You may be a little confused by the information that there are anti nutrients in your beans and wholegrains as well as many, many other plant food sources. I mean, after all, aren’t plants supposed to be good for you? Anti nutrients are the substances that interfere with absorbability of your nutrients. We consider many substances anti nutrients – for example protease in soy beans interfere with protein absorption and even fiber can possibly be an anti nutrient cause it gets in a way of mineral absorption. Polyphenols in red wine inhibit iron / zinc absorption and there are substances called oxalic acid in spinach which prohibits calcium assimilation.
So as a plant eater I have heard many times that my wholegrain and beans contain anti nutrients so I shouldn’t eat too many of them – but this is absolutely not the case. There is so much proof out there that plant based diets are great for you that you should not really worry about this. As long as you’re including in your diet various plants in wide variety of forms like fermented, sprouted, raw and cooked you are doing just fine. Cooking wholegrain and beans reduces the impact of the anti nutrients but when it comes to vegetables best to have them raw or steamed as often as possible.