Millions (if not honestly billions…) of people in the world are feeling JUST SO TIRED! I think the question so many of us have is “HOW DO I DETOX?”
Like with most things, it’s ALL DOWN TO DIET!
And at least according to Dr. Steven Gundry, the problem is LECTINS!!!
Basically, lectins are toxins that certain plants produce, to defend themselves against being eating by animals…
So animals have this irritated, inflamed reaction to lectins…
And then animals know not to eat those high-lectin veggies! 🙂 Yay to the animal kingdom!!
Except…
We HUMANS have LOST our instinct of avoiding the foods that harm our bodies…The only reason we have to ask “How do I detox?” in the first place. Pretty sure giraffes aren’t wondering that. 😉
So anyway, what are lectins??
Lectins are toxins unfortunately found in some of my FAVES and hopefully all of our faves, wheat and veggies, so I’m not going to sit here and say you can or should steer 100% clear.
And I know you’re thinking, “Some doctors say to avoid carbs and some say to avoid meat and dairy…Now this Dr. Gundry is going to waltz in here and tell me, veggies are no good either??” 🙁
But just hang on a minute…Yes, if you want to avoid lectins it does mean rethinking some good things, but mostly it means cutting back on the BAD, which you were hopefully doing anyway!!
For example, refined starchy foods like pasta, potatoes and potato chips, cookies, crackers, etc., as well as ice cream and sugar more generally have a very high LECTIN TOXICITY. Ick!
And YES, some of our faves are also lectin-problematic, from green beans to chickpeas…well, all beans and all peas, really…plus cucumbers, melons…(The list goes on, but DON’T WORRY! 🙂 I’ll list a bunch of near-lectin-free foods here in a second!)
But I agree that you’ll drive yourself CRAZY trying to avoid nutrient-dense foods, and it seems a little over-the-top.
If anything, I think of lectin toxins just as one additional REASON to add onto the pile of my already huge list of WHY TO AVOID REFINED, STARCHY FOODS!!
And if you do want to take the lectin avoidance a little further and see how you feel…because these toxins do build in your system and cause so much inflammation that they can TEAR your digestive lining (ever hear of leaky gut syndrome?)…here’s my shortlist of thumbs-up types of foods. 🙂 The following are not just LOW in lectins, but LECTIN FREE:
First off, all kinds of oils from avocado oil to coconut oil to MCT oil!
I believe that everyone should be having more healthy fats, and that it’s possible to do that without hurting animals or negatively impacting the environment!! 🙂
Speaking of avocados: since the oil is fine, as you can imagine, so are avocados themselves.
And berries are the other lectin-free fruit!
I KNOW, the list isn’t very long yet, but we’re just getting into the starches you CAN eat: anything with COCONUT FLOUR (such as tortilla wraps), yams, green bananas (and plantains), celery, millet.
And what about veggies? Well, ideally, you’d stick to lettuce (and spinach and arugula and kale) and broccoli and cabbage and brussels sprouts…but again…
This is the list of veggies that are COMPLETELY FREE of lectins.
So not that long, and I think going without lectins is a little unrealistic…especially since what makes animals avoid lectins is because of what happens when you reach TOXIC LEVELS.
TOXIC LEVELS cause leaky gut, raised blood sugar, and inflammation.
But that means non-toxic levels don’t…So worry more about avoiding high-lectin junk foods, than high-lectin health foods, yanno?? If you’re wondering “How do I detox,” avoiding those foods is the best and only way!
I think as long as you know what lectins ARE, and to try to avoid them mainly by avoiding the junk food you’re already cutting back on…Right? 😉 …you’ve got nothing to fear.
It’s mostly people with poor diets who you hear about getting a leaky gut, and so lectins are just one additional piece of evidence that points toward a NON-STARCHY, NON-REFINED diet.
So for my part, I’m definitely going to keep eating my green beans, but I also always like to hear about new toxins and new reasons to stay away from things like sugar, and highly processed foods.
“It has lectin, and lectins cause inflammation, which causes EVERY DISEASE EVER” is a good reason, in my book. 😉
“How Do I Detox?” Lose the Lectins!!!
And if you need more help with healthy dieting and weight loss, join my Boot Camp!
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