After reading this article, you may well change your mind and your eating habits! In your daily life, there are substances you're familiar with but which are harmful to the body, and to which you should now pay close attention: lectins. These are elements that you absorb when you eat fruit, vegetables and spices.  

Lectins: protecting yourself from danger

Lectins are present in your daily diet. You're bound to be surprised when you read these lines condemning fruit, vegetables and spices as carriers of dangerous substances. And yet, by recognizing the weight of the threat and being aware of the possible dangers, it is possible to avoid the effects of this substance and thus not deprive yourself of your daily diet.

Overview of lectins

Have you ever experienced discomfort after a meal? stomach painsfeeling bloated? It's probably due to the effects of lectins you've absorbed from certain foods. Lectins are a kind of toxic protein that could present a number of problems for the body, particularly the digestive system. Yet these elements are present in almost everything you eat... There's no need to panic here, but rather to prevent and neutralize them.

" Lectins are proteins that bind specifically and reversibly to certain carbohydrates." Wikipedia

Lectins, nutritive substances

Lectin is the protein usually found in all the plant and animal matter you consume. It's a kind of immune substance that a living being contains to defend itself against predators.

Naturally, plants produce them to protect themselves against insects, pests and potentially harmful climatic effects. It's a weapon synthesized to resist nature's extremes.

Lectins are found throughout the plant world. Cereals and legumes are its main areas of predilection. They are also found in peanuts and tomatoes. In short, almost everything we eat contains lectin, as it is also present in dairy products and raw seeds.

However, lectin can act differently in the body. It can be beneficial, which is why the medical world uses it to bind red blood cells and strengthen the bond between cells.

The dietary effects of lectins

• Lectins are responsible for digestive dysfunction. This is because they are difficult to digest. The enzymes of the digestive system are unable to ingest them easily. As a result, they may pass through the crushing effects of the stomach without changing form. They then enter the intestine , where the poisons they contain attack the walls directly. The result is inflammation.

• Lectins that are not digested by the body immediately enter the bloodstream. They then attack immune cells. They disrupt this system and can even cause a great deal of damage.

• Lectin also affects leptin, the substance responsible for signalling satiety. As this element is affected, your digestive system won't feel full. This can lead to weight gain and even obesity.

Otherwise, have you ever heard of an anti-nutrient? Lectin is one. This substance prevents the body from absorbing other nutrients, even the most useful ones. In extreme cases, it can even be fatal.

Tips to avoid the dangers of lectins

You may be asking yourself, " What good would I have left to eat? " You're right, because almost all ordinary foods contain lectin. In fact, the advice is not to avoid consumption, but to be careful by taking certain precautions and applying certain tips. In general, it's all about moderating consumption and preparing food properly.  

Preparing certain foods for cooking

Foods rich in lectins need to be properly cooked. For example, beans should never be eaten raw or half-cooked. Dried legumes require special preparation to neutralize the effects of lectins. Before cooking, they must be soaked in water for several hours. It's important to change the soaking water regularly. Next, cook them over a high heat for half an hour. Finally, the legumes should be cooked over low heat.

Moderate consumption of leptin-containing foods

Certain foods are very rich in leptins If your body cannot tolerate them, they should be removed from your diet. If not, just eat them in moderation. These are generally legumes, wholegrain cereals, fruits and vegetables from the Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae families.

Lectin poisoning: the fruit of a far too rapid evolution

Lectins are molecules that occur naturally throughout the plant kingdom. As we saw at the beginning of this article, they are toxins that protect the plant from predators. Young shoots contain many more. 

Lectins are the fruit of the plant's evolutionary process, but not the only one. In a bid to improve crop yields and resistance to disease and predators, agronomic research has modified plant genes. This is the advent of GMO or genetically modified organism cultivation. And it's in GMO seeds that the most lectin is found... 

The consumption of legumes and cereals dates back 9,000 years to the domestication of agriculture. That's a fraction of a second on the human scale. Our digestive tract is not adapted to ingesting so much lectin, and this is all the more true for anyone suffering from an altered microbiota. 

Lectins: a matter for the microbiota

Our microbiota is fragile. Its balance is subtle. It depends on our diet, of course, but also on our general lifestyle. 

Lectin sticks to the colon, making it more porous and leading to a cascade of a wide range of disorders: digestive problems, bloating, gas, SIBO, joint problems, auto-immune diseases, chronic respiratory illnesses, etc....

In the past, the intestinal microbiota was varied. Today, it has become depleted, and sometimes even migrates upwards into the intestines, causing major digestive disorders such as SIBO. 

Lectins are aggravating factors that induce excess fermentation through incomplete digestion of sugars. The latter then become a food source for "bad" intestinal bacteria. The flora is unbalanced. The intestinal mucosa is irritated and inflamed, and bacteria migrate to the intestines...

Leptins: differences between yesterday and today

Seeds are no longer the same, that's a fact. However, there are other points on which our habits have evolved...

The big difference between then and now is also the way we cook. Legumes and cereals were cooked for a very long time. Soups and sauces were cooked all day long. And we didn't use plastic, aluminum or Teflon saucepans, or drink chlorine-treated or polluted water, which disrupts our intestinal ecosystem and endocrine functions. 

In some traditional societies, cereals and pulses end up mashed or boiled because they have been cooked for so long, and even soaked for 1 whole day before cooking. 

The quality of our digestive system. Our microbiota has been depleted over the years, and especially in recent decades. Sugar, junk food, drugs, additives (preservatives, colorants, flavor enhancers), stress, the increase in Caesarean sections, the decrease in breastfeeding, etc... have profoundly altered our intestinal flora and therefore our resistance to leptins. 

Lectins responsible for deficiencies

The intestinal flora altered by lectin overconsumption no longer synthesizes nutrients properly, and worse still, lectins inhibit the absorption of iron and zinc. As stated above, it is an anti-nutrient. What's more, legumes are of little nutritional interest, as they contain few vitamins and minerals. 

Are lectins responsible for type 2 diabetes?

Lectin ingestion blocks the release of insulin to regulate gylcemia. It will bind to insulin receptors and become a factor in metabolic disease. Legumes and cereals should therefore be avoided if you suffer from :

• type 2 diabetes

• surpoids

• high blood pressure

Leptins not to be avoided

Leptins contained in certain plants are not harmful to your health. On this note, you can eat the following foods without exposing yourself to the slightest risk: cooked tubers, leafy green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, avocado and olives.

On the other hand, if you take care of your microbiota, look after the health of your intestines and the quality of your lifestyle and diet, opt for organic and non-GMO products, vary your nutritional intake and do not suffer from metabolic or inflammatory disorders, rest assured that leptins will have little effect on you.