I know in the past few weeks a few of you have recently heard me say that you should start alternating healthy fats not only for variety but overall health. I finally came across an article from the paleo newsletter on the topic so I thought that I would share it.
I have said before that peanuts/almonds/cashews should not be the fat staple but included once in a while. The reasons I was being told was "because______" and then it would be something science-y that I couldn't remember. No finally I have an answer from a great source.
Newsletter:
The Debate over the Safety of Legumes by Dr. Loren Cordain.
Legumes, such as beans, lentils, peanuts, and peas are ubiquitous in modern society. Even the Mayo Clinic's website labels legumes as "among the most versatile and nutritious foods available." As many readers already know, though, the Paleo Diet does not include legumes. To explain why, we'd like to share the following thoughtful question regarding whether legumes could have been a nutritional resource for our Paleolithic ancestors that would have been incorporated into our evolutionary heritage.
"Dear Dr. Cordain,
I have read your Paleo Diet books and some interviews with you as well, but I have a question the answer to which continues to evade me. If we are to eat as our ancestors, i.e. as nature designed (with which I completely agree), would they not have eaten legumes as long as they didn't experience immediate discomfort from doing so? I understand how raw peanuts or cashews (or their evolutionary predecessors) would not have been eaten as they were poisonous until cooked and would have caused distress, but what about such things as string beans or sugar-snap peas? These can be eaten raw with no immediate ill effect, regardless of lectin content, so wouldn't the ancestral equivalent of these foods have been eaten by Paleolithic man?
What would have dissuaded him? And as such, shouldn't we now be able to handle them? (As you can tell, I miss my beans. I'm also assuming there were Paleolithic equivalents). I've been kind of going on the theory that if you can eat it raw it's okay (because they would have)."
--Holly Schmaling
Dear Holly:
My feeling is that pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers would have been opportunists and would have consumed virtually all-edible foods. However, optimal foraging theory suggests that they would have tried to hunt, gather and fish foods that supplied the greatest energy input per energy expended. They also would have preferred readily digestible carbohydrate when animal foods were lean with little fat. Because legumes are only available seasonally, they would not have provided a staple food source until the development of agriculture. This means that humans would not have evolved the ability to cope with the "dark side" of legumes.
In general, most legumes are concentrated sources of both lectins and saponins. These toxic compounds serve to prevent predation by insects, fungi, bacteria and other organisms. The problem that saponins present for people is that saponins bind cholesterol in the gut membrane to create pores in the gut (intestinal permeability). While most dietary lectins are not toxic to humans, legumes and grains are the primary exceptions because legume and grain lectins can bind to gut tissue. While the entry of dietary lectins into peripheral circulation has been sparsely examined, is quite likely that all lectins capable of binding gut epithelial tissue can also enter into lymph/circulation.1-5
Intestinal permeability allows toxins and bacteria, from which the body needs to be protected, to breach the gut barrier and gain chronic access to the immune system. This abnormal situation may stimulate the confused response seen in autoimmune diseases when the body's immune system indiscriminately attacks healthy tissues and organs. It appears that the immune system has lost the ability to distinguish between the body and foreign invaders, such as microbe or food antigens. Approximately 33% of autoimmune diseases present with a leaky gut, and most autoimmune diseases have yet to be tested.
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So there you have it. My advice is to alternate between nuts and other kinds of fats and even between different kinds of nuts themselves. My rotating list includes: cashews, pecans, walnuts, olives, avocado, almonds, peanuts, almond butter.
Any questions please post them in the comments page and I will get back to you.
I tend to avoid nuts, because I don't think they are a healthy choice. I prefer to get my fats from avocados.
ReplyDeleteok, so the article says, "I understand how raw peanuts or cashews (or their evolutionary predecessors) would not have been eaten as they were poisonous until cooked and would have caused distress", so is it ok or not ok to eat peanuts and cashews?
ReplyDeleteit is considered ok but you dont want to make it your sole income of fat. as also stated in the article it was seasonal. but, since we have access to them year round because we are farming gods it can be unhealthy. everything in moderation right? same rules apply basically. A person needs to throw in variety, sometimes frequently, sometimes only occasionally. so the long and the shorty is eat them but combine them with other fats. As jim stated avocado is a great choice but that too can cause problems.
ReplyDelete