Lectins: chaos creators in your food / Part 2

Recently lectins have become the new enemy to avoid. Doctor Peter J. D’Adamo has been talking about them for nearly 30 years. Now others are jumping on the band wagon with their own vision… Some even recommend avoiding all foods containing lectins! Following that advice won’t leave you with much left to eat!

What is the true story about the lectins that make their way into your body and can create chaos ? Must you avoid all lectins ? How do they affect you?

(Click here to read part 1 before reading what follows)

What it means for you: the good news

If your digestive system is strong, with a healthy gut wall, and no inflammation, lectins shouldn’t make you react too much.

They gave laboratory animals kidney bean lectins. After 2-4 hours, the researchers observed that the microvilli of the intestines were damaged. After 20 hours the microvilli had returned to their usual healthy state. The body can heal when it has the capacity to do so. This was the case for these animals.

For us this means that faced with an assault of lectins, your healthy gut can restore itself. If it is already in a state of inflammation and permeability (leaky gut), the intestine will not only react to these lectins, but it’s ability to heal will be compromised.

This is what I observe with my clients. In the beginning of their work with me when they’re just putting their blood type diet or SWAMI GenoType diet in place (via my IMPULSION programme*), they start feeling good again and their digestive issues subside. Then they eat out (at a restaurant or invited by friends) and the next day or even right after the meal they feel their symptoms coming back.

That’s because they haven’t completely healed yet and their digestive system or whole body is still easily reactive.

After several weeks or months eating the foods that are right for them it’s different. They tolerate the lectins much better and react much less. That’s how I can tell they’re well on their way to having strong health again.

How to find out which lectins to avoid

Your blood type is the best indicator of the foods that are best for you and those you should avoid. The lectins to avoid that are specific to your blood type are taken into account in the lists in Doctor Peter J. D’Adamo’s books or in your SWAMI GenoType (via my programme IMPULSION*).

*Note: The SWAMI GenoType is your personal nutrition manual that you can use all your life. It takes into account other important aspects of who you are in addition to your blood type.

The presence of lectins in the foods that are best avoided are not the only criteria used to determine which foods you need to avoid. There are other reasons to avoid certain foods that take into account your physiology linked to your genetics.

In his book, Eat Right For Your Type, 2017 edition, you’ll find foods that are highly beneficial for you, neutral and best avoided. There are various reasons for avoiding certain foods, according to D’Adamo’s research, it’s not just because of lectins.

« The ABO gene is really a profoundly interesting gene and it has a significance that we omit to give it. » Dr Peter D’Adamo

Only eliminating lectins from your diet is not enough to recuperate your health. Including the foods that act on your body as medicine (the beneficial ones) and avoiding those that are not good for you is a broader strategy that will have more impact on your health, your energy and your longevity than only avoiding lectins.

Can I eliminate lectins that I already have in my body ?

Lectins attach to the sugars (antigens) that define your blood type, like a piece of double faced velcro and create agglutination. So it’s a good idea to eliminate those you have already accumulated in your body and avoid those that may sneak into your food and “deflect” those away.

Doctor Peter D’Adamo has formulated a supplement called Deflect that puts up a kind of shield to protect you against the lectins in your food. It contains similar sugars as your blood type sugars, that will give the lectins free sugars they can preferentially attach to instead of attaching to those of your blood type. It’s like giving them an easier prey to catch on to. The Deflect line of products contains one Deflect for each blood type.

Deflect keeps the lectins from attaching to your cells and eliminates the residual lectins that you may have accumulated. You’ll restore your intestines and your health much quicker and the lectins won’t continue exerting their undesirable effects.

Below is a video that explains how lectins work.