount an immune response against something specific inside your body. And lectins specifically have been associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

They also facilitate the preferential growth of bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and lactobacillus lactis, which contain the susceptibility motive for rheumatoid arthritis as well. They bind surface glycans on gut epithelial cells, causing shortening of the microvilli; which are important for absorbing nutrients. They stimulate T cell proliferation, so greater immune response. They cause abnormal expression of intracellular adhesion molecules in T cell. Lectins are causing a lot of different immune-specific response because our body just


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doesn’t know what to do with them. Obviously, they’re inflammatory because they stimulate the production of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor. A lot of different things going on here.

Wheat Germ AgglutininWheat germ agglutinin is a type of lectin specifically found in wheat. Again, this wheat germ agglutinin is kind alike the protector of the plant; it’s very small, this WGA, and it’s concentrated deep within the embryo of the wheat berry to ensure the propagation of the seed or plant and migrates during germination to the roots. About one-third of it stays in the roots, and two-thirds of it goes to the tips of the leaves.

If you’ve ever grown wheatgrass, you start off with wheat berries. The wheat berries would contain this wheat germ agglutinin deep inside the embryo, and as the wheatgrass shoots up into those beautiful green sprouts of grass, well, even though the grass doesn’t contain the gluten because the gluten’s in the seed, this wheat germ agglutinin has now migrated. Two-thirds of it migrates to the tips of the leaves of the wheatgrass; another third of it remains in the roots. That’s why wheatgrass, barley grass, those types of super green grasses aren’t great to use all the time.


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Again, they’re found in highest concentrations in whole wheat and sprouted grains. WGA, this wheat germ agglutinin is exceptionally tough, as it is formed by the same disulfide bonds that make vulcanized rubber as human hair so strong, flexible, and durable, making it resistant to many pH and other processes and conditions. So, our stomach, even at a very acidic pH, cannot break it down. It’s very, very stable and that’s just because its goal, its mission is survival and propagation. That’s it.

How WGA Works Against UsHow WGA works against us. WGA selects two glycoproteins to attach to inside the body, inside different structures in animals. The first one is N-acetyl-glucosamine; the second one is N-aceytalneuraminic acid or sialic acid. All animals, including us, use N-acetyl-glucosamine as a foundational substance for building the various tissues in the body cartilage, tendons, a lot of the stuff in and around the joints.

Glycocalyx is slimy mucus secreted the epithelial cells, which line all of the mucous membranes. If you’ve ever gone fishing, you pick a fish out of water, and it’s very slimy and slippery; that’s glycocalyx. This mucus is composed largely of N-acetyl-glucosamine and sialic acid. Thus, the consumption of WGA can destruct this mucosal defense and gain entry into mucosal barriers.

Here’s the issue: If we’re eating wheat and grains, we’re consuming wheat germ agglutinin, and because wheat germ agglutinin has an affinity to these glycoproteins, specifically sialic acid and N-acetyl-glucosamine, which tend to congregate in and around the joints and the mucosal barriers so, the epithelial cells, the mucous membranes, all that kind of stuff—they can destruct that, because when the WGA attaches to those, it disrupts and compromises their ability to protect us.

Now, WGA also seems to stimulate and worsen inflammation in the body, so like all these antinutrients so far, inflammation’s a big thing. It stimulates synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 in intestinal and immune cells. It’s been shown to induce enzyme pathways that result in the release of inflammatory free radicals known


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as ROS, reactive oxygen species. It’s been shown to play a causative role in patients with chronic thin-gut inflammation or gut inflammation in general, so Crohn’s, celiac, colitis, IBS, all that kind of stuff.

Lectins and ArthritisI you have arthritis or if you know anyone who has arthritis, you may have been told to take glucosamine sulfates with chondroitin. You may have been told to avoid tomatoes and other nightshade vegetables. Since lectins, especially WGA, have an affinity for joints and connective tissue.

They have been associated with many joint-related conditions like arthritis, like rheumatoid arthritis. There’s a strong relationship between gut inflammation and joint inflammation, which has been recognized for decades in clinical practice.

