Hi Todd,

You were asking what is wrong with legumes...Legumes contain phytic acid.
I was talking to Ron Hoggan about it the other day. He explained:

>Phytic acid forms a chemical bond with Calcium, magnesium, and some
>other minerals that may be in our diet (and we want to absorb). The
>resulting phytates cannot be cleaved in the human gut, so these minerals
>are wasted, rather than absorbed. This results in low levels of calcium in
>the blood, which stimulates the parathyroid to produce PTH (parathormone),
>which liberates calcium from the bones.
>
>PTH also retards calcium loss in urine, and it signals the kidneys to
>release calcitriol, which allows calcium absorption from the intesine......
>but calcium phytate can't be absorbed or broken down to allow
>absorption.... so if there is lots of phytic acid in the diet, the whole
>cycle continues, and the calcium needed for muscle action, and a host of
>other functions,  is  leached from the bones because the calcium in the
>diet is largely unavailable.
>