Why You Can Digest the Bones, But Not the Seeds

This is one of those truths that hides in plain sight.

Every day, people chew on chicken legs and slurp down fish curries without giving a second thought to the small bones they swallow. At the same time, they pass tomato and guava seeds straight out in their stool — fully intact, unchanged, untouched.

Why?

Because bones are meant to break down, and seeds are meant to survive.

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The Body Knows What to Keep and What to Let Go

Your stomach is a furnace. It's filled with acid strong enough to burn holes in wood or cloth. But even that acid bows down before a tiny tomato seed. Try swallowing ten of them raw — they’ll come out looking almost brand new.

But now think of a soft mutton bone, or the tail bone of a small fish. When cooked well, your stomach can work on it, soften it further, extract minerals from it. You may not even notice as it disappears into your digestion system.

The body knows.

Bones are dead tissue — meant to return to the earth. You can cook them, chew them, boil them, digest them. Seeds, on the other hand, are alive in waiting. Nature wraps them with protective layers for a reason. They're not made for you. They're made to outlive you.

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Bones: Already Used. Seeds: Not Yet Born.

This is the deeper biological truth. Bones have already served their purpose. They held up an animal’s body, carried weight, anchored muscles. Once the animal dies, bones become leftover. They can be reused — in soup, in medicine, in fertilizer.

But seeds? They are not leftovers. They are potential. They are future. Nature defends them with all its power.

Inside a seed is a blueprint for a whole tree, a full plant, a field of crops. So seeds come locked up — in shells, husks, inhibitors, poisons. Everything about a seed says one thing: “Let me pass untouched.”

And in most cases, that’s exactly what your body does. It lets it pass.

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You Are Not a Ruminant

Some animals can digest seeds. Birds have gizzards. Cows have multiple stomachs. Ants carry seeds to underground fungus chambers where they're softened first.

But you? You are not equipped. Your body is not meant to digest hard raw seeds. You don’t have enzymes to break their cell walls. You don’t produce chemicals to neutralize their anti-nutrients. Your gut is not long enough to soak and ferment them inside.

So unless you process the seed outside the body — by roasting, soaking, sprouting, or fermenting — you get almost nothing from it. Or worse, you get toxins. Some seeds, like those of apples, contain mild poisons. Others, like castor beans, can be deadly.

Bones, though? Bones give in. When you cook them slowly, they offer minerals, fats, gelatin, marrow — all things your body gladly accepts.

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Think of the Old Ways

In every old culture, bones were sacred. People made broths from them, sucked the marrow, even ground them into powder. Nothing was wasted.

Seeds, however, were rarely eaten raw. Tribal people soaked and fermented them for days. They knew, without lab tests, that seeds carried risks. Many even had rituals around how to handle or prepare certain seeds. Because they knew — the seed fights digestion.

The bone doesn’t.

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Nature's Law

There’s a law running underneath all this.

Bones are a sign of death.

Seeds are a sign of life.

Nature treats the two very differently.

Death dissolves. Life defends.

Bones come to you saying, “Take from me whatever is left.”

Seeds come to you saying, “Not yet. Not now. Not unless you do the work.”

You can feel it. Swallow a piece of well-boiled bone, it melts in your gut.

Swallow a guava seed, it shoots straight through, unchanged.

That’s not random. That’s biology. That’s design.

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The Real Lesson

Most people assume their stomach is a universal grinder. It’s not. It’s selective. It listens to ancient codes. It rewards those who follow natural ways and punishes those who don’t.

You can digest the bones because nature allows you to.

You can’t digest the seeds because nature protects them from you.

No amount of lab processing can change this truth. You can fake it with machines, supplements, chemical treatments. But the rule remains — bones are meant to be broken. Seeds are meant to resist.

You can cook your way through bones.

You have to earn your way into seeds.

That’s why our ancestors always processed seeds — with fire, water, time, and patience. And they respected bones — not as waste, but as food.

We forgot both. And we suffer for it.

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So next time you see a seed in your stool, or chew a piece of bone and feel it vanish into richness — remember:

One is yours. The other isn’t.

One breaks. The other waits.

One gives in. The other survives.

That’s the design. That’s the lesson.

That’s why you can digest the bones but not the seeds.