A study done in 1978 in the journal Expérimentale Pathologie found that a single injection of lens culinaris lectin this is just a specific type of lectin into the knee joints of rabbits, a single injection created a six-month-long arthritis. That is insane.

Furthermore, approximately 20% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease are accompanied by joint inflammation. Gut inflammation, which leads to leaky gut, is heavy correlated with joint inflammation as well. So, if you have arthritis, the reason that a lot of people with arthritis are taking glucosamine is because when you take glucosamine, you’re increasing the amount of N-acetyl-glucosamine inside your body so the WGA, this wheat germ agglutinin, now attaches to that glucosamine as opposed to the glucosamine in and around your joints.

It’s not like it’s solving the problem; it’s kind of just throwing more stuff at these WGA molecules to deal with while you can save your joints in the meantime. But as soon as you come off the chondroitin, as soon as you come off the glucosamine, now those levels will decrease WGA, assuming you’re continuing to eat legumes and bread and stuff like that. It’s all going to be coming into the body and attacking the joints specifically. The same thing with tomatoes, the same thing with the nightshade family because they are higher in various lectins.


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What This Means To You

If you have a sensitivity to gluten, then you must avoid it. Unfortunately, it’s s really black-and-white with gluten. If you have a sensitivity to it or an intolerance or if you’re celiac, it’s your best bet. If you’re sensitive to gluten, there’s not going to be a whole lot of benefit from just reducing your gluten consumption. You pretty much have to avoid it altogether. It’s unfortunate but that’s really the reality of it. Lectins are problematic for everyone regardless of sensitivities, but especially to those with autoimmune conditions, arthritis, or connective tissue problems. If that encompasses you, then you want to be avoiding raw legumes, even a lot of the cooked legumes, as well as grains.

What this means. Avoid grains and condiments as much as possible to remove gluten. Pseudo grains will be void of gluten but still contain lectin, so consume in moderation. If that includes you in terms of the autoimmune conditions, arthritis, connective tissue problems, the quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat are better than the gluten-containing grains, but, again, they’re still going to have the lectins, and they’re going to create problems for those specific issues.

Legumes, beans, and lentils should be consumed in moderation, if at all, because of their high levels of lectin. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes all contain high levels and should be minimized, especially in those with those problems we just mentioned.

My ExperienceFor me, removing gluten and lectins from my diet several years ago, again, when I was transitioning to more raw foods and I was really kind of overhauling my entire diet, I had better mental clarity, faster recovery time from exercise, less stiffness and soreness, more energy, and no asthma or eczema system. That’s my experience and there’s obviously physiological reasons underneath these.

As I’ve added gluten, grains and different legumes back into my diet not to the same extent that they were when I was a child or a teenager, but even now, if I have pizza or bread or several days’ worth of grains, I’ll notice that


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my symptoms for eczema and asthma start to flare up again. These are all things that you want to look at within yourself and say, “Okay, if I’m eating these foods, do I see, do I experience certain ill effects.” That’s why it’s really important to keep a food journal.

DairyThis is a highly debated topic. I’m going to give you the perspective of what a lot of the science shows. If you want to consume dairy, cows’ milk, it’s totally up to you.

Dairy in and of itself is not necessarily an antinutrients. It’s not like gluten or a lectin, but it does have effects on our body which mirror the status of an antinutrients. This is a cartoon where we have this older man trying to push a calf off its mother’s teat, saying, “Hey, it’s my turn.” Essentially, the man is drinking the cow’s milk when, really, the cow’s milk was meant for the baby cow.

Is Milk Right For Us?

First of all, we are the only species that drinks another species’ milk. This fact does but it makes you question why we do this. The comparison of nutrients in human versus cows’ milk; remember, human breast milk is perfectly formulated for baby humans. Cows’ milk is perfectly formulated for baby cows.


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Look at the difference in protein, per 100-gram serving. So, 1.1 versus 4; four times more protein in cows’ milk. Fat is about the same. Carbohydrates, we have almost twice as many carbohydrates in human milk versus cows’ milk. That’s a big distinction there. That’s very important thing to understand.

