We’re living in what many people describe as the post-truth era, meaning that just because something isn’t true, doesn’t mean that some people refrain from speaking about it as if it is.
Intelligence has nothing to do with whether you believe these untruths; coming from people who are supposed to be trusted professionals, they sometimes sound, well, really true and logical . It’s no wonder, then, why people like Steven Gundry sell thousands of books like The Plant Paradox with his lectin myths.
It’s so sad when doctors who know nothing about nutrition (I’m looking at you, Dr. Wheat Belly and Dr. Oz, among many) think they’re qualified to school people on what they should be eating. It’s even sadder when their crazy ideas confuse and scare people about food.
Impressionable people seem to see MD credentials after someone’s name and it’s as though they lose any sense of critical thinking. My father was a surgeon, and I’ve worked with many, many doctors in my life.
Most have one thing in common: They know very little about nutrition. In-depth nutrition education is just not in their curriculum, and although some learn nutrition skills after the fact, I’ve literally never seen a fad diet doctor who speaks the truth about food.
Gundry claims that for the past fifteen years he has tried to better himself by focusing on integrative practices, and in his typical self-serving language, says, ‘The rest of the medical world is still catching up’. Excuse me.
This from a man who sells fat blockers and probiotic skin cream, and who is endorsed by Goop and Dr. Oz.
The Plant Paradox has recently been in the news because Kelly Clarkson claims that this diet is the reason why she lost a pile of weight and corrected her thyroid condition. She claims that she didn’t even exercise.
Naturally, people are curious if it will have the same effect on them. Just so you know, food doesn’t correct a thyroid condition unless – and this is a big unless – you’re already deficient in iodine, and then you start eating a diet that’s high in iodine. The chances that Kelly Clarkson, or any of you, are iodine-deficient is very low.
When someone loses a ton of weight on any eating plan, I like to take a look at what they were doing before. Chances are, her diet wasn’t great to begin with. What likely happened with Kelly’s weight loss then is that she simply improved the quality of her diet, started eating whole foods, and ate fewer calories.
Essentially, the same thing that can be achieved on any diet and preferably just with healthy eating habits.
In other words? It’s not about the lectins.
What is The Plant Paradox?
The basic premise of The Plant Paradox is that lectins, which are proteins found in around 30% of the foods we eat, are toxic and that even in low doses, lectins can cause long-term health effects like chronic disease and inflammation. This is why we need to take them, plus sugar, out of our diets.
Let’s talk more about lectins for a bit, because if they’re so poisonous, you should at least know what they are.
What are lectins?
Plants naturally produce lectins as a defence mechanism. Lectins can cause significant gastrointestinal distress in humans when they’re consumed in raw foods, but they’re mostly denatured by proper cooking.
This is why you can get severely ill from eating raw kidney beans, but not from canned kidney beans: The cooking process has denatured the lectins in the canned beans, rendering them harmless (the beans and the lectins).
Lectins aren’t generally a problem unless you’re eating raw kidney beans or raw grains (crunch crunch…um, no). Other common lectin-containing foods are nightshade vegetables, pulses, and grains, and seeds, like quinoa and chia.
While it’s fair to say that some people don’t tolerate lectin-containing foods as well as others, I disagree with the suggestion that nobody should be eating them.
I also strongly disagree with scaring people by calling lectin-containing foods – or any food – ‘toxic’, but that seems to be a popular tactic these days for people who have something to sell, hence The Plant Paradox. Humans have lectin antibodies which protect us from lectins, and no, your antibodies probably aren’t faulty.
Other fad diets including Bulletproof, Tom Brady’s TB12, The Blood Type Diet, and Paleo diet have all made the same ‘toxic’ claim against lectins.
Controversy and Myths Over Lectins – Are Lectins Bad for You?
Some researchers think lectins evolved to have an evolutionary purpose, namely so that plants can protect themselves against pests and pathogens. This protective effect is similar to other phytochemicals, such as flavonoids, which serve as natural defenses in plants and are extremely beneficial nutrients in our diet.
The primary reason there is controversy over eating lectins today is because of a best-selling book, The Plant Paradox , written by Dr. Steven Gundry. The book, released in 2017, advocates a lectin-free diet.
The author claims that lectins adversely impact your gut flora — the bacteria that live in your digestive system — which can lead to a whole slew of unwanted effects. He claims that many people suffer from lectin intolerance or sensitivity, symptoms of which can include gas, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, aching joints, and even allergic reactions after eating them.
The Plant Paradox goes so far as to say that lectins are the biggest dietary danger to our health and may even be killing us. Gundry warns against eating beans, nuts, and many fruits and vegetables, urging us to remove lectins from our diets.
What benefits purportedly come from eating a lectin-free diet? The main claims include improved digestion, more energy, less gas and bloating after eating, better mood and brainpower, and even improved weight control.
Those are some pretty bold promises. So what’s the deal? Are these claims backed up by research? Do we have studies demonstrating that these purported lectin-free diet benefits are real?
In a word, no. In a louder word, NO.