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BONES ARE THE PAST, SEEDS ARE THE FUTURE

-- a dialogue with Madhukar

Scene:

A stone bench under a neem tree. The smell of castor oil still hangs in the air. Ravi and Lalitha are sitting quietly, sipping warm ambali from steel tumblers. Madhukar is rubbing warm castor oil on his knees.

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Ravi (frowning):

Anna, yesterday I ate guava after lunch. I chewed a few seeds by mistake. Today morning... all those seeds came out. Like marbles. Untouched. But last week, I swallowed some small fish bones in curry. Nothing came out. Body must’ve digested them, right?

Madhukar (nodding slowly):

Yes. That’s nature’s arrangement. Bones go in, get broken down. Seeds go in, come out alive.

Lalitha (curious):

But both are hard, no? Even tomato seed is softer than fish bone. So how does this happen?

Madhukar:

Good question. But don’t go by how it feels in the mouth. Think what it was made for. Bones are made to collapse. Seeds are made to survive.

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Ravi:

Survive what?

Madhukar:

Fire. Stomach acid. Freezing. Drying. Time. Seeds are designed to wait in the soil for rain. They are little capsules of future. If they broke down easily, no plant would grow.

Lalitha:

So you're saying seeds protect themselves?

Madhukar:

More than you protect your child. They have layers... coatings... natural chemicals that say “Leave me alone.” That’s why when you eat raw seeds, you get nothing. You just act like a transport van for the seed.

---

Ravi:

But what about bones? Even they are tough.

Madhukar:

Yes, but they’re dead tissue. Nature doesn’t protect bones. It wants them to go back to the earth. That’s why you can boil bones and get soup. Marrow, gelatin, calcium — all come out. And your stomach acid is strong enough to digest soft bones, especially when cooked.

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Lalitha (softly):

So what happens when I swallow a seed?

Madhukar (smiling):

Nothing. Your body just escorts it safely till the toilet. No acid touches it. No enzyme enters it. Unless you’ve chewed and broken it first, or prepared it properly — soaked, sprouted, fermented.

Ravi:

But then why do people say flax seeds or chia are healthy?

Madhukar:

They are. But only when you soak or grind them. If you just eat raw flax, most of it comes out as waste. Also, some seeds have poisons. Apple seeds, jackfruit seeds, even castor seeds — deadly unless properly processed.

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Lalitha:

So what about grains? Even they are seeds.

Madhukar:

Yes. That’s why traditional people soaked them, fermented them, or ground them. Look at dosa, idli, ambali — all are fermented grain. Without that, they cause bloating, gas, and tiredness. Because the anti-nutrients inside the seeds fight digestion.

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Ravi (thinking hard):

So... in short, bones are digestible because they’re already dead. Seeds resist digestion because they are unborn.

Madhukar (smiling):

Exactly. One is finished. The other is waiting.

One says — “Take from me.”

The other says — “Don’t touch me yet.”

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Lalitha (looking at her plate of soaked groundnuts):

So even these — I should never eat raw?

Madhukar:

Raw seeds confuse the body. Cooked or soaked seeds nourish it. Big difference. That’s why animals chew cud, birds have gizzards, but humans need fire and fermentation.

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Ravi:

And bones? Always good?

Madhukar:

Yes, especially from clean animals. In villages, elders always sucked marrow. They used bones for broth. Now people throw them, and buy calcium tablets. Silly world.

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Lalitha (laughing):

So seed fights you. Bone feeds you.

Madhukar (grinning):

That’s the summary. Write it on your kitchen wall if you want.

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Ravi:

But how do you explain this to people who ask for scientific proof?

Madhukar:

Simple. Ask them to eat ten guava seeds and look in the toilet next morning. Proof is in the potty.

Ask them to drink bone soup for ten days — their knees will speak.

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Lalitha (giggling):

That's your lab report?

Madhukar:

Yes. Nature is my lab. Stomach is the microscope. Stool is the result.

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Anju (his younger daughter, peeking from inside):

Appa, Amma says seed is baby. Bone is grandpa.

Madhukar (laughs):

She’s right. You don't digest babies. You digest old people.

---

They all laugh. The wind shifts. Somewhere, a rooster crows again.