Cows’ milk has a lot more calcium. That’s fair; we can obviously see that. It has about four times more calcium, but it also has about four times more phosphorus which is problematic, because the phosphorus-to-calcium ratio is very important in our ability to absorb calcium. We talked about this in our mineral lesson.

If we have a lot of calcium, that’s great, but if there’s a lot of phosphorus with it, we’re not going to be absorbing that calcium because those phosphorus and calcium relationships need to be, I believe it’s about 2.5:1 ratio. Humans’ milk, again, it’s about the right ratio; it’s about 2:1. The calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in cows’ milk is very, very off; it’s about 1.25:1, which means we’re not going to be absorbing, even if there’s more calcium, we’re not going to be absorbing it.

Sodium, a lot more sodium in cows’ milk than human milk. Everything in nature occurs as it should and things have evolved exactly as they have for specific survival purposes. Once you understand that the composition of cows’ milk and human milk is very different and it helps you can shed a little bit more light of the situation.

Lactose IntoleranceLactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, which is the sugar in milk, into its components, glucose and galactose, due to the absence of the enzyme lactase in the small intestine. We don’t have this enzyme, so we can’t digest it. Lactose then gets into the colon, and it may cause gas, bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping. Does that necessarily mean that you should be drinking lactose-free milk? Well, no, because is not a whole food anymore. We’re talking about chemically altered, pasteurized, homogenized milk which has removed the sugar through a chemical process, and it’s far worse than drinking the whole milk as far as I can see.


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According to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation in 2012, lactose intolerance affects more than 7 million Canadians, and that’s about 30 to 15 million Americans, although this is likely an underestimate because a lot of people don’t even understand that what these symptoms are telling them. Individuals seeking medical attention for their symptoms, physicians only submit 10% for clinical testing specifically for lactose intolerance; thus, Canadian physicians and probably American ones as well underestimate the daily impact of chronic lactose-intolerance symptoms.

So, you go in with symptoms of gas, bloating, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, they might just say, “Hey, you have IBS,” as opposed to really diagnosing you with lactose intolerance. Therefore, 25% of patients clinically identified as lactose intolerant have celiac disease. In Canada that means there’s about 73,500 people with undiagnosed celiac disease, which is a causal agent for their lactose intolerance.

It all comes back to this underreporting because there’s a 25% percent likelihood of patients with lactose intolerance who also have celiac disease. Underreporting the amount of lactose intolerance, that means that there are a lot of people who potentially have celiac disease. That means the 1 to 3% of the population who have celiac disease could be a lot higher, simply based on underreporting lactose intolerance.

Cow’s Milk AllergyThen maybe you’re not intolerant to milk; maybe you can handle it; maybe your body still has some degree of lactase or you take a lactase enzyme. Well, there’s also cows’ milk allergy, also known as CMA. There are numerous milk proteins, for instance, casein, in milk which have been implicated in allergic response to cows’ milk. It’s usually worse for allergic individuals, and the incidence and the dominant allergic mechanisms in response to drinking cows’ milk changes with age. In infancy we have a lot more kind of full-blown allergic responses, like the IgE stuff, and as we get older, it’s more like the delayed hypersensitivity stuff, where it’s not so much the IgE mediated, but it more so turns over to the IgG sensitivity type of reactions.


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Whether it’s about milk allergy, osteoporosis, anything to do with milk, you have to first look at where they are getting their funding from, who they’re giving acknowledgements to, because a lot of these studies are receiving funding from various dairy counsels around the world. For instance, this one study says self-diagnosed CMA, cows’ milk allergy, is tenfold higher than what is found in the literature. It comes out of a study out of Australia which was directly funded by the dairy counsel in Australia. So, the dairy counsel in Australia was giving this specific research lab money to do this research on cows’ milk allergy, where they basically said, “Listen, people are saying there’s way more than it is. There’s way more cows’ milk allergy than is really reported in the literature. Therefore, it’s not valid.”

You are not going to find any studies that look at IgG sensitivity testing; it’s all done with the IgE stuff. As I’m trying to bring you a scientific point of view, you have to realize that a lot of the science is subjective, biased, and in order to achieve specific results.

We’re looking at about eight proteins here that are different between humans’ and cows’ milk. Again, first of all, we’re going to notice that there’s a specific type of casein that we do not have in human milk which is very high in cows’ milk: 9.6 versus 0. There’re other caseins that we have a little bit more of, but, again, very little in comparison to cows’ milk. We don’t need casein protein, not those specific types.


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However, what’s interesting to notice is that human milk does contain higher amounts of immunoglobulins, important factors for the immune system, and lactoferrin, which is also really important for the immune system. That’s why it’s recommended as early as possible and as long as possible for the human baby to be breastfed, because breast milk contains thee immune-building properties which we do not get in cows’ milk. It’s really important. That’s why breastfeeding from day one all the way through a minimum of six months is so important for the development of a healthy immune system.

Interesting to NoteIt’s also interesting to note that cows’ milk allergy is more common in industrialized countries than in developing nations and more frequent in urban compared to rural communities. It comes back down to the hygiene hypothesis, right?

The use of probiotics may be helpful in reducing cows’ milk allergy. Cows’ milk-based infant formulas do not contain immunoregulatory cytokines found in human breast milk, as I just mentioned. If you’re not breastfeeding, if you’re a woman listening to this or reading this, I understand it’s a personal choice, but understand that there are big deficiencies in terms of what you are giving your baby if you’re not providing them breast milk. That’s just something to really consider.

The Processing of MilkThe other side of this cows’ milk equation is the processing of milk. If somebody is hell bent on drinking milk, drink whole milk versus skim milk, versus 2 percent milk, versus lactose-free milk. Even better than whole would be raw milk because now we’re actually dealing with the original whole food.

There are a lot of people that say raw milk is amazing, tons of healing properties. Maybe for some people that’s true, but for people who are intolerant or can’t handle milk it might not be the best option. We have to understand that the quality of the cattle is very important. Are they being injected with hormones, antibiotics? Are they being grass-fed, grain-fed?


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When you go to the grocery store and pick up a quart of milk, you have no idea what condition those cows are being brought up in. Pasteurization is essentially destruction of everything in the milk by heat. These companies pasteurize the milk so there’re no more enzymes, there’s no more bacteria, no more any of that stuff. But baby cows given pasteurized cows’ milk die within six weeks. That’s interesting, right?

Homogenization is a process that makes smaller fat molecules to prevent separation. If you let raw milk just sit, the cream will rise to the top. Because these food manufacturers, you don’t want to see the separated milk in a grocery store they homogenize it so we have smaller fat molecules so it looks like white liquid.

Xanthine oxidase is an enzyme which is produced and very prominent in homogenized milk, and there’s been a lot of debate as to whether this damages arterial walls, and was good research a couple decades ago saying there was a higher degree of heart disease and cardiovascular problems related to drinking processed milk because of xanthine oxidase because it damages the arterial walls so more cholesterol deposits hardens the arteries, leading to atherosclerosis and heart attacks.

Again, later research found some flaws in that earlier research, but no one really knows for sure. Nonetheless, I’m not going to drink homogenized milk. I rarely ever drink milk. The only time I will have milk is if I’m in the mood for a latte, it’ll be a decaf latte and if the restaurant does not have soy or preferably almond milk, which most places don’t, they might have soy. I’ll have a digestive enzyme with it and hope for the best.

This homogenization process is also problematic because by making smaller fat molecules, what this is essentially doing is increasing the surface of fat globules. It’s increasing the amount of surface area, which is now susceptible to free radical damage inside the body. As you remember, fats are very susceptible to damage, and if we damage fats inside the body, we get big problems. Homogenization is not a great thing.

We have raw milk on the left-hand side here. We have these bigger globules. After about an hour the globules will rise to the top. Manufacturers, these food companies don’t want that to happen, so they homogenize that separation does not occur.


