Curious about cutting lectins from your diet? I first started reading about lectins when my gut was out of whack. I was having massive bloating incidents on a weekly basis. At the same time my personal life was incredibly stressful and I was holding in a lot of anxiety and depression. It led me to begin looking at the foods that would most trigger bloating and GI irritation. The weird thing about my specific gut issues were that they were so isolated. I didn’t experience gas, constipation or diarrhea, just massive bloating that was painful and made me look like I was eight months pregnant. Really great when you have a Bodycon dress on and have been trying to burn that belly flab. “Hey Gut, do you mind not making me look like I just instantly gained 30 lbs, that’d be great, thanks.”
So that led me to reading posts and watching videos from Dr. Steven Gundry (more than I care to admit). If you aren’t familiar with the Gundry name, you’ve surely seen his face, he pumps out tons of content and appears on every “get a better life” podcast and YouTube video show. One of his main beliefs is that pesticides and lectins harm the body, particularly the gut.
I consumed so much of his endless quantities of content, I was right there with the correct answer to during his viewer submitted Q&As. Gundry and I were sharing the same brain and I was all in on the magic of avoiding lectins and living forever. Okay, maybe he doesn’t go that far, but really, if you read/listen enough, EVERYTHING is about lectins.
It got to be a running joke around me. If I wasn’t eating something, it was probably because of the cursed lectins. But guess what, my gut health did improve. That was nearly ten years ago and Dr. Gundry has become the guy in scrubs in the “Sponsored Content” section at the end of every article you read, with a clickbaity headline like “Doctor urges you to avoid this ‘health’ food!”.
It’s not just Dr. Gundry though. There’s a slew of wellness experts who are down on lectins. The
Bulletproof Diet” for instance urges users to avoid lectins.
Some perspective — Many other doctors discount the need to avoid lectins. So it’s important to understand there’s still plenty of debate about this diet. Which is why I tried to temper my diet to not drive myself crazy.
What are lectins?
Lectins are called anti-nutrients because they’re proteins that bind to carbohydrates. Essentially all living organisms have them, but some have a greater impact on our health than others when we eat them. Lectins have been called the defense mechanism of plants. Plants for the most part don’t want to be eaten (who does?) so lectins have been described as a defense system that keeps plants and their babies (seeds) from being easily digestible.
Are lectins really bad for you?
What does lectin-light mean?
Beans are awesome, but full of lectins, What to do?
Wash your beans