Food Allergy and Lectin ? affecting gut, opinons?

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Torimintz
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Food Allergy and Lectin ? affecting gut, opinons?

Post by Torimintz »

I am confused about all the new trendy online food allergy tests that are very affordable. Are they accurate? If I am allergic does that mean that it is the Lectins inside (Dr. Gundry talks about this)

I understand Gluten and Dairy allergies...
as well as a few other well-known food allergies.., but what about the lectin food list, and the 200+ foods on these new allergy tests... does this really affect our microbiome and thereby affecting our brain?
What do you guys think?
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TheresaB
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Re: Food Allergy and Lectin ? affecting gut, opinons?

Post by TheresaB »

Torimintz wrote:but what about the lectin food list, and the 200+ foods on these new allergy tests... does this really affect our microbiome and thereby affecting our brain?
There are food allergies and then there are food sensitivities. I have not been diagnosed with any food allergies, but I do have food sensitivities. Food sensitivities (which extend beyond just lectins) may be worse because they are more hidden, thus silently causing damage and raising inflammation, which especially for ApoE4s already is not a good thing. If familiar with Dr Bredesen’s work, we know Type 1 Alzheimer's is caused by inflammation.

Food sensitivities also raise the stress level in the body, another thing we know is not good for a healthy body and brain.

Does everyone need to remove high lectin containing foods from their diet? Not necessarily. But my personal opinion is that everyone should keep lectin intake moderate (unless the gut is damaged, then the damage needs to be dealt with first) and keep away from practices that magnify the “evil effects” of lectins, especially ApoE4s.

Sensitivity to lectins has raised greatly due the recent introduction to chemical and other body disruptors. Such things food additives and food preservatives. The introduction of NSAIDS pain pills in the early 1970’s. Stomach Acid Reducers (Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium) plastic food packaging/containers (like those containing BPA), petrochemical fertilizers introduced after World War II, herbicides, biocides, food that is now Genetically Modified (GMOs), skin-care products, hand sanitizers, on and on. These are compromising today’s body to deal with lectins.

Also, we eat a lot more lectins today than in the past, largely because the dietary guidelines changed in 1980 resulting in greater carbohydrate consumption. Also, foods today have been modified and contain more lectins than in the past as a farming measure to enhance protection from crop insect damage. The more lectins we eat, the more our gut gets overwhelmed and becomes damaged/leaky.

You say you’ve heard of Dr Steven Gundry. Many folks oversimplify his diet as being anti-lectin. Not true, in an interview with him https://articles.mercola.com/sites/arti ... ealth.aspx he is fine with reintroducing lectins for their benefits after leaky gut issues have healed, but doing so with moderation. From the interview conducted at the end of 2017, Dr Gundry said:
I’ve been doing this for 15 to 17 years now. I’ve amassed a rather impressive file of thousands of patients. As time went on, I had better and better tests to look at the inflammatory response of the immune system. I wrote about that in response to removing or introducing some major dietary lectins. I didn’t do this with an agenda. I didn’t have a grudge on my shoulder against lectins. If I could eat mashed potatoes, French fries and phenomenal French bread every day, I’d probably be a happy guy. I would probably be a lot sicker, like I used to be. But I have nothing against these things. It’s just that as the data came forward from thousands of people, very distinct patterns emerged, reproducible patterns. I could reintroduce these things and literally watch the immune system get turned on again. Then I could remove some of these factors and watch the immune system calm down. There was clearly a cause and effect.
(Bold face added)

Personally, I removed high lectin foods from my diet and my inflammatory markers went down and remain at a lovely low level, something I’m very happy about, but I’m one data point.

We have an extensive discussion on lectins, the good and bad of them in this thread: Lectins and their Benefits
-Theresa
ApoE 4/4
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Re: Food Allergy and Lectin ? affecting gut, opinons?

Post by rws »

Following is a layman's opinion.

I think the issue is broader than just lectins, but also more simple. Simple because any frequent high pressure in the gut with time probably increases inflammation. Broader because then any combination of gas-producing food plus immobile life style would increase the risk of local high pressure somewhere in the gut. However, avoiding such food is never a good idea except for the extreme cases, e.g. lactose, control is the word. I'm allowing gasy food every few days in my diet, to get their benefits, but also plan for that day, e.g. not sitting too much.
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