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Most milk nowadays that I’ve seen is fortified with calcium or vitamin D or both. Fortified cows’ milk has 15 times the vitamin D found in breast milk, which, again, do we need that much vitamin D? Well, not really because too much vitamin D, as, hopefully, you can remember, increases free calcium floating in the blood, and that’s not good for heart health. This we know for sure. If you look at vitamin D toxicity, one of the problems with that is too much vitamin D and its relationship to heart disease. We’ve looked at this.

Furthermore, milk is associated with asthma, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, period cramps, rheumatoid arthritis, sinus congestion, and type 1 diabetes, testicular and prostate cancer. This information is all from studies from Diabetes Care, from the International Journal of Cancer, from The Lancet. It’s well, well-established but we’ve been led to believe that milk is essential for human health.


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What About Raw Milk?What about raw milk? Raw is better but I still wouldn’t recommend consuming it on a regular basis. There are different experts out there who will say raw milk is very healing and it’s done miracles for people. I’m not in the position to criticize that because I don’t know enough about it. If you’re doing the raw-milk thing and that’s working for you, that’s great; but understand that cows’ milk is not necessarily meant for humans.

Alternatives to DairyAs I mentioned, skim, fat-free, and other variations of cows’ milk are worse than whole milk. At the end of the day, we want to eat foods in their whole form as much as we can. 2%, skim, whatever, avoid it; go for the whole milk if you’re going to drink it at all.

But even better, get coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk. These are much better alternatives, and they don’t have the damaging consequences that cows’ milk does. Plus, you can make your own almond milk. If you’ve read Eating for Energy, you’ll know how to make almond milk. Take a bowl, fill it with water, put in two handfuls of almonds. Let it sit overnight; obviously, that’s going to soak the almonds.

In the morning drain that out, rinse the almonds off, and put the almonds in a blender, preferably a Vitamix, which will blend everything up to a pulp. Add in some water, a touch of vanilla, and you can add a little bit of your favorite sweetener if you want to. Then you blend it all up and there you go; that’s your almond milk. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t want to do that, well then, you can buy almond milk from the store.

Grains and Phytic AcidPhytic acid is a principle storage form of phosphorus in plants, and it’s especially present in grains and seeds. Like lectin, it’s not digestible to humans and causes essential minerals, including calcium, zinc, niacin, copper, iron, and magnesium, to bind to it, thereby preventing their absorption. It also inhibits enzymes that we need to digest our food, including pepsin, amylase, and trypsin. That’s not a good thing.


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Effects of Phytic AcidA high-phytate diets can result in mineral deficiencies. We’ve seen this specifically in countries that are heavy reliant on grains. In excess of 800 mg of phytic acid per day is probably not a good idea because it can lead to the binding to these minerals and lead to their malabsorption.

Some examples here, this is coming from the journal Lancet, average phytate intake in the US and the UK ranges between 631 and 746 mg per day. In Finland it’s about 370 mg; in Italy it’s 219; and in Sweden it’s just about 180 mg per day. Just FYI.

As I mentioned, in populations where cereal grains provide a major source of calories, rickets and osteoporosis are common. Well, that’s partly due to the fact that they’re getting high amounts of phytic acid, which binds to calcium, not allowing it to be absorbed into the body.


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Amazingly, brown rice is one of the highest sources. Brazil nuts are also a very high source, but as we’ve mentioned before, you only need one Brazil nut per day from a selenium perspective with one Brazil nut, you’re not really getting much phytic acid.

Cocoa powder is high as well; 1700 mg per 100-g serving. Oat flakes, so oatmeal, that kind of stuff. If you’re eating oatmeal all the time, you may want to reconsider that.

I don’t want you to feel like you cannot eat anything. That’s not the idea with this presentation. It’s just to bring to your awareness some compounds in various foods.


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Phytase

Phytase is the enzyme that neutralizes phytic acid and liberates the phosphorus from the various plant foods. It coexists naturally in foods that contain phytic acid. Ruminant animals like cows, sheep, goats, they have no trouble with phytic acid because phytase is produced by microorganisms within their digestive system. However, humans, we do not produce enough phytase to safely consume large quantities of high-phytic acid foods on a regular basis.

