Lectins

[cludwig]

Hi Friends,

I am very confused about the lectin posts. All the info I come up with says there are lectins in every food item.....all fruits, veggies, and proteins. I can't find any scientific evidence that only some lectins are bad and some are okay. Can you direct me to where I can find this info? Thanks everyone.

Love,
Cristi

[mle_ii]

Hi Friends,

I am very confused about the lectin posts. All the info I come up with says there are lectins in every food item.....all fruits, veggies, and proteins. I can't find any scientific evidence that only some lectins are bad and some are okay. Can you direct me to where I can find this info? Thanks everyone.

Love,
Cristi

That's a good point. And it's food for the bacteria in our colon.

Here's a site I'm gong to read that points to another site. Here are both the links:
http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id55.html
http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html

[artteacher]

Hi Cristi,

The crispin site is a good one I think. She is a licensed nutritionist in CA, and is currently writing a book on lectins. She has some kind of "off the topic" areas of her website dealing with religion, but I'm cutting her a break there. Her dietary recommendations have worked well for me.

She says the 4 main families of lectins are nightshades, grains, dairy, and legumes. It's only when you have a sensitivity to one of the families (or two, or three, or all of them) that lectins are a problem. You might only have a problem with nightshades, for instance, and not the others. EVeryone has a problems with the lectin in castor beans: it's called ricin. So don't assume lectins are a problem for you, unless you've noticed symptoms that are directly linkable. And lectins are just a fancy word for the glycoprotein markers on the surface of a substance: a marker made up of sugar and protein. They are like puzzle pieces on the surface that link or attract compounds in your body to them.

I'm purposely using vague, nonspecific words like "compounds" and "substances" rather than 'molecules', or other technically correct words, because my understanding only goes so far.

Does that help at all?
Marsha

[mle_ii]

That's a good point. And it's food for the bacteria in our colon.

Here's a site I'm gong to read that points to another site. Here are both the links:
http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id55.html
http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html

Ok, while is was right on the links I was wrong on the first part. I was thinking of Inulin not Lectins. Ack!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin

[harvest_table]

I found this post on a message board discussion. She explains fairly simply how to approach a low lectin diet.

4th Theory

LECTINS

These cause inflammation and autoimmune response in your body. They can act as insulin-mimickers and bind to certain proteins and carbohydrates. They cause your body to attack itself and as a result a variety of hormonal and physical problesm result (diabetes, arthritis, psoriasis, etc) The Lectin-Free diet is quite restrictive and there doesn't seem to be a list as of it, because it depends on YOUR own body. However this is what I got out of it:

No grains (soy,wheat, barely, rice, corn, oats, etc)
No bananas
No Nightshades (tomatos, potatoes, egg plant, chilis, bell pepper)
No Legumes (beans, peanuts, soy)
No Starch (corn, potatoes, some veggis)

Eat Non-Starchy Vegetables
Eat Fruit
Eat Meat, chicken, fish, etc

So maybe this explains why certan diets work for certain people. Then again, maybe some people are less sensitive and will only need to give up

individual foods (bananas, or nuts, or dairy).

Others may need to give up ALL wheat,

Others may need to give up ALL Glutens,

Others may need to give up ALL Grains

Others may need to give up ALL (bad) Lectins.

As you can see, each diet is more "restrictive" than the last, but allows more freedom to experiment. If you want to try one of the above and have not been tested to determine if you are a candidate (there is no test for lectins), you must try one of those diets for 2-4 weeks. If symptoms don't improve move onto the next level of "diet" until you see a change.

Or you can go on an Elimination Diet. Where you start out with the Lectins diet and go 2 weeks (or more) without any of the foods I listed previously. Once you're skin has cleared, slowly start adding in foods. Add in one type of food, like wheat, and eat it everyday for a week, if nothing happens keep it. If you breakout or feel worse, then you can drop it or limit your intake. Continue doing this with each individual food item.

The Lectin-Free diet is the most strict but word has it (from actual people on the diet including a research scientist) that it's the MOST effective, as in 100% clear, for those that are extremely sensitive (when Gluten-Free didn't clear them)

Like I mentioned earlier (only I'm going to change the order) Lectins are found everywhere, but only certain ones are considered bad. So when people give up Wheat they are eliminating several possible aggrevators since Lectins are found in Grasses, Grains, Carbohydrates, Glutenous Foods, and High Copper foods (too much can create acne too)--All of which defines wheat (other grains too)!!! So we should all see improvement by following one of the above diets.

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Archive ... 09257.html


Love,
Joanna

[cludwig]

Thanks Everyone,

Great sites and info. It is all making more sense to me now. Using one's blood type to determine which lectins you will be sensitive to is interesting as well.

Love,
Cristi