As I started researching rejuvenation techniques associated with fasting in preparation for the booklet I am writing outlining how to rejuvenate your body, I kept running across references to plant lectins as serious disruptors of our health. The average person has heard about lectins from the books by Dr. Peter D’Adamo like “Eat Right for your Blood type.” In his books he makes a case for the health destroying potential of lectins, but I did not put a lot of stock in lectins as a problem when I did not receive any benefit from following his program. My first test for most things I read is “does it fork for me?”
I have patients that swear the blood type diet helps them a great deal, so I know there is something useful in the concept. I just did not have a way to judge how useful it might be. Recently I have been following Dr. Gundry’s work. Dr. Gundry was one of the early pioneers in heart transplant surgeries and headed up the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Loma Linda University. Quite by chance in 2001 he encountered a “hopeless” cardiac patient that completely turned his health around through dietary changes. This stimulated Dr. Gundry to question the whole idea of surgery and transplants when diet could cure the underlying problems that created the need for surgery in the first place.
As many of you already know, I have been off gluten containing products for about 10 years now. It has tremendously helped my memory and for a time enabled me to lose 100 pounds. My memory is still good, but the weight has been creeping back on. Something in my diet has been messing with me so I have been on the search for what that might be. I know I am eating things I react to on occasion because it affects my voice and throat. But pinning down exactly what the culprit is has proved elusive. I have been blaming this difficulty on the vague nature of autoimmune disease triggered by my gluten sensitivity. I have confirmed this autoimmune concern with some ridiculously expensive lab tests, but they did not help me solve the problem. The rejuvenation protocol I am developing is part of my search for my own health as I test different diets and lifestyle changes on my own body.
Naturally I have been keeping my eyes open for any information on anything that helps with autoimmune challenges. I go to seminars all the time on the latest science and research on the subject, but solving the issues still seem to be very challenging and not terribly successful. So I was astounded when I read in Dr. Gundry’s blog that he had seen complete resolution of thousands of autoimmune cases in his private practice – not just a good percentage, but 100% of cases so far. This seriously has my attention. He also reports amazing results with heart disease, diabetes (even type 1), Alzheimer’s, and even cancer. All this is being achieved by eliminating lectins from people’s diets.
So what are lectins? Lectins are the chemicals plants have developed over the millions of years to defend themselves from being eaten by bugs, birds, and animals. They are a form of chemical warfare. Plants either want to make you sick so you won’t eat them, or they want to warn you away until they are ready to have you eat their fruit and thus carry their seeds to new locations. For example, green fruit is high in toxic lectins to discourage you from eating the fruit until the seeds are mature enough to travel. Once the seeds are ready the lectins go away and the fruit changes color to let you know it is ready to be eaten.
Annual plants like grasses don’t want their seeds to travel since the parents die off during the winter and the seeds sprout and take the parents place. Consequently grasses have high lectin content all the time and discourage being eaten all the time – think grains.
Lectins act like cellular glue. They attach to different sugar molecules that form the outer layers of cells and either glue cells together (agglutinate) or glue closed the receptor sites on cells that let them communicate with the rest of the body and respond to hormones and other communication molecules. Cooking or strong stomach acids destroy some lectins, but many are not affected by heat or acid. The nasty lectin WGA found in grains is one that is not destroyed by heat or acid. Here is the real kicker for me – gluten is just one kind of lectin. So I have been on a partially lectin avoidance diet for a long time. It looks as though I just have not eliminated all the lectins I need to regain my health.
Avoidance of poisons is only one key to rejuvenation, but one that cannot be skipped. Cleaning out the body and triggering rebuilding of new cells for the body can be stimulated with dietary manipulation and the right nutrients. However, this does nothing to stop the inflammation being created by constant poisoning of the body by things like lectins, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, food additives, sugar, and so on. Getting a clean eating lifestyle is a fundamental step to good health.
I know this is a difficult process. We have all been intentionally addicted to the toxic food supplied by our food industry. It is just commerce to them. But it is our survival at stake – we must break the addiction to the toxic foods that are destroying our health. We already know this and it is already hard enough. But now with this deeper understanding of plant lectins, I am forced to see that even some of the healthiest seeming foods are in fact toxic. Many of the foods we have been taught as the way to achieve health, are in fact the most toxic. Whole grains and legumes are the worst offenders, including all the non-gluten grains like rice, oats, quinoa, and amaranth. Vegetables like potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant are serious lectin carrying plants that love to attack joints and nerves.
Lectins act slowly over decades, so most people won’t associate their health issues as having a food cause. Some people are highly reactive because their immune system is overly active, and these people will see the most immediate impact of eating the wrong foods for them. Yes, some lectins do affect specific blood types by causing the blood cells to stick together, producing such symptoms as brain fog, headaches/migraines, gut inflammation, and so on. But even if you do not have the blood type that has this immediate type of reaction to a specific food, the lectins are still affecting other cell types in your body. One I especially dislike is the lectin that binds to insulin receptors and causes insulin resistance and obesity.
I recommend you pick up Dr. Gundry’s latest book “The Plant Paradox” to get the bigger picture on the lectin challenge.