Food Lectins in Health and Disease: An Introduction

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In current years it appears there is a rising epidemic of many people suffering from chronic digestive and autoimmune conditions. Food intolerance or sensitivities may possibly lie at the root of the problem. Most many people, including physicians, have little clue how foods they eat may perhaps be contributing to their chronic illness, fatigue and digestive symptoms.

There are, however, a lot of clues in the medical literature and the lay public's expertise about how foods are causing and/or contributing to the present epidemic of chronic illness and autoimmune illness. There are many diets becoming utilized by lots of individuals with varying success to increase their well being despite a general lack of iron clad scientific proof for their effectiveness. One of the clues to the trigger and relief of food induced illness may well lie in proteins known as lectins that are present in all foods.

Animal and plant sources of food both contain complicated proteins identified as lectins. These proteins typically have the ability to attach to sugars or carbohydrates on the surface of human cells. Some of these proteins can trigger clumping of human red blood cells, a process that is called agglutination. The process of agglutination occurs when a person receives the wrong blood sort throughout a blood transfusion. In truth, red blood cell agglutination distinct to each and every person or groups of folks is the basis for testing for blood kinds. There is some data that blood types might possibly influence how people respond to particular foods although a blood type particular diet plan appears to have been disproven. The attachment or binding of specific food lectins can initiate a assortment of cell specific effects. These reactions may possibly mimic hormones or cause changes in cells. This is termed molecular mimicry.

Most plants include lectins, some of which are toxic, inflammatory, or each. Many of these plant and dairy lectin are resistant to cooking and digestive enzymes. Grain lectins, for example, are quite resistant to human digestion but properly suited for ruminants like cattle who have multi-chambered stomachs. As a result, lectins are present in our food and are generally resistant to our digestion and some have been scientifically shown to have substantial GI toxicity in humans. Other people have been shown to be beneficial and possibly even cancer protecting. Either way plant and animal proteins are foreign proteins to the body and are dealt with by digestion and our immune program in a positive or negative manner.

The human digestive system was designed to manage a assortment of plant and animal proteins through the method of digestion and elimination. Some plant and animal proteins or lectins are severely toxic to humans and can't be eaten without causing death like those in Castor beans and some mushrooms. Other foods must be prepared before they are safe to be eaten. Preparations may incorporate pealing, prolonged soaking and cooking like kidney beans. Other foods could possibly be poorly tolerated because of a genetic predisposition or underlying pre-existing food allergy or intolerance. Others are tolerated to some degree or quantity but not in significant amounts or on a frequent basis. Consumers who are intolerant to the milk sugar lactose, for the reason that of inherited or acquired deficiency in lactase enzyme, may well tolerate little amounts but might have severe bloating, gas, abdominal pain and cramps with explosive diarrhea when a massive amount of lactose containing foods are eaten. Foods can turn out to be intolerable to some consumers immediately after their immune technique changes or gut is injured from a further trigger.

Of the food lectins, grain/cereal lectins dairy lectins and legume lectins (specially peanut lectin and soybean lectin) are the most common ones related with reports of aggravation of inflammatory and digestive illnesses in the body and improvement of those diseases and/or symptoms when avoided. Recent analysis by Loren Cordain PhD., has suggested that these lectins may perhaps effectively serve as a "Trojan horse" allowing intact or almost intact foreign proteins to invade our natural gut defenses and enter behind the lines to trigger harm well beyond the gut, commonly in joints, brain, and skin of affected individuals. As soon as harm occurs to the gut and the defense system is breached the result is what some refer to as a "leaky gut". Moreover, several people who create a "leaky gut" not only have gut symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhea, and abdominal discomfort but also other symptoms beyond the gut, or added-intestinal symptoms. Frequently affected places are the brain or peripheral nerves, skin, joints, and various body glands. With continued exposure of the gut by these toxic food lectins a persistent stimulation of the body's defense mechanism in a dysfunctional manner, occurs, i.e. autoimmune disease.

Wrong sorts or levels of superior and bad bacteria in the gut, or intestinal dysbiosis, might possibly contribute to this process of abnormal stimulation of the immune method. Study supports the powerful possibility that such stimulation could be accentuated by interaction of the bacteria with food lectins. It is believed by some that this might further worsen gut injury and autoimmune disease. This latter concept is gaining acceptance and recognition by doctors in 1 form as the hygiene theory. It is speculated that our gut bacteria have grow to be altered by increased hygiene and over use of antibiotics and that this phenomenon might be playing a considerable role in the rising incidence of autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and chronic intestinal illnesses like Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

Lectins as a cause on the other hand are largely becoming ignored in the U.S. although the field of lectinology and lectins role in disease is additional accepted internationally. Avoidance of particular food lectins could possibly be helpful in achieving wellness and healing of chronic gut injury. Healing of a "leaky gut" and avoidance of ongoing abnormal stimulation of the immune system by toxic food lectins and bacteria in the gut is the basis for ongoing study and probable success of several popular diets such as the paleo diet plan, carbohydrate distinct diet and gluten-no cost/casein-totally free diet plan. A lot more research is needed in this exciting but commonly neglected location. The Food Doc, LLC attributes a web site that will offer physician authored information and facts on food intolerance, sensitivity and allergy such as lectin, gluten, casein, and lactose intolerance with dietary guidance that will feature in the near future an online symptom assessment and diet plan-diary.

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