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Beans and Bagels
Do you struggle with allergies, stomach distress or
aching joints? Have you ever heard the word Lectin?
Some difficult words are about to follow but if you
can wade through all the medical jargon, then you
may like what you learn. Be sure to consult your
doctor about any dietary changes you
consider.
Lectin is made by animals
and plants and is a suspect in many maladies.
According to cancer.gov, lectin binds to the
outside of a cell and then wrecks havoc by causing
biochemical changes in the cell.
What does this mean in
more user-friendly terms? It means that the bagel
or bean you eat today might show up tomorrow as
your worst friend on the lining of your stomach. So
is lectin new? No, actually, lectins have been the
focus of tons of research for the past two decades
and there is even an annual international Lectin
Conference, Interlec-23.
Food groups most likely to
be lectin culprits are all glutens (wheat, oats,
barley and rye), all dairy milk products and eggs -
these are the same food groups that are often
indicated in allergic reactions by children and
adults. In addition, throw in tomatoes, potatoes,
eggplant, all beans and legumes. Partially cooked
beans are even worse than raw beans says
cfsan.fda.gov
 .
- In 1988, a hospital
launched a "healthy eating day" in its staff
canteen at lunchtime. One dish contained red
kidney beans, and 31 portions were served. At 3
PM, one of the customers, a surgical registrar,
vomited in the theatre. Over the next four
hours, 10 more customers suffered profuse
vomiting, some with diarrhea. All had recovered
by the next day. No pathogens were isolated from
the food, but the beans contained an abnormally
high concentration of the lectin
phytohaemagglutinin. Lectins are carbohydrate
binding proteins present in most plants,
especially seeds and tubers like cereals,
potatoes, and beans…. many lectins are (a)
toxic, inflammatory, or both; (b) resistant to
cooking and digestive enzymes; and (c) present
in much of our food. It is thus no surprise that
they sometimes cause "food poisoning.” But,
the really disturbing finding came with the
discovery in 1989 that some food lectins get
past the gut wall and deposit themselves in
distant organs. www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7190/1023?ck=nck
Beans and tomatoes are
vegetarian staples. How can they be toxic to our
stomachs? All these foods are theoretically linked
to lectins that can make normal barriers in our
bodies break down, increase acid secretion and
allow bacterial proliferation to get inside our gut
...does this sound like an ulcer about to happen?
- The mucus stripping
effect of lectins also offers an explanation for
the anecdotal finding of many allergists that a
"stone age diet," which eliminates most starchy
foods and therefore most lectins, protects
against common upper respiratory viral
infections: without lectins in the throat, the
nasopharyngeal mucus lining would be more
effective as a barrier to viruses.
(bmj.com
)
The confusing part is this
lectin reaction only happens to certain people and
not to everyone. That is part of the problem with
identifying lectin as the “cause” of
ailments. Normally our bodies are protecting us
from assaults, however it seems in this case that
timing is everything. Many microorganisms like the
influenza viruses and streptococci, strip our
stomach linings of protective sialic acid, and that
may be the opportunity, depending on what we eat,
that leaves us vulnerable to lectin reactions.
How important is sialic
acid? Researchers Bing Wang, Patricia McVeagh,
Peter Petocz and Jennie Brand-Miller of the Human
Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial
Biosciences, University of Sydney found that
“human milk is a very rich source of sialic
acid relative to infant formulas and that breastfed
infants have 2-fold higher concentrations of
salivary sialic acid. …postulated that sialic
acid might be a conditionally essential nutrient in
infancy because of a high demand coupled with a
limited capacity for endogenous synthesis. If this
is true of human infants, then the unusually large
amounts of sialic acid in human milk may be an
important exogenous source of preformed sialic
acid… Higher brain ganglioside and
glycoprotein sialic acid concentrations in infants
fed human milk suggests increased synaptogenesis
and differences in neurodevelopment.”
Translation:
Breast-fed babies have more sialic acid and may
have higher functioning brains than bottle-fed. So
why would we allow the villain lectin to mess with
our sialic acid in the first place? One hypothesis
is appears to be the ole’ one-two punch.
First, you get a bug like flu or strep, then you
eat a lectin food, wheat, milk, egg etc. and that
paves the way for lectin to break through your
sialic lining. Bingo, runny nose and running to the
bathroom.
- This may explain why
diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis tend to occur
as sequelae of infections. This facilitation of
lectins by microorganisms throws a new light on
post infectious diseases and makes the folklore
cure of fasting during a fever seem sensible.
(Bmi.com
)
O.K. No one wants to eat
when he or she has the flu or strep anyway. How do
you know what your body wants or does not want and
can your mind control your physical desire for hot
bagels smothered in cream cheese and deep fried
potatoes?
Krispin.com
suggests eliminating one food group for at least a
week each.
- “Eliminate…
the suspect group for 7-10 days. Do not eat any
of the group. Check to make sure none of the
lectins are contained in other foods you
consume. Example: Vinegar is made from grain and
contains gluten unless it is apple cider vinegar
or wine vinegar. Mayonnaise contains gluten
because it is made with grain vinegar. After
abstaining for 7-10 days, eat a significant
amount of the suspect group over one day. Eat
other foods as well. Do not eat any more of the
test group for two days after the test day.
Look for symptoms of intolerance: bowel changes,
sleep changes, mood changes, memory impairment
or any other significant changes you can relate
to the ingestion of the food group. It may take
a day or so for the symptoms to appear. If you
think you have found a lectin incompatibility,
avoid the food. You can test again in a few
weeks. If every time you avoid the food your
symptoms resolve and every time you eat it they
return you have found a lectin you should not
eat."
When Dr Arpad Pusztai,
world-renowned expert on food safety who worked at
UK's leading food safety research lab, the Rowett
Institute, said that he would not eat genetically
engineered food because of the insufficient testing
procedures they have undergone, he lost his job. He
publicized concerns of mixing rubber latex
allergens, proheein, with transgenic tomatoes to
improve resistance to fungus. Dr. Pusztai
anticipated a reaction to tomatoes by latex
sensitive individuals caused by lectins.
How could normal people
ever figure out that they or their child is
reacting to tomatoes because of a latex allergy!
Perhaps it is time to object to
mad-scientist-tampering with our food supply and
listen to the brave few who are speaking out. New
food is not "better" when we are talking about our
ancient biology.
My grandfather, Poppy Doc,
toiled for hours in his organic garden that fed
many families. I now long for the days when a hot
juicy tomato had nothing to do with rubber. The
medical jury is still out when it comes to lectin,
but it may be a word to remember when you are
looking for an answer to your out of control nose,
joint aches or stomach problems.
©2009, Molly
Barrow
* * *
Dr. Molly
Barrow holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is
the author of the new book, Matchlines:
A revolutionary New Way of looking at relationships
and making the right choices in
love. She is an
authority on relationship and psychological topics,
a member of the American Psychological Association
and a licensed mental health counselor. Dr. Molly
has appeared as an expert on NBC, PBS, KTLA, and in
O Magazine, Psychology Today, Newsday, MSN.com,
Match.com, Women's Health and Women's World. Please
visit: www.askdrmolly.com
or Take the new relationship compatibility test,
Match Lines Systems for Successful Relationships
for Singles, Couples and Business at
www.DrMollyBarrow.com.
Molly has a radio program, Your Relationship
Answers at www.blogtalkradio.com/drmollybarrow
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