MOST LECTINS IN FOOD ARE NOT A THREAT
Supplement-selling author’s alarmist claims won’t prompt me to abandon diet
Lectins are a class of proteins found in many foods. They can kill you! All you have to do is extract some from castor beans, introduce them into a tiny perforated metal pellet, load this into the tip of a special umbrella fitted with a spring, aim the umbrella at the thigh of an intended victim and trigger the spring to inject the pellet into his bloodstream. He’ll be dead in a couple of days. That’s not theory, that’s the way a Bulgarian agent assassinated dissident Georgi Markov in London in 1978. Ricin, the lectin found in castor beans, is one of the most powerful poisons in existence. No question it can be lethal — especially if it is injected into the bloodstream.
Why bring up a 40-year-old murder? Because of a book that is terrifying readers with the author claiming that “lectins are the #1 biggest danger in the American diet.” To avoid messing up our internal machinery with these dastardly toxins, it is suggested, we have to curb our intake of a host of foods that include whole grains, bread, beans, corn, soy, tomatoes, peppers, nuts, eggplant and all fruits, except when they are in season. If we do that, we will solve our digestive problems and eliminate worries about weight gain, high cholesterol, arthritis and “brain fog.”
Who says so? Steven Gundry, author of the best-seller, The Plant Paradox, the paradox being that plant foods that are supposed to be good for us actually harbour hidden dangers. Gundry is a retired cardiovascular surgeon of some note who has now gone into, well, it is hard to say exactly what he has gone into. Frightening the public with dietary risks that lack evidence, and selling supplements to reduce that imaginary risk would be one way to put it.
Gundry is certainly right that lectins are found in all sorts of foods. Both in plants and animals, these proteins perform a huge variety of functions, ranging from binding cells together to mediating immune reactions against invading microbes. When consumed in food, they are generally digested like any other protein and are not absorbed into the bloodstream where some could indeed cause problems if present intact, as in the case of the injected ricin.
NASTY SYMPTOMS
There are a few lectins that are difficult to digest and can create havoc by interfering with cellular activity in the digestive tract, causing some nasty symptoms that can include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The classic example is phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin found in red kidney beans that can cause problems if it makes it to the small intestine intact. However, phytohaemagglutinin is readily destroyed by proper cooking.
In spite of a lack of evidence that lectins, aside from those in undercooked beans, are harmful, Gundry sells supplements that supposedly block the non-existent nefarious actions of lectins. As with the plethora of other supplements he foists on visitors to his website, an asterisk leads to the disclaimer, in the tiniest of fonts, that “these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.” Then what, pray tell, are these products intended to do? Given that the pills cost $100 for a month’s supply, a cynic might say that they are intended to make money for the marketer.
As far as the claims go, “help protect against infectious bacteria,” “reduce your overall appetite,” and “help relieve joint pain” sure sound like claims of cures or prevention. Where are the studies that show that “Lectin Shield” delivers the goods? We are also told that this supplement can “help you get the body you want, the energy you deserve, and the vitality you know is inside — just waiting to break free.” Give me a break.
The Plant Paradox begins with an introduction titled It’s Not Your Fault, suggesting that whatever dietary efforts we may have been making to improve our health have likely failed because we have been fed the wrong information. But now, we are going to be set on the right track, the lectin-free track, by Gundry: “Suppose that in the next few pages I told you that everything you knew about your diet, your health, and your weight is wrong ?” I would ask a question in return. “What is the likelihood that the thousands of researchers around the world, trained in biochemistry, nutrition and epidemiology, who have spent careers trying to unravel the complex relationship between diet and health, have gotten it all wrong, and that a lone-wolf doctor with no relevant expertise has discovered the secret path to health?”
Let’s just say that I will keep on eating my oats, whole grain bread, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans, hummus, fruits (in or out of season) with no reservation, since numerous studies support the benefits of such a diet. I may, however, look askance at someone pointing an umbrella at me.