There are probiotics like lactobacilli and other species of endogenous digestive microflora that can produce phytase. Again, just another reason why supplementing with a good probiotic or eating more fermented foods is beneficial. If you have good healthy gut flora, you probably will have an easier time with foods containing phytic acid.

Phytase is destroyed by moist heat; thus, the processed grains can be very problematic. All these cereals, everything in boxes and packages, they’re putting out there, they can say whatever they want about the vitamins and minerals, but they’re very high in phytic acid as well because they have no phytase to help you get rid of it.

Methods to Reduce Phytic AcidYou cannot completely remove phytic acid. It’s always going to be there, but to what quantity will depend on what you do with the following. Sprouting activates phytase, thus reducing phytic acid; but we’ve also seen that sprouting increases lectin, so it’s tough to win. That’s why one of the easiest to avoid grains as much as possible.

Soaking grains and flour in an acid medium at very warm temperatures, as in the sourdough process, also activates phytase and reduces or even eliminates phytic acid. The earlier example I gave you of almond milk, we saw that almonds have, I guess, a higher degree of phytic acid, so if you ate almonds all the time or drank almond milk, one of the things you may want to do is if you’re making your own almond milk, when you’re putting the almonds in the water, throw in a little bit of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. That’s


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going to add a little bit of acidity to the solution, and that’s going to help reduce the phytic acid content in the eventual almond milk. As you rinse it out and kind of wash off the almonds, you get rid of that, so, hopefully, you don’t have too much of an acid-lingering taste.

Soaking grains and beans in water can help. Again, as a general rule of thumb—this is not to say you can never beans again or any grains, but let’s say you’re going to have steel-cut oatmeal. Soak them in water overnight; soak them an hour before. If you’re going to have beans of any kind, let them soak in water for a bit just to reduce the phytic acid as well as everything else, the lectins and all that other stuff.

Here’s a graph that shows the reduction of phytic acid in whole wheat sourdough bread. The dotted line is yeast fermentation, and the straight line is sourdough fermentation. Essentially, what we’re seeing here is, the longer it’s allowed to ferment, the less phytic acid is in the bread, and, specifically, we’re talking about sourdough.


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Best Practices - SOAKINGBest practices. Soaking. Again, soaking grains and beans before cooking them releases phytase, the enzyme, so allowing the phytic acid to be more neutralized. Soaking can also make grains easier to digest as it neutralizes enzyme inhibitors that prevent the grain from germinating under poor growing conditions.

Just let me clarify that last point. Enzyme inhibitors are special compounds in grains and seeds that prevent that grain from growing in poor conditions. For instance, that’s why there’s a difference between raw and living foods. If you have, for instance, a pumpkin seed, which is actually pretty high in phytic acid, if you have a raw pumpkin seed, you are going to be consuming enzyme inhibitors, whereas if you soak those pumpkin seeds, the soaking process pretty much alleviates that problem. It kind of gets rid of those enzyme inhibitors, and it allows your body to digest the pumpkin seeds a lot more effectively. At the same time, it also reduces the phytic acid in those pumpkin seeds.

Generally, you want to soak grains for 12 to 24 hours in water, as I mentioned before, with one to two tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice. Rinse well to remove any acidic taste, and cook as usual in fresh water.

Best Practices - SPROUTINGSprouting. In addition to neutralizing phytic acid, sprouting activates food enzymes and increases vitamin content, which we’ve seen in the protein module. Sprouting grain has more protein and fewer starches compared to non-sprouted grain and has a lower glycemic index value. Again, there’s a tradeoff here; there’s a lot of benefit to sprouting things, but, again, we also increase the amount of lectins in there. It’s really a balancing act. We don’t want to become fanatical about this kind of stuff. I believe that sprouts are immensely powerful but specifically amongst the broccoli sprouts and alfalfa sprouts. Some of the bean sprouts can be really good as well, but, again, we want to understand that there’s going to be some phytic acid, there’s going to be some lectins in them, and we don’t want to go crazy with too many legumes.


