You may have heard that vegetables were good for you somewhere, but I've got news for you: not always.

I have to tread carefully into this conversation, because I don't want you to get the wrong idea here: what kind of Mickey Mouse nutritionist would I be if I told my clients not to eat vegetables?

But, we do need to consider what vegetables actually are and how they interact with our tissue when we decide how much of them to eat, and how we should prepare them. And, I promise this is linked to your stomach acid. So let's get into our discussion.

The conditions in the gut are what determines whether or not a vegetable and the abrasive fibers and phytates that it contains will be nourishing, or an irritant that does more harm than good.

Phytates are phytochemicals in plants that serve in nature as deterrents for any creature who may think of eating the plant.

This is in contrast to fruits, which the plant makes sweet, and devoid of any of these phytates, as incentive for humans or other potential eaters to consume the fruit and in doing so disperse the plant's seeds.

So, in other words, vegetables are the parts of the plant that it doesn't want eaten, and while these parts may have a nutrient-dense payoff, they also are full of defensive phytate compounds that require some degree of processing before we can access the nutrients - such as that which would occur with strong stomach acid.

Likewise, phytates don't break down into their digestible components unless a pH of 3.0 or lower is present in the stomach. When these phytates fail to break down, it means 2 things:

1. The first is that the nutrition available in the food significantly decreases, as the phytates carry the bulk of these with them through the body into elimination. This is compounded with the high fiber content of most vegetables, and fiber tends to also grab onto minerals and take them with during elimination. So phytates left in tact can translate to much less nutrition being provided from the same foods.

2. The second thing is that the phytate is left in tact, which we've established is meant to serve as a deterrent for we humans due to its potentially damaging nature. As it moves through the gut, if it leaks out into the body via leaky gut, it is highly reactive with the immune system.

Many people who deal with rheumatic conditions and suffer from things like joint pain, rashes, and digestive distress can glean a large benefit from limiting the phytates in their diet. Now, this doesn't mean: stop eating vegetables.

Rather, this can be accomplished through cooking or fermenting vegetables before eating. Or, if needed, avoiding the vegetables with phytates that seem to trigger you the most.

Here's a little secret, though: fixing your stomach acid is the best way to ensure you actually begin to break down those phytates, and increase your tolerance for these usually healthy plant foods.

So if you've ever asked yourself: "What's wrong with me? Why can't I tolerate vegetables?" Know that you are not alone - this is actually pretty common.

Definitely don't force your body to eat them if it's reacting poorly. If you want to naturally increase your tolerance for vegetables, work on optimizing your terrain by rebuilding your stomach acid.

Vegan and vegetarian diets compound nutrient deficiency issues with phytate issues because the foods being consumed are lower in protein and nutrients than most animal products, and are full of these immuno-stimulating phytates! For those of you who are vegan or vegetarian, or have been in the past, your need in particular for stomach acid may be very great.

Since the vast majority of nutrient-rich foods are animal products such as wild-caught seafood or pastured meats and offal it may be worth considering how to add more protein, b vitamins, and zinc rich foods into your diet after you've tackled your stomach acid.

This is just one of many reasons why I don't condone eating a plant-based diet for those dealing with immune dysregulation. I'll link to a resource or two about this if you'd like to read more about why.

Tomorrow, we'll talk more about the literature linking low stomach acid to specific chronic conditions, and some more very common symptoms that present with hypochlorhydria.