It seems the only problem is too much iron. I don't know of any other mineral which is harmful in bigger amounts when consuming a diet without much phytic acid.
This is the hypothesis about the "adaptive response":
The high incidence of HH (Hemochromatosis) has some
potential implications regarding diet.
The gene appears to reduce survival,
yet it has become relatively common
and widespread among those of European
(Celtic) ancestry. Consider the
following hypothetical analysis.
For 99% of the time since the inception of the species, humans have
lived as hunter-gatherers, eating a
diet that includes animal foods that
are rich in easily absorbed iron.
Under such circumstances, the gene
responsible for HH would not survive
for long, as the hunter-gatherer diet
is rich in animal foods and heme iron,
and the HH gene (genetic mutation)
would sharply reduce survival of those
unlucky enough to have it.
In the most recent 1% of our history, humans developed agriculture,
stopped being hunter-gatherers, and
switched from a diet rich in easily
absorbed iron to a diet based on
grains--low in bioavailable iron and
high in phytates (iron inhibitors).
Under the new circumstances, a genetic
mutation that increases iron
absorption (e.g., the gene associated
with HH), would occur in an
environment where it actually enhances
survival. Under those circumstances,
such a gene would both survive and
spread.
Modern times arrive, and bring large-scale agriculture and
agricultural technology,
industrialization, and greatly
increased wealth. Over a very short
period of time, the meat/animal food
content of the diet increases
substantially from what it was 100
years ago (if less than what it was
prior to the development of
agriculture). However, those with the
HH gene who eat a diet rich in animal
foods are now at increased risk of
disease, because their bodies absorb
"too much" iron from the recent
dietary change that allows them to eat
far more meat than their grandparents
could afford. That is, their bodies
have partially adapted (via the HH
gene) to a diet in which iron is of
very low bioavailability.
The above hypothesis explains the
incidence of HH, and also may serve as
evidence, in selected populations, of
partial, limited adaptation to the
"new diet"--i.e., the
high-carbohydrate, grain diets
provided by agriculture. Contrast the
above--possible evidence of limited
genetic adaptation to dietary changes
in the approximately 10,000 years
since agriculture began--with the
unsupported claims made by certain
raw/veg*n advocates that humans could
not, and did not, adapt to a diet that
includes animal foods, after ~2.5
million years. Reminder: the above is
a hypothesis, for discussion.
So maybe the problem is not eating not enough phytic acid (it may be healthy in small amounts, for example apparently if fights cancer) but the excess iron which follow a low-phytic acid diet.
There are some steps to reduce iron if you don't want to bind all the other needed minerals:
- Drinking Coffee
- Shellfish to prevent copper deficiency which leads to excess storage of iron
- taking vitamin E daily, it's needs go up with the consumption of iron
Other possibilities:
- Blood Letting
- eating nuts with meat
"Nuts can sharply inhibit the absorption of iron in a meal; the inhibition can be overcome, however, by the addition of vitamin C to the meal (Craig [1994])."
- Protein, egg albumin can bind iron.
- Polyphenols, including phenolic acids, tannins, flavonoids. Common in tea, coffee, chocolate, wine.
sources: Ray Peat, beyondveg
