“If a food contains an antinutrient or a potentially harmful compound, the food is toxic.”
Strong confidence because the presence of a compound does not establish harm at the dose present in a prepared food. Human outcomes, exposure, cooking, absorption and the rest of the food must be considered together.
Finding a compound with a scary name does not prove the food is toxic. Many foods contain substances that can have harmful effects at high doses and neutral or useful effects at normal food exposures.
Isolating a compound in a test tube or giving a high dose to an animal is useful for generating questions. It cannot by itself tell us what eating the whole food does to people.
Cooking can reduce lectins, calcium can reduce oxalate absorption, and the food matrix can change how a compound is absorbed and used.
Can these compounds ever have useful effects?
Sometimes. Fiber-like compounds, phytates, polyphenols and other plant chemicals can have more than one biological effect.
Safety note: Real toxins and food-preparation hazards still exist. The point is to assess the specific dose and evidence, not dismiss every concern.
Do not let one ingredient or mechanism erase the evidence about the whole food.
Ask three questions: What dose is present, what happens in humans, and what do studies of the whole food show?