Paleo Diet Analysis
With the rise in popularity of the Paleo diet, a lot of people have started deamonizing beans along with grains and dairy. There really isn't anything wrong with eating beans. The food shaming has got to stop. Beans contain some great nutrients such as fiber, and can definitely be part of a healthy diet. They do have some anti-nutrients that can make them hard to digest. Let's take a look at two of those in more depth.
Lectins
Lectins are "sticky" proteins that bind to stuff once they are in our systems. Most foods contain them, but only grains and beans have them in large quantities (1) Lots of lectins in the diet can damage the lining of the small intestine and increase intestinal permeability - which is bad because intestinal permeability = not absorbing nutrients from your food. They can also impair growth, …show more content…
One group ate their normal diet, the other supplemented with 60 grams of soy protein.
After only 14 days, the soy protein group had significant increases in the epithelial cells in the breasts, which are the cells that are most likely to turn cancerous (22).
It is also a GMO crop - Over 90% of soy produced in the U.S. is genetically modified and the crops are sprayed with the herbicide Roundup, which may be associated with adverse effects on health (1). Interestingly, whole soybeans are rarely consumed in Western countries. The majority of soy in the diet comes from the refined products that are processed from the soybeans. While whole soybeans can have questionable nutrient properties, processed soy and soybean oils should be avoided.
100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of mature, boiled, whole soybeans contain large amounts of Manganese, Selenium, Copper, Potassium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, Vitamin B6, Folate, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1) and Vitamin K. This portion of soybeans also contains 173 calories, with 9 grams of fat, 10 grams of carbs (6 of which are fiber) and 17 grams of protein
Lectins
Lectins are "sticky" proteins that bind to stuff once they are in our systems. Most foods contain them, but only grains and beans have them in large quantities (1) Lots of lectins in the diet can damage the lining of the small intestine and increase intestinal permeability - which is bad because intestinal permeability = not absorbing nutrients from your food. They can also impair growth, …show more content…
One group ate their normal diet, the other supplemented with 60 grams of soy protein.
After only 14 days, the soy protein group had significant increases in the epithelial cells in the breasts, which are the cells that are most likely to turn cancerous (22).
It is also a GMO crop - Over 90% of soy produced in the U.S. is genetically modified and the crops are sprayed with the herbicide Roundup, which may be associated with adverse effects on health (1). Interestingly, whole soybeans are rarely consumed in Western countries. The majority of soy in the diet comes from the refined products that are processed from the soybeans. While whole soybeans can have questionable nutrient properties, processed soy and soybean oils should be avoided.
100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of mature, boiled, whole soybeans contain large amounts of Manganese, Selenium, Copper, Potassium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, Vitamin B6, Folate, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1) and Vitamin K. This portion of soybeans also contains 173 calories, with 9 grams of fat, 10 grams of carbs (6 of which are fiber) and 17 grams of protein