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So, to sprout, you want to place the grains or the seeds in a ceramic pot or glass jar and add enough filtered, warm water to cover all grains by several inches. Soak grains overnight, then drain and rinse well. You’re going to rinse them several times the first day, and continue rinsing them until they have sprouted. Essentially, what you’re going to do, this picture shows a very specific sprouting jar. You’re going to soak them and then rinse them out and then you’re going to tilt them on an angle like this so they’re all exposed to air, so they’re all exposed to oxygen to some degree and they’re still moist.

A lot of these sprouting jars, if you don’t have this kind of stuff, you can actually do it with a cheesecloth over the top and just allow, just use an elastic band to kind of tighten it at the top. Every day you just kind of rinse it out, bring some more moisture in there, and then put it back on an angle to allow a good surface area for those different sprouts to grow. And then, obviously, once this sprouting process is done, you want to rinse and drain before using to get rid of any compounds that might be on the sprouts, and then you’re good to go.

Best Practices - Grains

Grains, when it comes to grains, rye has the most phytase and the least phytic acid of any grains, so a better option for bread users is for rye or sourdough bread. Remember, rye does contain gluten, so, again, it’s up to you. Cooking, boiling grains, for instance, like oatmeal, can also help reduce their phytic acid, but, again, it’s not going to totally remove it.

This table down here shows the phytic acid reduction in quinoa, which is a pseudo grain—it doesn’t contain gluten—after different processes. So, cooked for 25 minutes at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, you have a 15 to 20 percent reduction in phytic acid. soaked for 12 to 14 hours at 68 degrees Fahrenheit,


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which is kind of like room temperature, then cooked, a massive difference; 60 to 77 percent reduction. Fermented with whey 16 to 18 hours at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, then cooked, again, an even greater difference, 80 to 82 percent reduction. And then, finally, soaked for 12 to 14 hours, germinated for 30 hours—so, sprouted—and lactofermented 16 to 18 hours, then cooked at 212 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, almost 100 percent reduction of phytic acid.

This is the most extreme of cases: soaking, sprouting, fermentation, and then cooking. And it still doesn’t remove all of it. Nonetheless, this gives you the different degrees of things you can do. The whole idea here is that by using either cooking or sprouting or soaking or a combination of all, you can reduce the phytic acid in various grains and seeds.


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Oxalates

Oxalates, or oxalic acid are naturally occurring organic acids in all living things; plants, animals, humans. I have a picture of spinach here because you’ve probably heard of oxalic acid in relation to spinach, where people are saying, “Raw spinach is not good for you because it has a high level of oxalic acid, and, therefore, it’s going to lead to kidney stones,” and all this kind of stuff. We’re going to see if that’s true or not.

In the body, oxalic acid can combine with calcium and iron to form crystals of the corresponding oxalate—so, calcium oxalates or iron oxalates, which are then excreted in the urine as little crystals. Usually, it’s not problematic in general. However, these can form larger kidney stones that can obstruct the kidney tubules. An estimated 80 percent of kidney stones are formed from calcium oxalate.

This is an electron microscope picture of kidney stones. You can see it has very jagged edges; it’s crystallized. As I just mentioned, 80% of kidney stones in US adults are calcium oxalate stones. They’re related to oxalic acid and calcium combining and crystallizing. However, since the intake of dietary oxalic acid accounts for only 10 to 15 percent of the oxalate that is found in the urine of individuals who form these calcium oxalate stones, restriction of dietary oxalate rarely helped prevent formation of these stones in those with preexisting calcium oxalate stones.

What that essentially means is that if you have a preexisting condition of oxalic acid or oxalate calcium stones in your kidneys, reducing consumption in foods that are higher in oxalates is not going to make much of a difference because it only accounts for 10 to 15 percent of the oxalate that’s found in that kidney stone.

