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Saponins: Friend or Foe?

Messages
66
Many here are taking Yucca for ammonia elimination and/or Quinoa for health benefits and getting certain nutrients lost by not eating other foods due to high sulfur or ammonia components.

Both of these foods have saponins in them. I've read there are a variety of saponins so I guess the first questions is are certain saponins safer than others?

I've also read that Yucca saponins act as a surfactant and cleans the intestines and villi providing better absorption of nutrients. I've read elsewhere that Yucca saponins harm villi.

Quinoa saponins can be rinsed from the exterior of the seed but to what extent they are eliminated is questionable. Do Quinoa saponins also help eliminate ammonia?

I can certainly attest to the fact that urine smells of less ammonia after eating Yucca but is it harming me in so way that makes it not worth my while. Then there's the issue of how much to take for benefit.
I only take a quarter inch carrot slice worth of it with each meal but even that seems to be more than what would be in a 500mg pill.

Anyway, if there's any Yucca, Quinoa or Saponin experts out there, would love to hear your views!!
 

xjhuez

Senior Member
Messages
175
I've also read that Yucca saponins act as a surfactant and cleans the intestines and villi providing better absorption of nutrients.

I also read somewhere (I'll try to locate the source) that yucca increased intestinal absorption. My first thought was, what if you have leaky gut? Do you even want that?
 

Lotus97

Senior Member
Messages
2,041
Location
United States
I don't know if all saponins are the same, but according to Stephen Buhner (famous for his Lyme protocol) they aren't harmful.
Dear Stephen,
I came across this information about sarsaparilla: “Sarsaparilla contains chemicals called saponins, which are poisonous to insects and other small creatures. It is believed that saponins are not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract of humans, therefore it does not appear to be toxic to humans when taken by mouth or used topically. If injected into the blood, however, saponins can dissolve red blood cells, which may result in serious effects that include death.” My question—if one has leaky gut—will sarsaparilla proteins enter the bloodstream and cause havoc? The same website also states this: “Sarsaparilla could interfere with the absorption or elimination of other oral herbal supplements that are taken at the same time. Separate taking sarsaparilla and other supplements by at least 2 hours.” Thanks.

Stephen’s response:
As to treatment of leaky gut you might see Murray and Pizzorno’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. Fasting is also particularly good for this. Saponins are the things that make soap suds, and is probably where the word soap came from. Many plants contain saponins, they are ubiquitous in nature and in our foods. Sarsaparilla is a remarkably benign herb and I do list the contraindications for it in the book. With leaky gut anything might upset things but this herb would not be high on my list to worry about.
 

LaurelW

Senior Member
Messages
643
Location
Utah
I just want to caution you-all not to eat quinoa without washing it well before cooking it. Some years ago I bought a hot breakfast cereal made of cracked quinoa, and twice (since I didn't know what caused it the first time) I ate it and became very ill a few hours later, with things coming out both ends, so to speak. I think that they had not washed off the saponins before processing it. I don't have any problem if it's rinsed well. So it isn't as harmless as the Wikipedia article suggests.
 

Lotus97

Senior Member
Messages
2,041
Location
United States
A lot of brands pre-rinse their quinoa, so it's not always necessary
http://www.vitacost.com/bobs-red-mill-organic-gluten-free-wheat-free-quinoa
Quinoa has been thoroughly rinsed and air dried to remove the naturally occurring bitter saponins, so it can be used without rinsing.

I've taken a couple grams of sarsaparilla without any problem and people following Buhner's protocol take a couple grams a day of sarsaparilla for many months. Maybe there's different types of saponins.
 
Messages
66
I also read somewhere (I'll try to locate the source) that yucca increased intestinal absorption. My first thought was, what if you have leaky gut? Do you even want that?

I would believe that improved intestinal absorption sounds good as more nutrients can be used for the body.
Leaky gut I think is an independent issue from intestinal absorption. Perhaps saponins may go into the blood stream with a leaky gut. Wish there were more definitive answers regarding saponins.
 

Lotus97

Senior Member
Messages
2,041
Location
United States
I would believe that improved intestinal absorption sounds good as more nutrients can be used for the body.
Leaky gut I think is an independent issue from intestinal absorption. Perhaps saponins may go into the blood stream with a leaky gut. Wish there were more definitive answers regarding saponins.
I haven't spent a lot of time researching leaky gut, but supplements such as bromelain and Bioperene/piperine are supposed to increase absorption of nutrients and so are added to various supplements. I found out that the way they work is by increasing gut permeability and some people say this can contribute to leaky gut.
 

helen1

Senior Member
Messages
1,033
Location
Canada
Have decided to stop taking yucca (to decrease ammonia) after reading this:

Saponins, Surfactant Activity, and Intestinal Function
Saponins affect the permeability of intestinal cells by forming additional complexes with sterols (e.g., cholesterol) in mucosal cell membranes (Johnson et al., 1986). These authors found that saponins increase the permeability of intestinal mucosal cells, inhibit active nutrient transport, and may facilitate the uptake of substances to which the gut would normally be impermeable. This was confirmed in a more recent study (Gee et al., 1997), in which it was demonstrated that exposure of rats to saponin increased the trans- mucosal uptake of the milk allergen β-lactoglobulin. Saponin-exposed rats developed antigen-specific antibody responses to administration of ovalbumin (Atkinson et al., 15% and 0.30% Quillaja saponin to rainbow trout caused significant intestinal damage (Bureau et al., 1998). 1996), indicating that saponins may increase the sensitivity of animals to dietary antigens. A purified Quillaja saponin has effectiveness as an agent to enhance absorption of orally administered drugs (Chao et al., 1998). Saponins from various food sources, such as oats (Onning et al., 1996) and quinoa (Gee et al., 1993), increase intestinal cell permeability.
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
This is really out of date, and I have not investigated to confirm this, but the saponins in green potatos used to be claimed to cause major health risks, including aborting pregnancy. I think its a case of proceed cautiously until we know more.
 

xjhuez

Senior Member
Messages
175
Can you supply a link to that study? Google scholar can't find it.

There's no way I'm quitting oats or quinoa, regardless of what it says, but I might stop or lessen yucca.

Have decided to stop taking yucca (to decrease ammonia) after reading this:

Saponins, Surfactant Activity, and Intestinal Function
Saponins affect the permeability of intestinal cells by forming additional complexes with sterols (e.g., cholesterol) in mucosal cell membranes (Johnson et al., 1986). These authors found that saponins increase the permeability of intestinal mucosal cells, inhibit active nutrient transport, and may facilitate the uptake of substances to which the gut would normally be impermeable. This was confirmed in a more recent study (Gee et al., 1997), in which it was demonstrated that exposure of rats to saponin increased the trans- mucosal uptake of the milk allergen β-lactoglobulin. Saponin-exposed rats developed antigen-specific antibody responses to administration of ovalbumin (Atkinson et al., 15% and 0.30% Quillaja saponin to rainbow trout caused significant intestinal damage (Bureau et al., 1998). 1996), indicating that saponins may increase the sensitivity of animals to dietary antigens. A purified Quillaja saponin has effectiveness as an agent to enhance absorption of orally administered drugs (Chao et al., 1998). Saponins from various food sources, such as oats (Onning et al., 1996) and quinoa (Gee et al., 1993), increase intestinal cell permeability.