Have we been lied to about phytic acid?

Heya Folks,

Not too long ago, if I had heard someone talk about Phytic Acid, my brain would have instantly thrown up red flags that said “anti-nutrient” and “that needs to be soaked out” as I thought about making beans for dinner, eating a handful of nuts, or gasp…making oatmeal for breakfast. I mean, the odds are good that if you’re reading this and you know what phytic acid is, it’s because someone has taught you that it’s “bad” and needs to be avoided for health.

Turns out, that’s likely bullsh*t.

Now that I've got that out of my system, let’s walk through this and see if we can come out the other end a little more empowered, errr at the very least educated on the matter because I know I wasn't

About six months ago I was in a solid doom scroll of all the worlds horrors when I came across a random little snippet about IP6 being used as a cancer treatment and to be honest I said “what the hell is IP6?” so clicked on the title fully expecting to learn about the newest body killing “treatment” for cancer and kinda just wanted to make myself aware.

Turns out IP6 stands for inositol hexaphosphate. It's simply the natural form of phytic acid, a compound found in high amounts in plant foods like beans, seeds, and whole grains.

Now my brain LOVES a deep rabbit hole, and let me tell ya, IP6 gave me a next level Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole to fall down when it comes to why has this been demonized?

First, let’s dispel the myth + fear that phytic acid is robbing your body of nutrients in the way literally every whole foods, paleo, traditional eating thingymabob has you believing, including the Weston Price Foundation, which has arguably been the loudest voice against phytic acid.

Before someone yells at me yeah… phytic acid binds to minerals like zinc and iron in your food, but for some reason that’s where everyone likes to end the story?

What they don’t tell you is that your body, just like you, is smart.

Your gut evolves rapidly in response to phytic acid, and that looks like this:

Your own gut lining increases phytase enzyme production→ Phytase breaks phytic acid down, releasing the minerals.→ In humans, iron absorption actually improves over time with regular phytic acid intake — a clear sign of adaptation. (1)

Next up your gut bacteria join the team:

→ Certain gut microbes (like Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus) digest phytic acid using their own phytase.→ One study showed that these bacteria not only broke down phytates but also boosted zinc levels in blood and tissues. (2)

Here’s a part where we also need to note gut health is important, but bifido and lacto are ridiculously easy to add to the diet when in doubt of their presence.

Then, and this is crazy, the more you eat, the better you absorb:

→ A 2021 review found that phytase activity increases after just a few days on a high-phytate diet.→ Your body quite literally gets better at extracting nutrients the more you eat phytic acid — not worse.(3)

What’s really interesting here is that Weston Price (the guy, not the foundation) believed there was some missing secret nutrient that kept people healthy that went missing once they got on board with industrialized foods and moved into cities. While I’m sure it’s a hugely nuanced picture of reality here’s what we know phytic acid does for the body:

🧬 Protects Your Cells

Powerful antioxidant: shields DNA, fats, and mitochondria from damage

Chelates excess iron (a major source of inflammation and aging)

🔥 Fights Inflammation

Reduces inflammatory markers

Supports mitochondria → lowers systemic oxidative stress

🧠 Boosts Brain & Nerve Health

Protects brain cells from oxidation

May reduce neuroinflammation

❤️ Supports Heart & Arteries

Prevents oxidized cholesterol

Reduces calcium buildup in arteries

Balances cholesterol metabolism

🧪 Loves Your Liver

Lowers fat buildup (fatty liver protection)

Helps the liver detox more efficiently

🩺 Kidney & Gallbladder Support

Reduces risk of kidney stones

Helps regulate calcium and oxalate

May reduce gallstone risk

🔋 Energizes Metabolism

Enhances fat & glucose burning

Improves insulin sensitivity

Supports ATP (energy) production

💪 Muscle & Tissue Benefits

Helps prevent calcium buildup in tissues

May ease pain in metabolic or muscle-fatigue states

🛡️ Strengthens Immunity

Activates natural killer (NK) cells

Balances immune response

🧼 Neutralizes Odor (From the Inside)

