Antinutrients eradicated ?

[isa]

I love to ferment and I ask myself which veggies are o.k. for peeps on AIP if fermented ? What does fermentation do with nightshades and legumes ? Is it o.k. to eat fermented chili ? Is it o.k. to eat fermented lentils ?

[amberpm]

I do think fermentation destroys a good many anti nutrients, but I don't think it's been well studies as to which ones and how much. I mean, I've read about an artisan baker in California who is doing 1 month ferments on dough to produce wheat bread that celiacs don't react to. I suppose it all comes down to self-experimentation - if you are handling a ferment well then it's probably safe for you.

[saragrambusch]

Unfortunately I haven't seen any hard data on this, and all ferments are different depending on methods, conditions, length, etc. I know that I can tolerate fermented FODMAPS better than regular FODMAP veggies. I also reintroduced sprouted lentils recently and seem to be okay with those in small amounts. If your symptoms are at a place where you feel comfortable trying this type of reintroduction, it might be worth a shot.

[rachelpower]

Good points. In making guesses about this you might think about how fermentation works - by breaking down the sugars. So yes, if you ferment FODMAPs, many (maybe even most) of the problematic sugars are broken down in the process. But if other aspects of the foods are causing issues, like, casein (a protein) in dairy or chemicals in nightshades, then the fermentation won't alter that aspect of the food.

Lentils are removed from the AIP diet because of lectins, but they do contain fewer lectins than any other legumes. Chris Kresser has discussed this very recently - he said that there is evidence that suggests that sprouting and then cooking the lentils very well does destroy the lectins enough to prevent lentils from being problematic for many people. So yes, worth a try if you are currently symptoms-free.

On the fermentation of lentils - I once sprouted some and then fermented them for a week. My kids commented with horror on the smell of vomit in our kitchen. They did indeed smell strongly of vomit, even once cooked. They tasted ok, but it was very hard to get past the smell!