Evil Lectins

[Bryan Bulmann]

Hi Robert,

I was hoping to get your opinion on lectins. At work, there was a health discussion among three of us and the topic made its way to cholesterol levels. One guy (who is generally skeptical of everything) said that lectins are evil and that he changed his diet to avoid them. Claimed it reduced his cholesterol by 30 points; something his marathon training never did.

I asked how he knew it was specifically the reduction of lectins that caused the lower number vs just eating better food. He said he ate healthy before...just stopped the legumes, tomatoes, whole grains, etc. Made mention of a Dr. Gundry and some books on the topic.

I thought he sounded a bit fanatical (very vocal about his position, but no real science to back it up) so I did some googling on lectins. I only had a few minutes to 'research', but it seems like only people who exhibit some type of allergy or intolerance to lectins benefit from their removal.

Your thoughts, sir?

(BTW, thanks for your time in volunteering to answer all our questions!)

[Robert Santana]

Hi Robert,

I was hoping to get your opinion on lectins. At work, there was a health discussion among three of us and the topic made its way to cholesterol levels. One guy (who is generally skeptical of everything) said that lectins are evil and that he changed his diet to avoid them. Claimed it reduced his cholesterol by 30 points; something his marathon training never did.

I asked how he knew it was specifically the reduction of lectins that caused the lower number vs just eating better food. He said he ate healthy before...just stopped the legumes, tomatoes, whole grains, etc. Made mention of a Dr. Gundry and some books on the topic.

I thought he sounded a bit fanatical (very vocal about his position, but no real science to back it up) so I did some googling on lectins. I only had a few minutes to 'research', but it seems like only people who exhibit some type of allergy or intolerance to lectins benefit from their removal.

Your thoughts, sir?

(BTW, thanks for your time in volunteering to answer all our questions!)

Thanks for the interesting post!

The first thing I want to point out is the obvious: most Americans aren’t consuming foods high in lectins. Think about it, are Americans overconsuming fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes?

I pulled this guys publications and none of them have made it through peer review. They are all poster abstracts in JAMA journals. While this is good, it is still not the same as a rigorous peer review and leaves out many details of the study design.

Aside from that the limited information on the study design has many glaring holes. In one abstract the trial followed a large sample of adults post MI for ~4.5 years while “on” a “physician coached” lectin restricted diet high in olive oil and polyphenols. Aside from the use of self reported dietary intake to assess nutrient intake, the researchers “manipulated” multiple variables. I use quotes because it’s difficult to really know what was done when we rely on self reported data. That aside, they instructed them to eat more olive oil and less lectin containing foods. So how do we know what their baseline lectin consumption was? Is it possible that these folks just went from eating empty calories and junk food to get eating reasonably better because they just had a heart attack? No mention of exercise was mentioned and post mi patients undergo cardiac rehab and are typically instructed to continue exercising independently.

In short, the claim is an over reach and not something I’d base dietary recommendations on.

[Bryan Bulmann]

Thanks for the interesting post!

The first thing I want to point out is the obvious: most Americans aren’t consuming foods high in lectins. Think about it, are Americans overconsuming fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes?

I pulled this guys publications and none of them have made it through peer review. They are all poster abstracts in JAMA journals. While this is good, it is still not the same as a rigorous peer review and leaves out many details of the study design.

Aside from that the limited information on the study design has many glaring holes. In one abstract the trial followed a large sample of adults post MI for ~4.5 years while “on” a “physician coached” lectin restricted diet high in olive oil and polyphenols. Aside from the use of self reported dietary intake to assess nutrient intake, the researchers “manipulated” multiple variables. I use quotes because it’s difficult to really know what was done when we rely on self reported data. That aside, they instructed them to eat more olive oil and less lectin containing foods. So how do we know what their baseline lectin consumption was? Is it possible that these folks just went from eating empty calories and junk food to get eating reasonably better because they just had a heart attack? No mention of exercise was mentioned and post mi patients undergo cardiac rehab and are typically instructed to continue exercising independently.

In short, the claim is an over reach and not something I’d base dietary recommendations on.

Thank you so much for looking into this! It doesn't seem fair that people can make such claims about things like this with barely a modicum of evidence. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised....it's just the 21st century equivalent of a snake oil cure-all. Thanks again for your time, Robert!

[Robert Santana]

Thank you so much for looking into this! It doesn't seem fair that people can make such claims about things like this with barely a modicum of evidence. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised....it's just the 21st century equivalent of a snake oil cure-all. Thanks again for your time, Robert!

You are very welcome! Unfortunately, there will never be a shortage of these guys. But then again they keep me busy and up to speed on current trends.