Is Phytic Acid Good or Bad for your health?

The "Good" - Phytic acid confers some health beneficial effects

Particularly when consumed in moderation.

The bible contains several positive references to eating bread (especially unleavened bread).

Dietary phytic acid (often referred to in studies as inositil hexaphosphate or IP6) has several health-protective functions:

•  Strong antioxidant

Graf E. Eaton JW. Amtioxidant functions of phytic acid (1990) Free Rad Biol Med 8(1):61-9

 -   Binds transition metal ions, thwarting their role as oxidants.    Phytic acid-rich diets may protect cells lining the intestinal mucosal membrane (epithelial cells)  against iron-induced oxidative damage;

Graf E Eaton JW Dietary suppression of colonic cancer. (1985) Cancer. Aug 15;56(4):717-8.

• Interruption of cellular signal transduction,

•  Cell cycle inhibition

• Enhancement of natural killer (NK) cells activity.

Health benefits of phytic acid:

•  Cancer

-    Decreases risk of colonic cancers and protects against inflammatory bowel diseases -  Although both Finland and Denmark populations consume equal amounts of fiber, the lower-risk Finns consume food items with 20-40% more phytic acid than the higher-risk Danes.

Graf E Eaton JW Dietary suppression of colonic cancer. (1985) Cancer. Aug 15;56(4):717-8.

-   Phytic acid shown to inhibit growth of cancer cells - e.g. leukemia, colon, breast, cervical,
prostate, liver, pancreatic, skin, and muscle.  after seemingly being taken up by them after absorption from the GI tract.

Vucenik I, Shamsuddin AM. Protection against cancer by dietary IP6 and inositol. 2006 Nutr Cancer. 55(2):109-25.

-   Blocks angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels to feed cancer cells) and disrupts pre-formed vessels.

Vucenik I et al. Anti-angiogenic activity of inositol hexaphosphate (IP6).(2004) Carc. 25(11):2115-23

-   Appears to enhance anti-cancer effect of chemotherapy

•  Type 2 diabetes

•  Coronary heart disease / Atherosclerosis - by lowering elevated serum cholesterol; reducing pathological platelet activity

•  Kidney stone formation - by preventing calcification

•  HIV-1

•  Heavy metal toxicity - by binding to transition metals

• Osteoporosis

Protective effect of myo-inositol hexaphosphate (phytate) on bone mass loss in postmenopausal women.