RJ Douglas says; "Dr. CMJ, nuts and seeds comprise a fairly large amount of my caloric intake.
Are there any potential negatives of eating large amounts of nuts and seeds? I know most
nuts and seeds are fairly high in phytate, which can inhibit zinc absorption. However, I
specifically space the timing of my meals so that I have a high zinc meal in the morning on an empty
stomach per your suggestion, and then wait to have anything with phytate until later in the day."
So I would mainly be looking at phytate and PUFA, and on the PUFA front, that's polyunsaturated
fatty acids, on the PUFA front, I'm not in the extreme minimize it at all costs camp,
but I am in the camp of, don't really overdo it beyond what you need to get your nutrients in.
So I would look at the contribution of nuts and seeds to your micronutrient intake,
and if you're flying real high on the pattern of nutrients that are in the nuts and seeds
way more than you need of those types of nutrients, and I think I would cut back on
that. And I would be a little bit concerned about the PUFA intake, whereas if you're not hitting
your magnesium target, unless you eat the nuts and seeds, then I have a very different view of that.
But as long as your zinc and iron status are good,
and it's not just zinc that's inhibited by phytate, it's very broadly the positively
charged minerals besides sodium and potassium, are all inhibited to some degree by phytate.
So I think the phytate risk is mainly look at your mineral status. And I think the PUFA risk
is more of a liability that can be activated by conditions of oxidative stress. So I think
you can have a pretty high PUFA intake all your life as long as you don't have
some kind of illness or environmental factor or lifestyle issue that ignites
the flame of oxidative stress, you might be fine. So it's a tough thing to say because it's probably
not an issue at all, the PUFA, if everything else is optimized, but it can become a factor
later that you've been eating PUFA for years. So that makes me want to moderate nuts and seeds, but
I recognize that they can be very valuable to get your nutrients in. So I think if they
are giving you your nutrients, then I think that takes precedence over the PUFA concern.
All right. Thank you, RJ, for your question. Hope that helps.