Tag Archive for: lectin

Lectin: Hidden Danger?

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This week will be about beans and nuts, a tired ad campaign, and some exciting new research.

Let’s begin with the advertising retread. A retired pediatric cardiologist started talking about the dangers of lectins in foods, especially beans and nuts, years ago. They were the reason you had bloating and other digestive issues. That turns out to be partially true, but fire comes to the rescue.

Lectins are proteins found in the beans and nuts but also in a whole array of foods. These proteins bind to carbohydrates with varying results in the body. Some lectins found in beans cannot be absorbed, cause gastric distress, and may even compromise the immune system. Other lectins help boost the immune system, such as wheat lectins, and still others, like mushroom lectins, may have a positive neurological benefit.

Where does the fire come in? If the plants are cooked or roasted, the lectins become neutralized and cause little to no gastric distress. No country in the world suggests eating beans without thoroughly cooking them first. That eliminates most of the issues with lectins. That doesn’t mean that some people aren’t sensitive to them, but it’s not the gut-expanding problem the ads indicate. Time to retire that approach.

However, there is some exciting news when it comes to nuts. We’ll take a look on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39471

Let Me Save You Some Time

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Did you ever click on a photo that says, “This doctor gives you three foods you should never eat”? Evidently many of you do because it’s another question I get a lot. In this case, it takes you to a page that’s called an advertorial, a combination of a news release and an advertisement. In this case, you click on another link and a video by Dr. Steven Gundry starts.

Gundry is a former cardiologist turned health guru and a self-declared expert in digestive physiology; his discoveries “will change your life!” He has determined that plant-based lectins, a protein found in fruits and vegetables, are the cause of leaky gut syndrome. He has the solution: stop eating foods that contain lectin. Those top three? Let me save you some time, unlike the hour-long video which droned on and on, because of course, the magic foods weren’t named until the end. Those foods are wheat, which contains gluten, tomatoes, and eggplant. Actually, most vegetables and fruits contain some lectins so the list is extensive. The alternative solution? Buy his latest product, which will fix you up. You’ll lose weight, have no more gas or discomfort, your joints will feel better, and on and on.

Like all of these types of videos, there are more claims than science, and the supportive science is hand picked to support his position. He has picked a position, supported it under the guise of his expertise as a physician, and has written books and manufactured supplements that are the answer to just about every health issue you have. He has become yet another physician turned run-of-the-mill health guru who pushes pills. He should have stuck to what he knew, because by all accounts, he was an excellent cardio-thoracic surgeon.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet