Lectins are proteins that bind to carbohydrates mostly found in plants. Plants make lectins to repel microorganisms, insects and other creatures interested in eating them, humans included.
We can’t digest lectins, instead they pass through our digestive system unchanged. Occasionally, those of us, genetically predisposed, can run into problems with them, especially when we eat them in large quantities. So why are they bad for us?
LECTINS AREN’T TALKED ABOUT OFTEN
I have to admit, for years, I was quite ignorant about the topic of lectins, even though I was battling with autoimmunity for many years. I figured out that gluten was one of these things that were making my joint flare ups worse, but until recently, it never occurred to me that gluten was a lectin. Also, if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis, you are told to avoid nightshade vegetables, these are: tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants. This group of vegetables have a specific type of lectins that are particularly aggravating for people with RA. Again, I didn’t know we were talking about lectins in them all along, until recently.
For most people lectins don’t pose any danger, especially that we learned to reduce the number in vegetables by soaking, cooking, sprouting and fermenting. However, none of these processes completely eliminate them and those of us with leaky gut will have problems with them. However, if you have good mucus membranes, strong gastric acid, and good bacterial flora in your gut, your body will dispose of the them with no problems.
It’s worth mentioning that our diets actually increased in lectins and that is primarily due to selective breeding for pesticide resistant plants, which means…more lectins in them.
What do they do to those of us who are susceptible.
BIND TO OUR INTESTINAL WALL
They bind to our intestinal wall. As food passes through the gut, it causes minor damage to the lining of the GI tract. Normally our cells repair this damage quickly and all is well. But if there is too much on a consistent basis, they can contribute to the leaky gut and thus allowing lectins to get into our bloodstream. Because indigested food shouldn’t be circulating like this, our immune system responds by creating antibodies.
LECTINS ONE OF THE CAUSES OF AUTOIMMUNITY
They are also called “sticky proteins” because they bind not only to carbohydrates, but also glycolipids and glycoproteins that stick out the membranes of our cells. Our immune system sees these lectins as invaders and starts attacking them along with the healthy cells, hence autoimmunity. There are more studies demonstrating that lectins cause autoimmunity.
LECTINS CAN MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT
They can make you gain weight. They can bind to insulin receptors, a hormone that stimulates fat storage. If you are already on the low carb diet, eating practically no carbs, but your last 10 pounds won’t budge, lectins might be the reason. Often times, people on the low carb diets replace sweets with nuts, and so you may find your answers to weight loss in cutting out of the nuts which are full of lectins.
BIND TO LEPTIN RECEPTORS
They can bind to leptin receptors causing leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that tells our brain, we need to stop eating, often called satiety hormone. So, if you diet and replace sweets with nuts, worse yet, the trail mixes (they are touted as healthy snack) and never feel satisfied, blocking of the leptin receptors by lectins would be one of the reasons. The studies done in animals showed that when lectins were removed from their diet, animals lost weight.
DISRUPTORS IN CELLULAR COMMUNICATION
They can disrupt communication between cells. When a neuron tries to send a message to another neuron a lectin can get in between. And we experience this as brain fog and lack of concentration.
BIND TO MANY DIFFERENT RECEPTORS IN THE HUMAN BODY
Some can bind to receptors on muscle and brains cells. Normally, these receptors would respond to insulin and allow energy (glucose) to get into the cell. If instead a lectin binds to that receptor, insulin can’t act, and the cell doesn’t get energy, eventually resulting with the death of the cell. If this happens on the large scale for long enough, it can result for example with Parkinson’s or dementia.
They can also bind to endometrial tissues and this was demonstrated in women with unexplained infertility.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While the role of gluten (lectin) in celiac disease is very well understood, many other diseases could be resolved, if lectins were to be taken into consideration as the culprit. It’s important to note, that lectins can inflict damage, provided they can get past our intestinal barrier.
Not surprisingly then, those who go on carnivore/paleo-ketogenic diets, report improvements in just about every chronic disease. As you can imagine, these diets are devoid of plant lectins.
I am sure we are only in the early stages of understanding of lectins, but wouldn’t be great, if everybody could reverse these nasty, debilitating diseases simply by cutting out lectins from their diets.
Click to watch my YouTube video on this subject as well!
