The info in this blog is knowledge I've acquired over the years from various sources like books, podcasts & blogs. I'm constantly adding to this knowledge in my mission to become the 1st super healthy 100-year-old who can do backflips. As I learn more, I will update this blog as necessary to reflect any new findings.
THE SURVIVAL DILEMMA
If any of you are like me & want to live fast & die old I've got some great news for you; we're living longer than ever. Unfortunately, I do also have some bad news for you. Even though our life expectancy has been rising, so has the rate of obesity, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, autoimmune diseases & loads of other chronic illnesses. It's actually impressive that we've managed to create a society that's equally the easiest to survive in throughout the whole of our human existence, but yet arguably the hardest to stay healthy in. Instead of living longer it might be more fitting to say we're simply dying longer. I know way too many people who are struggling with their weight, chronic pain, inflammation or lack of energy. The solution to all things health these days, which is currently being rammed down our throats is the vegan diet. Are plants the answer though, or could they be part of the problem as well?
The world we live in has always been about survival of the fittest. We rose to the top of the food chain by making a ridiculous amount of species extinct. The name of the game was survival at all costs. Eat & avoid being eaten. History shows that the survival instinct is the most primal & powerful animal drive there is. This extends to all animals. They develop all kinds of defence mechanisms to survive like claws, teeth, long fast legs & in our case weapons of mass destruction.
Plants are no exception. Believe it or not, as living things they also don't want to be eaten. They seem chill, rooted helplessly in the ground, but they're not chill at all. As a result, plants have also evolved to develop many complex defence mechanisms. We only see their simple physical defences like hard shells & spiky branches aimed at deterring potential violators. However, they also have sophisticated biochemical defences that are hidden from plain sight. We had to learn to avoid these through trial & error. There're many poisonous plants out there, like poison ivy which humbled us by inflicting gross rashes. We also learnt the hard way which plants were inedible plants & although most won't kill us, they do make us very sick for a short time.
That's the outline of their basic defences. Still, plants are even more duplicitous than this & we really aren't giving them enough respect or credit.
You see, plants have even more subtle defence mechanisms than meets the eye. 1's that don't make us sick instantly, but gradually & relentlessly ruins our health over the long term.
Well, apparently there are these things called lectins hidden inside many of the common HEALTHY plants we eat every day & they're incredibly problematic.
WHAT THE HELL ARE LECTINS?
Lectins are toxic compounds which can be found in many raw plants, aka a type of carbohydrate-binding protein, aka gluten. Gluten is the most well-known type of lectin today anyway, but there are many more lectins out which are slowly undermining our health.
Plants most common predators are insects & this was why they developed the ability to produce lectins in the first place. To sicken, paralyse or weaken any insect that stepped to them & tried to eat them.
As humans, we're millions of times bigger than insects (quick maths); hence the lectins not paralysing us when we consume them.
Could regularly eating these lectins make us feel unwell, foggy-headed or even be wreaking havoc with our body's gut & immune system?
According to Dr Gundry, who is a renowned cardiologist, heart surgeon & medical researcher, this is precisely what's happening. He even goes on to accuse Lectins of being the secret culprit behind many of the rampant modern health problems we face today.
Dr Gundry is so sure of this; he wrote a book about it called the plant paradox. Check it out if you're that way inclined. He basically hates on loads of plant foods containing lectins, which he claims are anti-nutrients. Not only do they impede your ability to process nutrients but they also cause weight gain & a host of other chronic diseases like; inflammation, intestinal damage & making your dick fly off. (Bonus points to anyone who gets this reference)
WHY LECTINS ARE EVIL
If lectins have been hiding in certain plants all along, then why are they only causing major health issues now? Dr Gundry mentions several reasons in his book, but we haven't got time for that so here are the 2 main ones:
PT.1 THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
For millions of years, our ancestors ate anything & everything they could find, forage or hunt. They weren't fussy eaters that's for sure. They couldn't afford to be. Food like nuts, fruits, veg, leaves, sea meat, bugs, deer, mammoths & whatever else they could get their hands on was on the menu. Then around 10,000 years ago, the agricultural revolution happened & changed everything. We realised that when you put food & seeds into the ground, & wait long enough, more food grows. This was a very brief summary of the agricultural revolution & it caused massive changes to human diets, lifestyles & cultures. This was the moment we began eating very differently.
For the 1st time, grains & beans became a primary part of our diets. Was this a positive change? In numerous ways, it was. Can you imagine needing to go out to forage or hunt for your next meal every single day? I'm exhausted just imagining that being my life.
Growing copious amounts of food to munch as & when you feel like it sounds like a much better deal to me. I would have hated having to go out to hunt on those brisk winter days. I'm not a massive fan of being outside when it's freezing. The ability to store food for the future was revolutionary indeed. It provided us with some security in those winters months, droughts & lazy days.
It wasn't all good though, like many revolutionary inventions there's always a downside (I'm looking at you internet & social media). The downsides to the agricultural revolution were the rise of the spread of diseases & plagues as a result of living in more populous communities & forming cities. Experts also found more health woes in ancient Egyptian's. X-ray analyses of their mummies revealed that many suffered from clogged arteries, osteoarthritis & tooth decay.
PT.2 A WHOLE NEW WORLD
European people only discovered North America around 500 years ago. The American world was utterly alien to them up until this point & they found 1000s of new plants & animal species that completely changed their diets. We customarily view tomatoes as Italian & potatoes as Irish, yet both these foods actually originate from America & only came into our diets 500 years ago.
