Quick-fix diets often single out one component of food and blame it for all of our health woes. Shortly thereafter, products begin popping up on shelves that are fat-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, and so on. That brings me to a recent diet that is beginning to gain traction — the lectin-free diet promoted by Dr. Steven Gundry in his book The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain.
In his book, Gundry asserts certain plant proteins called lectins are primarily responsible for a wide range of chronic illnesses, including obesity, autoimmune disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Critics argue that Gundry fails to back up his claim with scientific research, using only his own and his patients’ results on the diet as clinical evidence of its effectiveness.
Others question whether his dietary recommendations are sound. For example, the lectin-free diet calls for replacing whole grains with white bread and white rice, even though these refined grains have been linked to spikes in blood sugar levels.
Where do I stand on The Plant Paradox? Somewhere in between Gundry and his critics. Placing a limit on the amount of lectins consumed in some populations — people with arthritis and autoimmunity, for example — certainly makes sense. However, I believe the book goes too far in making lectins out to be the bad guy. At the least, it has the potential to be misinterpreted by readers who are eager to find the one thing that is preventing them from looking and feeling their best. More likely, several factors contribute to any individual’s ill health, and treatment, including dietary recommendations really should be individualized.
In this post, I present some truisms about lectins and offer additional dietary advice to help my patients maintain a healthy diet without necessarily eliminating healthy foods that contain lectins.
Considering the Facts About Lectins
Before embracing a lectin-free diet, examine the following facts:
- Certain foods have higher levels of lectins; for example, legumes (beans, peas, lentils, and peanuts), squash, nightshade vegetables (eggplant, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes), and fruit that is not in season. Instead of eliminating an entire food category, you can limit your lectin intake by focusing on specific foods that have the highest levels of lectins, and then cut back on your consumption of those foods.
- Not all lectins are created equal. Some act as low-grade toxins, others are harmless, and still others are beneficial. The leading theory is that certain plants or plant parts contain higher levels of toxic lectins to prevent them from being eaten. Lectins have evolved as part of an organism’s defense mechanism.
- If you don’t have the enzymes to properly digest certain lectins, consuming those lectins may disrupt digestion, cause nutritional deficiencies, or even damage the intestines. Further, those lectins could increase intestinal permeability leading to inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis, asthma, or colitis. However, if you do have the enzymes to properly digest certain lectins, those lectins are not likely to be harmful to you.
- Cooking foods that contain high levels of lectins significantly reduces lectin levels. For example, you can reduce the toxic lectins in raw kidney beans by 99 percent simply by cooking them thoroughly (soaking them overnight and then bringing them to a boil and simmering them for 45 to 60 minutes).
- Certain populations that consume diets rich in foods that contain lectins have some of the longest, healthiest lifespans, which suggests that lectins alone probably should not be singled out as a primary cause of chronic health conditions in the U.S.
- Lectins are present in many healthy foods, including whole grains, legumes, tomatoes, nuts, and fruit. Eliminating healthy foods from your diet to avoid lectins may do more harm than good. Just look at the variety of foods that have lectins and the nutrient value of those antioxidants, micronutrients, and macronutrients contained within those foods.
- Lectins may stimulate our immune system in various beneficial ways that we may not be presently aware of.
Adopting a More Balanced Approach
As a healthcare provider who has been using dietary intervention as a first line therapy for more than 15 years, I have observed many diet fads come and go. The problem with these fads is that they are often alarmist, leading many people to make dramatic dietary changes that are either unhealthy or unsustainable. (I have already had a few concerned patients call me after they read or just heard about this book.)
I understand Dr. Gundry’s intention for writing his book is to benefit readers, so they can adjust their dietary habits and improve health with less medication and reliance on the conventional health care system. I think he shares some valid and interesting points regarding lectins. For example, I happen to agree that it’s true that as a culture we eat too much grain. Grains do contain lectins, and overconsumption of grains can be inflammatory for a variety of reasons. No news there.
However, when Dr. Gundry expounds on the many vegetables that contain lectins, I am concerned that the information may prompt some people to avoid consuming certain healthy foods. It is true that certain lectins in foods (tomatoes, for example) can be inflammatory for people with arthritis or other immune disorders. However, I have found that this leads people to believe they must eliminate this food from their diet, which is rarely necessary. Most people, even those with arthritis, can tolerate some level of lectins in tomatoes.
Now, a temporary avoidance for a week or two, to reset things and establish individual tolerance, makes perfect sense on a case by case basis. Also, the cooking process destroys many of the potentially dangerous aspects of lectins, so that negates a lot of what is being touted as truth in this book.
My Approach to Dealing with Lectins
Generally speaking, I promote a diet that is 80 percent paleo (healthy whole foods), avoiding grains, along with consuming 20 percent of whatever you want as long as you feel well. I also recommend that the bulk of your nutrients come from green leafy vegetables. I think Dr. Gundry and I would agree on that!
If a person is not feeling well, I like to start dietary interventions as specific to that person as possible. First, I have my patient keep a diet journal for one to two weeks, so I can see that person’s habits and identify the one or two habits that are likely to be the main sources of dietary stress and inflammation. If problems persist, then we can dig deeper.
With this approach, my patients avoid having to eliminate too many foods from their diets and can stick with the changes that matter most. This supports long-term success, as opposed to a 30-day trial of something very few are willing to do or need to stick to in order to restore their health and vitality.
