Grains & soyabeans: more bad news.

Jamie Scott (THAT PALEO GUY) has been doing some digging and found more dirt on...

From http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Various_grains.jpg

See Wheat amylase trypsin inhibitors drive intestinal inflammation via activation of toll-like receptor 4.
"We identify the α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) CM3 and 0.19, pest resistance molecules in wheat, as strong activators of innate immune responses in monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. ATIs engage the TLR4-MD2-CD14 complex and lead to up-regulation of maturation markers and elicit release of proinflammatory cytokines in cells from celiac and nonceliac patients and in celiac patients' biopsies. Mice deficient in TLR4 or TLR4 signaling are protected from intestinal and systemic immune responses upon oral challenge with ATIs. These findings define cereal ATIs as novel contributors to celiac disease. Moreover, ATIs may fuel inflammation and immune reactions in other intestinal and nonintestinal immune disorders."

See Impact of antinutritional factors in food proteins on the digestibility of protein and the bioavailability of amino acids and on protein quality.
"Examples of naturally occurring antinutritional factors include glucosinolates in mustard and canola protein products, trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinins in legumes, tannins in legumes and cereals, gossypol in cottonseed protein products, and uricogenic nucleobases in yeast protein products."

"Among common food and feed protein products, soyabeans are the most concentrated source of trypsin inhibitors. The presence of high levels of dietary trypsin inhibitors from soyabeans, kidney beans or other grain legumes have been reported to cause substantial reductions in protein and amino acid digestibility (up to 50 %) and protein quality (up to 100 %) in rats and/or pigs."

"Normally encountered levels of phytates in cereals and legumes can reduce protein and amino acid digestibility by up to 10 %. D-amino acids and LAL formed during alkaline/heat treatment of lactalbumin, casein, soya protein or wheat protein are poorly digestible (less than 40 %), and their presence can reduce protein digestibility by up to 28 % in rats and pigs, and can cause a drastic reduction (100 %) in protein quality, as measured by rat growth methods. The adverse effects of antinutritional factors on protein digestibility and protein quality have been reported to be more pronounced in elderly rats (20-months old) compared to young (5-weeks old) rats, suggesting the use of old rats as a model for assessing the protein digestibility of products intended for the elderly."

I eat grains, also peas, beans & lentils, but not as a dietary staple.

Fiber and Insulin Sensitivity.

Bluddy Americans. It's Fibre! But anyway....

Stabby the Raccoon posted the following study in a comment on CarbSane's blog. I thought that it was so interesting that I am linking to it here.

Fiber and Insulin Sensitivity.

This study has built-in cognitive dissonance.

The first Fig. suggests that cereal fibre is associated with a much lower RR for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and that fruit & veggie fibre aren't.

Schulze et al. 2007: Cereal Fiber RR = 0.6 - 0.7. Fruit Fiber RR = 0.9 - 1.05. Vegetable Fiber RR = 0.95 - 1.15 approx.

The next table suggests otherwise.

Andersson et al., 2007: Whole grain diet contained 112 g/d of whole grain, 18 g fiber. No effect of whole grains on insulin sensitivity.

Ebeling et al., 1988: 5 g/d granulated guar. No effect on insulin sensitivity.

Johnston et al., 2010: Resistant starch supplement -40g/d. Improved insulin sensitivity with resistant starch.

Landin et al., 1992: 30 g/d granulated guar, given in 3-10 g doses. Improved insulin sensitivity with guar diet.

Maki et al., 2011: High-resistant starch diet- 30 g/d, Low-resistant starch diet- 15 g/d. Improved insulin sensitivity with both resistant starch diets, but effect only reached statistical significance for men.

Nilsson et al., 2008: White bread enriched with barley fiber and 8g resistant starch, Barley kernel based bread. Improved glucose tolerance with resistant starch.

Pouteau et al., 2010: 28 g/d acetogenic fibers (acacia gum and pectin). No effect on insulin sensitivity.

Robertson et al., 2003: High-resistant starch diet- 60 g/d. Improved insulin sensitivity with resistant starch.

Weickert et al., 2006: Fiber-enriched with 31.2 g insoluble fiber. Improved insulin sensitivity with increased insoluble fiber.

In conclusion, the resistant starches found in high-amylose rices such as Basmati, refrigerated boiled rice & boiled potatoes, also rye & barley breads are beneficial in terms of reducing your RR for T2DM. Watch out, though. Too much dietary resistant starch can cause colic, flatulence & diarrhoea if your intestinal bacteria are knackered. You want fermentation to short-chain fatty acids to occur, not osmotic laxation! See Genetics of Food Intolerance.