Lectin-Containing Foods Are Not the Enemy
While we’re all entitled to our own opinions, we’re not entitled to creating our own facts. The Plant Paradox’ claims about lectins are not backed by science. The foods that Dr. Gundry is telling us to avoid are, for the most part, beneficial.
It’s true that plant lectins bind to carbohydrates, which slows down their digestion. But, in many cases, this is a good thing. It lowers the glycemic index of carbohydrates, and it contributes to the weight loss and anti-diabetes effects of beans and many other plant foods. Dr. Gundry is telling people to be afraid of eating foods like beans and many fruits and vegetables. But the plant foods that he says to avoid are, in fact, among the healthiest foods we can eat. The more of them we eat, the lower our risk for heart disease , cancer , type 2 diabetes , and Alzheimer’s .
Beans, for example, are rich in many anticancer phytochemicals, which is why they consistently show very powerful associations with lower rates of breast cancer. There’s a type of lectin found in mushrooms that’s been found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. This is one of the reasons that mushrooms are another food offering powerful protection against cancer. Tomatoes are high in lectins but are also highest in lycopene, which has shown extraordinary anticancer effects.
Lectins that are found in soybeans, bananas , buckwheat, mushrooms, and many other plant foods have been found to have such strong anticancer effects that some of these lectins are being investigated as potential cancer therapies.
What The Actual Studies Tell Us
While there are plenty of studies showing that many of the foods highest in lectins, like grains, beans, and nightshade vegetables, are highly beneficial to human health, are there any studies on lectins, specifically? Here are a few:
Lectins may help treat digestive cancers.
A 2017 report published in the International Journal of Molecular Science examined how plant lectins are currently being used in cancers of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, and pancreas. Interestingly, some lectins are used to actually detect and diagnose cancer cells. Others are used for therapeutic purposes because of their anti-tumor activity and ability to trigger cancer cell death. Some lectins are also used to deliver medications for cancer treatment. While other traditional drug delivery methods struggle to pass through physiological barriers like heat, enzymes, and pH in the body, lectins are aggressive in these environments. Research on the best applications for lectins in this area is ongoing.
Foods containing lectins are packed with disease-preventing nutrients.
Lectin-containing foods like legumes, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are rich sources of B vitamins, healthy fats, protein , fiber , and minerals. Incorporating these foods into your diet provides important nutrients that benefit your overall health and reduces your risk for some of our top killers, like heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
Lectins may help people who are unable to eat for long periods.
Although the research is still limited and in the early stages, lectins may be used to promote the growth and integrity of digestive cells . This could be especially beneficial among people who are at high risk of becoming malnourished due to their inability to eat enough or eat for prolonged periods of time. The lectin phytohemagglutinin has been shown to stimulate the growth of intestinal cells, preventing the weakening of the gut.
And then, there are a few studies that have been conducted on animals, or in vivo, that show potential issues with inflammation. For example, a 2017 in vivo study published in the Journal of Immunology examined how lectins may trigger inflammatory pathways. The researchers found that plant lectins may activate something called the NLRP3 inflammasome, promoting inflammation in the body that could lead to other diseases. Lectins bind to cells for an extended period of time, which can potentially trigger an autoimmune inflammatory response like rheumatoid arthritis or type 1 diabetes. While this study is intriguing, it is far from conclusive.
Do I need a lectin-free diet?
If you are someone who has dysfunctional enzymes , then lectins may cause autoimmune issues for you as they may compromise your intestinal barrier. It’s entirely probable that autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis are related in part to dietary factors , and lectins could be one of them. If you have an autoimmune disease or a digestive disease such as IBD, you may do better by eliminating lectins from your diet, or you may not.
Even if removing them helps with your symptoms, you probably don’t have to eliminate all lectin-containing foods: An elimination diet can reveal which ones cause you issues, and which ones don’t. Making a huge deal about how terrible lectins are for everyone and how sick they’re making the world is how Gundry has taken a kernel of truth and blown it completely out of proportion.
Who Should Avoid Lectins?
Despite their potential benefits, there may be people who should avoid lectins, such as the following:
- People with allergies to lectin-containing foods
- People with a digestive sensitivity, such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease
- Possibly people with autoimmune disorders
As in all things, listen to your own body. You are the only you on the planet. Just because most of the lectin-rich foods are shown, in numerous studies, to be beneficial to human health, doesn’t mean they’re necessarily right for you .
A small percentage of the population does have a sensitivity to lectins, just as some people must avoid wheat , corn , fruit, and tree nuts. But one person’s walnut allergy doesn’t mean that another person should refrain from eating walnuts.
If you do notice any side effects after eating lectin-rich foods, then you might have a sensitivity to certain lectins (or to other components of those foods), and you might want to consider reducing or avoiding them — or making sure they’re adequately cooked. There are some people, for example, who don’t do well eating large amounts of raw tomatoes. But they can typically handle abundant pasta sauce and other forms of cooked tomatoes without a problem.
Although eating certain lectins could present difficulties in some situations, it’s highly unlikely that you’re eating a diet high in uncooked or undercooked lectins of the problematic variety. I don’t know anyone who reaches for a handful of raw, uncooked kidney beans when their stomach starts rumbling.
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