Are Lectins in Food Good or Bad for You?

Might lectins help explain why those who eat more beans and whole grains have less cancer?

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

Image credit: Kristina DeMuth

[iloveamerica]

Watched Gundry's anti-lectin, no-reference video earlier, then came to see what evidence Dr. Greger had on lectins. Thanks for the info...I'll keep eating beans.

[zpoedog]

I eat beans every day. I am a 40 year vegan and at 80 I am very healthy and feel great.

[grandizer]

I did a month diet where for lunch I would eat only stewed beans. I lost almost all my belly fat, became very lean and muscular. Best food on earth!!

[maureenk]

It took my system about 3 years to get used to eating beans without my having digestion effects. I just gradually increased eating legumes, and now I can eat huge amounts of beans without having much effect.

[jaredthibodaux]

OK let's balance things out here, lectins can have beneficial effects but they can harm you as well. I have noticeably reduced my symptoms of GERD by pressure cooking my beans and rice ( a daily treat for me) I did not cut out my healthy whole foods just prepared them in a way that further reduces the lectin content and it really helps. My mom's side of the family and all of us kids have food sensitivity around certain lectins mostly gluten or tomatoes. Not all people have the digestive enzymes to break down all types of lectins and too many of them in your gut can and will create nasty issues.

[SuperTubeme]

To lecting or not to lecting, that is the question. One can go crazy with all the information out there, for me, moderation and avoiding certain things is a key factor to staying healthy.

[asfasfsdfify]

Thank you Dr. Greger for all your work you are saving millions of lives with all your dedicated time in this field, much love and all the best!

[MyBabyReads]

I was the kid who was always car sick, be it from donuts after church, or pizza at shakey’s with my five siblings. Then I was hospitalized at five and fed intravenously because I couldn’t hold anything down. I’ve been vegan for over 30 years. But to this day, I can’t tolerate beans unless they’re sprouted. (I.e. soaked 24 hrs then given a few more days to grow tails.). My favorite are sprouted lintels. The same goes for seeds including flax. They have to be soaked or I experience autoimmune symptoms. Soaked and boiled beans hurt my stomach and unsoaked seeds cause arthritis in my right index finger (i know, weird). I have to sprout grains as well. Regular oat meals is out of the question. My daughter also vegan has all the exact same issues. I wonder if sprouting makes them alkaline. I’d love to know.

[Albopepper]

Nice! Dr Greger isn't going to let this one rest!!! Each video just gets better. :-D

[Patrick_Nottingham]

In all fairness, those people who got lectin poisoning probably did lose weight 😆

[aovint]

In an interview with Dr. Mercola, Dr. Gundry bases his whole theory on how Lectins seem to affect insects. If at least he had a research that shows how it affects mice or other mammals, I'd take him more seriously but this is ridiculous.

[PvStud]

Idve liked to hear you address the concerns regarding lectins and autoimmune disease/leaky gut

[AwareLife]

Interesting.
There are many lectins of many different types, some of them quite deadly. Ricin is one. Like fats it seems we need to get more specific than just use a general label. The lectins in wheat especially are problematical to many, including me, although pasta is fine, because it removes most of them. But whole grain bread, even normal bread, and other wheat based goodies gives me inflammation and other problems when I eat more than a little.
And I love baking bread. :( Wheat lectins are not removed well from basic bread. It's mainly in the husk and fibre. The WGA in it is quite a problem for the human gut often and gluten is a lectin that causes many problems.

We need more specifics with this. We are not naturally grain eaters in bulk anyway. But good video because it shows it's more complex than just ban all lectins. You couldn't really anyway. But we may need to be discriminating against some bad ones it seems. Beans properly prepared are very valuable, from research.
Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables, always the best!

[amdenis]

Yes, Dr. Greger too often makes sweeping generalizations and misquotes others, while ignoring entire groups of people who get sick if they follow his advice.

You need to take the and related context into account. As someone with Lupus, I get horrible flare-ups if I eat much lectins or phytates, which is something that has been known for years related to lectins, phytates and autoimmune conditions of many types. In fact, I am just recovering from one from about 10 days ago, when I ate a 12 hour soaked and then normally cooked bean salad and chili. The people I went with happened to be big fans of Dr. Greger; but like many, neither they nor obviously the restaurant (The Chocolate Tree organic restaurant in Sedona, AZ), were fully aware pf the dangers, nor that you do not have to get gas from beans (or risk inflammatory reactions, which many get from certain lectins and phytates). However, you do have to discount a lot of what Dr. Greger says on the subject.

I do not have that problem if I eat 24 hour soaked and pressure cooked beans, as Dr. Gundry recommends. However, many will just get gas snd gas pains from eating beans the way Dr. Greger recommends. Interesting though that they do not have those problems with beans if cooked and soaked the way Dr. Gundry and others recommend.
There are many different types of lectins and phytates, and like MSG, you should not just lump them all together like Dr. Greger sometimes does.

[eelkeaptroot]

Soooo, where do you get your lectins?

[DuderofDudeness]

Has Dr. Greger specifically weighed in on whether lectins may be significantly harmful for those with leaky gut (intestinal permeability)? I heard he is not concerned with lectins in cooked foods in general.

[EARLandPEARL-ci]

Gundry did get it wrong but so did Dr Gregor....some lectins are good and some are bad and some do nothing but it depends on the bio markers (sugars) on the cells lining your digestive tract (yes there are 4 different varieties)...and no lectins are not always cooked or digested out...lectin in latin means "to choose"

[demipliefsh]

Yep, this is what I thought. One of my family member is getting into the keto diet and he has been telling me that beans are evil and I knew that it is not true because human being has been eating beans for thousands of years. Thank you for giving me this video, I needed this.

[_mchal_]

So If lectins do not exist after cooking why do beans cause upset stomach and gas unless pressure cooked? Serious question please :)

[quantumchang]

I fries my black soy beans (ie, black beans that has green kernels inside the husk found only in Chinese grocery stores) with a bit of water to cover them with celtic sea salt in a fry pan until they kind of crack a bit and they makes an addictive, crunchy snack (ie, if you don't have any fake teeth, because they're harder to crunch into than a typical almond nut but worth the crunch). I eat them all the time during movie time, and my dogs love them as a snack as well. A good movie can't go without them. I don't feel anything bad, nor does my dogs. They're far more healthier than salted peanuts IMO. It gives you big, easy-flowing poops and very detoxifying. OK, sorry, too much info ;) But may be that's why researchers found them helpful for colon cancer prevention. I don't care what they do, lectins or not; I'm just addicted to them, especially with a good movie to go with; and they makes me and my dogs healthy and happy. Beats pop corns a million times over.