Research has actually shown that the intake of protein, calcium, and water influence calcium oxalate to a greater degree than the intake of oxalates from those specific foods. We’ve seen that high-protein intake can lead to kidney stone formation. Too much calcium in the body leads to calcification, crystallization. Too much free-flowing calcium is not a good thing. If you don’t


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have enough water, that’s not going to be good enough either, because you need to flush stuff out of your kidneys, and by drinking more water, you help your body do that, so it’s really important to be hydrated.

Limit Oxalates If…You can limit them pretty much if you have the following three conditions: absorptive hypercalcemia; hypercal absorptive calceremia type 2. Basically, there’s too much calcium; there’s a specific condition for it enteric hyperoxa.

If those look familiar to you, you can avoid oxalates, and if you have calcium oxalate stones, you may want to limit the amount of oxalates coming in through various foods, but, again, they’re not going to be that problematic.

In these cases the research shows that dietary oxalates should be restricted to about 50 mg per day if you have any of those conditions. As an example, one cup of raw spinach contains about 200 mg of oxalate; therefore, you’d only be allowed to have about one-quarter cup of raw spinach as a maximum throughout the day. That’s it; you can’t have any other sources of oxalic acid according to those recommendations.

Foods High in Oxalates

Foods that are high in oxalates: spinach, about 750 per 100-g serving; beet greens, okra, parsley, leeks, collard greens. Generally, a lot of the green vegetables tend to have higher levels of oxalates, but, again, they’re not significant. The thing to remember here is that the effect on the body and if


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you’re healthy or if you don’t have any kidney issues, these are not an issue at all. Unlike phytic acid, unlike lectins, oxalic acid is very, very minimal of an issue if you’re a relatively healthy person.

Does Cooking Make a Difference?Does cooking make a difference? People believe that if you can’t eat raw spinach, you should cook it because that reduces the oxalic acid in that food. Well, cooking has a relatively small impact on the oxalate content of foods. A number of different food chemistry studies have shown no statistical significant lowering of oxalic acid. The ones that do, it’s only about a 5 to 15 percent only reduction following the blanching or boiling of green, leafy vegetables. It’s a very insignificant drop by cooking.

Best Practices - OxalatesWhat are the best practices? For the vast majority of individuals who have not experienced the specific problems described earlier, oxalate-containing foods are not a health concern, so enjoy green, leafy veggies and other plant foods. But if you’re suffering from kidney stones, then reduce your consumption along with the following guidelines, which are probably even more important than avoiding or minimizing leafy, green vegetables, because leafy, green vegetables are very, very important for your health. I would actually err on the side of following the following guidelines even more so.

Increase your water intake, limit protein intake, reduce sodium intake, and avoid vitamin C supplements, as they can crystallize easily. These four things are directly related to kidney stone formation. Not enough water; if you have a good amount of water intake, you’re able to flush things out. If you have too much protein intake, you’re going to increase the amount of calcium and oxalates that are forming in the kidneys. And same thing with too much sodium. You want to reduce the sodium, reduce the protein, and avoid vitamin C supplements. Vitamin C through foods is fine. From supplements, ascorbic acid crystallizes very easily in the body.


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Summing UpLet’s sum everything up. Most anti-nutrients, gluten, lectins, phytic acid, should be minimized or avoided for best health. A gluten-free diet is probably best for most humans. Dairy is for cows; some say raw milk is healing for humans. Oxalates are rarely problematic unless a preexisting kidney-related problem exists.


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Coming in Module 6Hope you’ve enjoyed this module. Module 7 is going to blow your mind. We’re going to be looking at how to diagnose and heal yourself. You’ll put your doctor to shame with this stuff.

In Lesson 2 we’ll be looking at nutrition protocols for 11 common diseases. These are things that you can do on your own from your own kitchen to prevent and treat 11 common illnesses. In Lesson 3 we’re going to be looking at a number of cutting-edge cancer protocols, stuff you probably never heard of before. It’s absolutely amazing.

In Lesson 4 we’re going to be talking about hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue. Two common problems in the Western world, and we’re going to look at what they’re all about, why they’re problematic, and how we can remedy ourselves from them.

That’s coming in Module 7. Do not miss those; you’re going to really enjoy them. I look forward to seeing you then.

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