I have a friend who writes for and co-owns healthyindian.com. He and his wife were at the house a couple months ago practicing social distancing happy hour, and he brought a recipe that he modified to fit my diet. He hadn’t heard of a lectin free diet before and wanted to hear about my journey and how I became lectin free. So I gave them a little overview of lectins and what we now do to stay super healthy. He liked my story so much that he asked me if I would write a guest post on his website and educate his readers about the health benefits of becoming lectin free. The below is just a snippet of some of the information that I walk through, such as the history of how lectins came to be and what lectins actually do to the human body. I hope you go to their site and check it out! They also have listed out some recipes that are quite tasty, enjoyable, and easy to make!
Lectins are neurotoxins that plants developed as a defense against insects and larger animals, like humans, who want to eat them. Neurotoxins may protect plants but lectins can wreak havoc on the beneficial gut bacteria in humans. This causes detrimental reactions to environmental allergens and contributes to lactose intolerance and auto-immune disease.
Some people eat gluten-free to combat gut diseases. However, ironically, the potato flour, rice flour and pea protein in a gluten-free diet are high in lectins. The goal of easing into a lectin free diet should be to reap the anti-inflammatory benefits while not feeling restricted in your diet. Once bodies have healed from the inflammation of allergies (such as joint pain and mucus production), the body’s immune system can begin to stop that production of pain and allergy symptoms.
For the full article, see “My Lectin Free Journey” in Healthy Indian, here:
Patti is still learning 