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Disclaimer: The information in this blog post is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect current medical thinking or practices. No information contained in this post should be construed as medical advice from Dr. Matt Lewis, D.C., DACBN, CFMP®, nor is this post intended to be a substitute for medical counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate medical advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a licensed medical professional in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
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About the Author: Dr. Matt Lewis, D.C., DACBN, CFMP®, specializes in diagnosing and treating the underlying causes of the symptoms related to chronic and unexplained illness through nutrition, lifestyle, chiropractic, and other natural approaches to whole-health healing in Tampa, Florida. He earned his B.S. in Biology from Shenandoah University, his Doctorate in Chiropractic from Life University, his Diplomate status in Clinical Nutrition from the American Clinical Board of Nutrition, his CFMP® from Functional Medicine University, and his certification as a Digestive Health Specialist (DHS) through the Food Enzyme Institute. Dr. Lewis’ passion for health and wellness stems from his own personal experience. With a family history of autoimmune conditions and diabetes, and his own lab tests showing his genetic susceptibility to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (autoimmune thyroid), he has learned how to restore his own health and vigor to prevent the onset of these and other illnesses and live an incredibly active life. Through this process, he acquired a deeper understanding of health and wellness, which he now offers his patients in Tampa.
Hi Doc. Matthew, I’d like to share my appreciation on what I read from your blog, so thank you for sharing it here. I’m practicing to follow all the plant paradox listed in the article of Dr. Gundry it’s a 3-day detox https://gundrymd.com/plant-paradox-cleanse/ it’s so hard especially I’m not a veggie eater, but I needed for the sake of my health anyway, there is no harm of trying it’s up to us. I hope to read more of your post, thank you
Dr. Gundry does not say white bread or rice is okay. Why don’t you read the book before commenting big shot doc?
I’m reading his book now and he does suggest that white bread is better. It stood out to me because I found that a bit confusing because white bread is generally made from enriched flour that is made from heavily processed WHEAT. And processed flour speeds through your system and causes spikes in blood sugar. Now his recipes call for alternative flour, like almond, for example; but that was one of the many conflicts I have run into while reading this book. This article pretty much validates what I have been thinking as I am reading the book. He ignores healthy populations that eat high amounts of his NO foods like tomatoes but yet tomatoes are on his absolute NO/NEVER list. His tries to explain away Italians, by claiming that Italians de-seed the tomatoes before making the sauce, but that is not true. While perhaps some recipes might call for that from a taste standpoint, there are others that do not. The Italian recipes for a true Neapolitan pizza recommends using the whole San Marzano tomatoes that you crush by hand to leave the seeds in tact. That is another reason to question his over-exaggerated global statements. I just happen to know factually that Italians do not gut the seeds on all their tomato sauce recipes. So when I read his statement written without exception, he undermined his credibility with me. I do find some of his points helpful, but I will not be buying what he is saying wholesale.
Hi
I want to know which bread is good and does not have lenctil.And I have lung problems and throat what to eat?
Thank you so much for your far more level headed and informed post on lectins. Humans have been eating them for 1000s of years. Cooked well they are not the devastating health issue underpinning America’s health crisis, that Sr Gundry presents them to be in his marketing campaigns.The Mediterranean Diet creates a population with lower cardiovascular disease, AND it contains lectins – lots of them. Dr Gundrys book is not balanced health information – it is an arm of his marketing machine that has a bias against lectins to promote his formula. Thanks for an objective overview
Dear Matt,
Thank you for this excellent, well-balanced article. I read the book and know nutrition is not all or nothing. We should develop the ability to identify food that is not good for our system. Everyone is different. People think when your body reacts to food, you are sick. This is not necessarily true. When you eat food that is poison to your system, it generates an alert for you to act. If people can eat anything, even junk food, without feeling sick, their body mechanisms to defend themselves from these harmful compounds are not working correctly.
I noticed people who drink alcohol three times a week complain they have problems sleeping. They don’t understand that alcohol is a sedative and affects their sleeping patterns. They also don’t understand that it takes a few weeks for the brain to adjust after alcohol withdrawal. During that process, sleep quality worsens until it progressively improves. Check Andrew Huberman’s YouTube channel to learn more about that.
In my social environment, I observe how people react to food intolerance when drinking milk or eating tomatoes. Their throat starts to get irritated; others produce phlegm. In my case, in allergy season, I tend to have a low histamine diet, which works magic. I tested many times. Eating chocolate and drinking wine trigger my allergies, especially in spring. I did not take off these products from my diet but consume them rarely. I am self-regulated with my diet and exercise. I figured out that surfing and ocean swimming minimise allergies. So it is a combined strategy, not a magic solution.
The limitation of hardcore evidence-based science is that it is sometimes replicable for everyone and depends on their race, diet, level of exercise and other variables that science cannot consider when running experiments. Look around, and different food has different effects on different people. Why would you think that everything will work the same for everyone? This doesn’t make science invalid but creates the need for personalised treatments. What Dr Gundry does is the right approach. If a patient with arthritis finds out that casein or nightshade vegetables inflamed his joints, it is logical to withdraw from the diet. But only some patients will find that this works. Unless we design an RCT with a representative sample, we cannot conclude this is hardcore evidence, but it works in some individuals. Well, why not try it on patients? It won’t harm.
People may use different approaches that have yet to be proven by science. Still, if their perception is that it makes them feel better, that would have a positive psychological effect (placebo).
The problem with medicine is that it is focused on treatment rather than prevention. The medical curriculum should change and make prevention and treatment the learning paramount. In the long run, that will cost less for public health as people will be healthier and reduce medication intake.