Binds ammonia and toxins in the gut

Helps reduce strong sweat/body odor

🌱 Gut & Digestive Ally

Encourages friendly bacteria (like Bifido and Lacto)

May support a healthier microbiome ecosystem

⚖️ Smart Mineral Regulator

Doesn’t “steal” minerals — it balances them

Your body adapts by making phytase, unlocking nutrients over time

Thanks for reading that wall of benefits, because it helps me bring the fact home that when the Industrial Revolution came along, the way we consumed grains changed drastically. Before factory food, grains were always eaten in a way that preserved or worked with phytic acid. Think fresh baking with whole stone ground flour, whole oats, corn flour, etc.— these were normal whole foods that humans have eaten for thousands of years.

Yet, once modern milling and mass production took over, grains were stripped, bleached, rolled, puffed, and extruded — anything to make them more shelf stable. With all of that chaos, we lost the bran and germ (where phytic acid lives), or destroyed it with heat and processing, which robbed a powerful antioxidant, mineral balancer, and gut ally from our food.

So, I don’t believe it was the grain itself that was bad, but rather how we began processing it (yes, current-day grain can be dripping with chemicals). Price often blamed processed grain consumption for humanity’s health decline, and I don’t disagree — but in the same breath, he also believed grains needed to be prepared in “traditional ways” — fermentation, soaking, or other methods — which ironically would have reduced phytic acid. Of course, as a dentist working in the 1920s and 30s, he couldn’t have known about phytic acid or its potential protective role — it had barely been discovered back then.

Price’s work was actually picked up by Sally Fallon decades after his time and she put her own twist on it, and his work is now often used to demonize grains entirely and elevate sourdough as the “traditional” gold standard of bread, and worse, in some circles, the only acceptable consumption of wheat. But that’s not actually how most people made bread throughout history. Actually, the preferred method was baking with fresh brewer’s yeast, often obtained directly from the local beer producer. Sourdough, on the other hand, was usually a last-ditch effort — the backup when brewer’s yeast wasn’t available and was often looked at with dislike. Not many people at that time wanted sour tasting bread.

Ironically, while sourdough fermentation helps with digestibility, and I love it too, it also breaks down phytic acid by up to 70% (4)— drastically reducing some of the very protective effects that whole grains originally offered.

(Fun bonus fact: Most store-bought “whole wheat” is fake. The grain industry routinely strips or destroys phytic acid through heat, refining, and even enzyme treatments — a process called dephytinization. Why? Because once the natural compounds are gone, they can legally enrich the flour with synthetic vitamins and minerals alongside rancid bran. So the protective phytic acid gets tossed, and your “healthy” whole grain gets a lab-made makeover.)

In any case, all of this is a big deal. Because if phytic acid isn’t just a so called “anti-nutrient” but actually a protective, adaptive compound that humans have been eating for tens of thousands of years, then taking it out of the food system suddenly is brutal. In my mind, the “mystery nutrient” Weston Price was sensing wasn’t some exotic vitamin — it is likely phytic acid, quietly doing its job in the background, keeping people resilient in the face of oxidative stress, iron overload, inflammation, and environmental toxins.

The irony here is that when we follow the WPF suggestions for preparing grains, beans, nuts, and seeds — soaking, sprouting, fermenting — we’re actually activating phytase, the enzyme that breaks down phytic acid into simpler forms. In doing so, we may be robbing our bodies of a vital protective compound that has powerful antioxidant, mineral-balancing, and cellular benefits.

Just to say: I’m grateful for the work the Weston A. Price Foundation does in helping people return to whole foods and traditional diets. But we’re all human — and there’s always room to learn, unlearn, and keep evolving our understanding of what true nourishment really means. And over the years, I have become truly wary of any diet that demonizes any kind of whole food. It takes quite a bit of ego to believe that nature somehow made a mistake — and that we humans know better than her.