As a society we consume a large amount of grain products. Current dietary guidelines suggest eating at least 3-5 servings a day of grains for anyone over the age of nine, with at least half of those servings being whole grain. Approximately 17 plant species provide 90% of the world's food supply. The top 10 are: wheat, maize, rice, barley, soybean, cane sugar, sorghum, potato, oats, and cassava.Beyond just grains, we also consume a great amount of legumes (especially soy), nuts, dairy, and nightshades. But what do all these foods have in common? They all contain a high quantity of the carb-binding proteins called, lectins. Truth-be-told all plant and animal products have lectins in them, but the foods listed above contain a more concentrated amount.
What are lectins?
Lectins are a sticky protein molecules that are hard for our bodies to digest. Thus they are essentially protective devices in plants to help protect themselves against insects, animals and humans. Lectins also assist in animals, helping with protein synthesis and protein delivery. The stickiness of the molecule helps it to bind to the sugars that it is after, but this stickiness also causes these molecules to attach to our intestinal lining wreaking all kinds of havoc.
Bottom line lectins are bad news. On top of binding to our intestinal linings, they can bind to insulin receptors, as well as cause leptin resistance, which can worsen the effects of metabolic syndrome.
"Lectins are heat-stable and resistant to breakdown in the gastrointestinal tract, they bind to the surface epithelium of the digestive tract and they can lead to anti-nutritional, mild allergic or other subclinical effects in humans and animals. Lectins can also be transported through the gut wall into the blood circulation, where they directly influence peripheral tissues and body metabolism through the binding to glycosylated structures, such as the insulin receptor, the epidermal growth factor receptor and the interleukin 2 receptor." - BioMed Central
So what happens when you consume lectins?
As I already mentioned lectins, due to their sticky nature, bind to the digestive lining, usually to the villi of the small intestines. Once bound to the villi they can start to cause intestinal damage, reducing the absorption of other nutrients such as minerals and proteins. One of the greatest damages lectins can cause to the body is causing leaky gut. Lectins compromise the intestinal lining, causing large particles and other undesirable items such as partially digested foods and toxins to "leak" into the bloodstream. Now that unwanted particles have entered the blood stream, the body must launch an attack against these foreign invaders and the tissues that they have attached to. This attack can trigger all sorts of health issues; most commonly being autoimmune disorders like IBS, arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.
Many grains not only contain lectins, but gluten and phytates as well, and if they don't contain gluten, they may have cross-reactive symptoms.
What can you do to change your diet?
First of all eliminate gluten containing foods from your diet. You will find gluten in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, couscous, oats, dressings, sauces, etc. (for a complete list of gluten containing foods, click here). I would also suggest removing or limiting the amount of lectin containing foods that you ingest. If you can't remove these foods from your diet, I suggest taking up the tradition of soaking and fermenting your grains, nuts and legumes. Visit the Nourished Kitchen to read more about how to soak your grains. You can also take a step to remove the highest lectin offenders such as grains, soy and legumes from your diet. Whereas nightshades and some dairy may be easier for your body to handle. Find out what works for your body; taking the time to find out how your body reacts to certain foods. You may also want to add probiotics and digestive enzymes to your diet to help your body handle these foods.
Pura Vida!
Alica Ryan, NTP
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