Do We Dare To Eat Lectins?

In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot’s protagonist asks, chewing on mortality and the pangs of senescence, if he dares to eat a peach. We can all thank Dr. Steven Gundry for upping the ante, and asking if any of us dares to eat chickpeas or eggplant; apples or oats; beans or lentils; or for that matter, almost any fruit, many vegetables, and most beans, legumes, grains, and certain nuts. His answer is: no. His reason is: lectins. What are lectins? I am tempted to suggest to all Harry Potter fans that they are to us muggles what Nargles are to witches and wizards: an enigmatic if not imaginary threat in unexpected places, of concern only to the eccentric. But I suppose a bit more explanation is in order. Lectins are a family of proteins found in many plants, dairy, yeast, eggs, and seafood that can bind to other molecules, notably sugar and carbohydrate molecules, that are present both in foods, and in the membranes of our cells. The case made in The Plant Paradox is that the binding of lectins from plant foods to our cells is a major cause of ill health, and thus we must all fear and avoid lectins, and the rather dire foods- like apples- that sinisterly serve as their delivery vehicles. (For whatever it may be worth to you and Prufrock, peaches happen to be a negligible source.) This, of course, is utter nonsense. For starters, the reality of lectins is far more nuanced than the sound bites, scapegoats, and silver bullets of formulaic best sellers in the...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news