Ravi looks down at his hands, then up at Madhukar.

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Ravi:

We used to think digestion is just chewing and pooping. But now I see... there’s deep logic behind it.

Madhukar:

Yes. Your body is not just a mixer. It’s an old wise gatekeeper. It knows what to absorb. What to pass. What to reject. What to demand effort for.

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Lalitha:

I’ll never look at seeds the same way again.

Madhukar:

Good. That’s how nature teaches. Through observation. Not through slogans. Not through packaging.

---

Scene fades:

Anju offers everyone raw jaggery and warm water. The smell of neem, castor oil, and morning light fills the courtyard. Another day begins, with one truth settled deep:

“Bones give in. Seeds resist.”

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YOU CAN'T DIGEST THE FUTURE

the old man chewed the fish head

until the skull cracked like a biscuit

and the marrow dripped down his throat

like it had been waiting for this moment

its whole bony life.

bones want to disappear.

they’ve done their duty.

they hold the body

until it’s time to let go.

but seeds—

goddamn seeds—

they are smug little bastards

carrying empires inside them.

they don’t open for kings.

they don’t break for teeth.

they pass through your intestines

with the arrogance of untouchables.

you think you’re a god

because you’ve got gas stoves and wifi

but a single tomato seed

goes in your mouth

and walks out your ass

laughing.

unchanged.

undefeated.

---

you can boil bones,

mash them,

grind them,

boil them again.

they surrender like tired old men

in a war they never asked for.

but you take a seed,

grind it into flour,

knead it, bake it,

toast it,

pray over it,

and eat it—

and still,

your stomach folds its arms

and says:

“you think this is food?”

---

they lied to you.

those dietitians in white coats,

those Instagram recipe gods

with their almond flour pancakes

and chia seed smoothies—

they told you

"seeds are superfoods."

they never told you

they are super-defended.

they never told you

that unprepared, they claw at your gut

block your minerals

steal your energy

and leave you with bloating,

fatigue,

and a toilet full of expensive nothing.

---

you ate the seed

but the seed ate you.

---

look around.

nobody soaks anything anymore.

nobody waits for fermentation.

they just blend it,

sell it,

eat it,

shit it,

repeat.

people are tired

but don't know why.

bloated, acidic,

low iron,

low patience,

high in nonsense.

because they eat dead flour

made from angry seeds

that never got to sprout.

---

your grandmother soaked her grains

for two days

in an earthen pot.

she fed your mother real food

that bent its knees

before entering the body.

now you feed your child

a protein bar

with “seven ancient seeds.”

none of them soaked.

all of them angry.

---

the seed is not your friend.

it is life unborn.

it doesn’t owe you nutrition.

it owes itself protection.

and boy, does it protect.

with enzyme blockers

phytic acid

lectins

and the kind of poison

that sits quiet in the bloodstream

until you’re 42

and on your second antacid of the day.

---

but the bone—

that humble frame of a beast

dead and gone—

that bone gives you calcium,

collagen,

truth.

you boil it, it weeps into your broth.

you sip it, it says

“thank you.”

---

you digest bones

because they want to be digested.

you cannot digest seeds

because they do not want to be digested.

and your body?

it respects the will of things.

even when you don’t.

---

so here you are:

a man full of bone broth and bloating.

a woman full of flax flour and fatigue.

a child raised on raw peanut butter

with invisible poisons

masquerading as protein.

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the worst part?

you’ll blame your body.

you’ll say, “my digestion is weak.”

you’ll say, “I’m allergic to food.”

you’ll take pills,

go gluten-free,

follow some yoga page

that says eat raw to feel alive.

but the truth is,

you disrespected the seed.

you didn’t soak.

you didn’t ferment.

you didn’t wait.

you didn’t listen.

---

the seed is not a snack.

the seed is a gate.

it opens only for the patient.

it feeds only the humble.

and if you barge in uninvited,

it will punish you quietly—

from inside.

---

so here's to the bones:

the quiet saints of nutrition.

and damn the seeds

until you’ve earned them.

your mouth is not a key.

your blender is not a solution.

your stomach is not a battlefield.

respect the rules.

break the bones.

honor the seed.

or be digested

by your own pride.