Unfortunately for us, evolution isn't something you can rush; it's a slow, prolonged process. It can take millions of years to adapt to digesting a new food. 500 years is a sassy finger snap in comparison to millions of years. So basically all this time we've been eating new & unfamiliar lectin riddled plants that our bodies still aren't qualified to process.
Usually, in the wild when an animal feels unwell after eating a particular plant, it would learn to stop eating it. For some reason, this logic has been lost on people in recent times. Hence the continued consumption of these foods.
The solutions I've come across the most to many chronic health issues is fasting or reverting to eating the way our antiquated ancestors did previously. After all, the foods humans have been eating & thriving on for millions of years is undoubtedly a safer bet than foods we discovered a meagre 500 years ago. Whether the people effected the worst are willing to give up the lectin-containing foods introduced to our diets by the agricultural revolution & discovery of America is another matter.
How do Lectins Make Us Sick & Fat?
Long story short they make our own body attack itself by confusing our immune system (I'm not even making this up).
Lectins are evil little buggars & attach to cells in our intestinal tract to form a super evil bigger buggar/compound called Zonulin. This super evil compound can open tiny holes in your intestinal tract, which allows unwanted molecules to enter your body. Naturally, your immune system unwittingly tries to attack these alien molecules not knowing thats it's merely attacking it's own cells. Not only does this lead to autoimmune diseases but a lot of other health issues, well according to Dr Gundry anyway. He is the pioneer of this theory & has been Lectin bashing for years now.
How much truth is there to his sinister portrayal of these proteins?
CAN WE TRUST DR GUNDRY'S CLAIMS?
For starters, his book has received hate from many sources for various differing reasons.
Many online reviewers have said the book is terribly ghostwritten & his main motive is to make money selling supplements. A so-called health expert trying to make money off of supplements?! what an unexpected plot twist.
Other more credible critiques from authors have criticised some of the suspect referencing in the book. There are instances where Dr Gundry rightly makes an argument with a reference number. If you pull that thread & follow the reference, the study provides no evidence to prove Dr Gundry claims. To be fair, referencing studies that require a massive reach to back up arguments is common practice for many health experts. It doesn't mean its right though & does make it harder to trust his more rational health claims.
There is evidence that eating certain foods containing lectins increases intestine permeability & inflammation. More specifically, people who have Celiac disease who ate gluten did suffer from increased intestine permeability. He has also had many success stories of people who suffered from these ailments & saw a dramatic upturn in their health after avoiding lectin foods.
To summarise the jury is still out on Dr Gundry. There isn't enough evidence to disprove or prove his claims conclusively. Not what you wanted to hear but its the nature of the world. Nothing is black & white & you've got to filter through a lot of grey areas only to find more grey.
The Plant Paradox Diet is an extremely healthy diet, but it's also very restrictive. If you're not extremely sensitive to these lectins which is the case for many of us (me included), cutting out all grains & legumes isn't necessary. Although if you do have some type of autoimmune disease, then this diet could be a viable option if you're struggling with your current diet. This is essentially who the book is aimed at & many examples in the book referred to patients with autoimmune diseases.
LECTIN FOODS TO AVOID
For those that are interested in experimenting with the plant paradox diet, avoid the foods listed below, they contain those evil lectins Dr Gundry hates on.
- Proteins: soy products, grain or soy-fed livestock, farmed fish, & all beans & legumes
- Grains & starches: pasta, potatoes, cookies, crackers, pastries, whole grains, wheat, rice, oats, quinoa, barley, corn, & popcorn
- Nuts & seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, peanuts, & cashews (I could never give up cashews, I'm out)
- Fruits: all fruits, except berries
- Vegetables: cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, & other squashes, as well as nightshade foods like egg plant, tomatoes & bell peppers
- Dairy: A1 milk products, as well as Greek yoghurt & cottage cheese
- Fats & oils: vegetable, soybean, canola, corn, peanut, and sunflower oils
If you find this list daunting, fear not there are some caveats. Dr Gundry does allow you to eat a select few of the banned veggies like tomatoes, bell peppers, & cucumbers if they've been peeled and deseeded.
Foods that you can eat are listed below.
- Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, bok choy and kale.
- Leafy greens: Spinach, romaine lettuce, arugula, etc.
- More allowed vegetables: Carrots, onions, garlic, celery, radishes, artichokes, asparagus, mushrooms.
- Herbs: Cilantro, basil, parsley, mint etc.
Good fats like:
- Nuts: Pistachios, walnuts, macadamia nuts and pecans.
- Oils: Extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, sesame seed oil, Thrive algae oil, perilla oil & MCT oil.
- Fish: Wild-caught. This category includes sardines, herring, salmon. These contain the healthy Omega-3 type of fats in large amounts.
ARE LECTINS REALLY THAT BAD?
The whole point of the Plant Paradox Diet is to eliminate lectins, which is an anti-nutrient that MAY be toxic to people with lectin sensitivity. The keywords here are MAY & LECTIN SENSITIVITY. It seems like these secret plant defence mechanisms aren't that harmful to the majority. As such, removing legumes, beans, grains, & numerous veggies from your diet would be an extreme measure for most of us. There's minimal evidence that anyone without lectin sensitivity should cut these foods from their diet. These foods also provide beneficial fibre, antioxidants, nutrients & cashew flavoured deliciousness.
If you're still paranoid about lectins, we reduce or eliminate most lectins via cooking anyway. The Plant Paradox Diet may possibly improve insulin sensitivity & offer some benefits for weight loss. However, it's super restrictive, as well as expensive. If you're experiencing chronic digestive issues & considering this diet, be sure to consult your healthcare provider first as I'm not a specialist. I'm just an average human who wants to live forever & as a result, consumes a lot of diet & nutrition-related content.
Disclaimer: LOLA does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.