Lectin-Free Diet: Benefits, Risks, Food Choices, and More

What Are Lectins?

“Lectins are a plant-based protein naturally found in certain foods, including beans, legumes, lentils, seeds, nuts, and a variety of nightshade vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants,” says Grace Derocha, RD, CDCES, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics who is based in Detroit. She says that lectins are also found in many grains, fruits, and meat from animals fed with corn.

Yet many nutrition experts do not agree that you should actively avoid foods that contain lectins, as there is no scientific evidence supporting claims that doing so can be beneficial; in fact, removing many of the nutrient-rich, lectin-containing foods from your diet may be harmful.

What Is a Lectin-Free Diet?

Dr. Gundry recommends a lectin-free or lectin-avoidant diet in his book The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain.

Who Is Steven Gundry?

Because of the book’s success, he went on to produce other iterations, including The Plant Paradox Cookbook and The Plant Paradox Quick and Easy. He also has a podcast called The Dr. Gundry Podcast.

Touted Benefits of a Lectin-Free Diet

Specifically, Derocha says that there’s no evidence that eliminating a certain food can clean your gut, though avoiding lectins has the potential to benefit certain people.

“Lectins are proteins that can stick to cell membranes in the digestive tract, so people with gastrointestinal issues or chronic conditions like colitis or Crohn’s disease may benefit from avoiding them,” says Derocha. “When eaten in large quantities, lectins can disrupt the digestive process, due to the sticky nature of the proteins and their impact.”

Remember though, there are many caveats.

In reality, many unknowns about lectins exist, and Gundry’s book doesn’t present an open-and-shut case.

“While there is not enough research to fully show the pros or cons of a lectin-free diet or the amount of lectin that could make a difference, there is some concern about lectins due to the potential impact of how it affects absorption of some nutrients,” says Derocha. “[High levels of] lectins are known to cluster red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. If red blood cells cluster due to excess lectin — again, the amount of lectin that’s considered harmful is unknown — we may be at risk of organs and muscles not getting enough oxygen to work as efficiently as they could.”

Possible Risks Associated With a Lectin-Free Diet

With a lectin-free diet, you are going to be avoiding a lot of healthy foods — and for no reason, many experts say. This diet cuts out major categories of food, like grains and legumes, and it may simply be playing into the general fear of carbohydrates.

“Carbohydrates are essential for the body to function — they are good for us. It’s the amount and type that’s typically the problem,” says Julie Lanford, RD, MPH, the creator of Cancer Dietitian. “I don’t think most people eat enough beans. Cutting out refined carbohydrates and eating more beans would be a good switch.”

Consider what you’re missing if you forgo foods like whole grains, beans, and certain vegetables entirely, which are supported by research for their disease-preventing properties. “We know people need to eat a lot of plant foods for their best health, and that includes beans and whole grains,” says Lanford.

Beans have both soluble and insoluble fiber, a combination that promotes gastrointestinal health and cholesterol management, she says.

What’s more, there are inherent risks to following a diet that restricts many foods and labels them as downright harmful or toxic. “If you’re constantly anxious about your food choices and how they will affect your body, or if you operate under a lot of food rules, it can weigh on your mental health,” says Lanford. This can trigger disordered eating habits or a full-blown eating disorder. “Having a good relationship with food is important for your health,” she says.

What to Eat and Avoid on a Lectin-Free Diet

Foods the Diet Says You Can’t Eat

According to Gut Check, Gundry’s latest book, lectins are found in the following foods and should be avoided:

• Wheat
• Quinoa
• Corn
• Brown rice
• Oats
• Barley
• Pasta
• Bread
• Wheat flour
• Crackers
• Cookies
• Cereal
• Artificial sweeteners
• Diet drinks
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Eggplant
• Bell peppers
• Chile peppers
• Squash (any kind)
• Cucumbers
• All beans (including sprouts)
• Peanuts
• Soy sauce
• All lentils
• Sugar snap peas
• Sunflower seeds
• Cow’s milk
• Non-100 percent grass-fed and grass-finished meat

However, according to Gut Check, most lentils and beans can be made safe by pressure-cooking.

Foods the Diet Says You Can Eat

This is a sampling of foods that are allowed on a lectin-free diet, which experts caution is too restrictive:

• 100 percent grass-fed and grass-finished meat (consume no more than 4 ounces a week)
• Pasture-raised and omega-3 eggs (up to four daily)
• Kimchi
• Raw sauerkraut
• Aged raw Italian or French cheese
• Italian or French butter (limit)
• In-season fruit like raspberries, cherries, apples, nectarines, and peaches (limit to one small serving on weekends, or unlimited “reverse juicing,” in which you discard the juice and consume only the pulp)
• Green bananas (in moderation)
• Sweet potatoes (in moderation)
• Millet
• White basmati rice from India (only pressure-cooked)
• Jicama (in moderation)
• Sorghum (in moderation)
• Vegetables (leafy greens, broccoli, celery, onions)
• Pressure-cooked beans and other legumes
• Extra-virgin, first cold-pressed olive oil
• Avocados (up to one per day)
• Coconut milk (unsweetened dairy substitute)

A Final Word: Are Lectins Good or Bad for You?

Rather than focusing on a single protein in a food, look at the overall picture. The foods that contain lectins — whole grains, tomatoes, beans — are healthy for you, says Lanford. “Even if foods contain indigestible lectins, there are so many other great nutrients in there that there’s a net benefit to eating them,” she says.

Most likely, the focus on lectins is misplaced. “Most people who like to think that there’s one thing that’s causing their problems don’t realize that when you cut out that one thing, it forces you to cut out a variety of eating behaviors,” says Lanford. For instance, you may now not be eating processed carbohydrates and are replacing foods like cookies and crackers with alternatives like fruits or veggies. Certainly, that’s a good change, but you didn’t need to avoid lectins to get there. Ultimately though, it’s an unnecessary stress and complication to make the effort to cut those foods out of your diet.

The Takeaway

• Lectins are plant-based proteins found in certain foods, including beans, legumes, seeds, nuts, and some nightshade vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
• Gundry recommends a lectin-free or lectin-avoidant diet in his book The Plant Paradox.
• He claims this diet can improve your health by reducing gas and bloating, boosting energy, improving mood, reducing your chances of getting sick, healing your gut, and helping with weight loss.
• There is not enough research to define the pros or cons of a lectin-free diet or the amount of lectin that could make a difference.