The Lectin Avoidance Diet + Foods High & Low in Lectins

Lectins are one of the most significant sources of food sensitivity. This post covers low-lectin and high-lectin foods, as well as other plant substances that may cause inflammation. The Lectin Avoidance Diet is an elimination diet that helps you figure out which foods are more and which are less inflammatory for you.

What Are Lectins?

Carb-Binding Proteins

Do not confuse lectins with leptin, lactose, or pectin.

Lectins are proteins that bind to carbohydrates or glycoproteins (carb-protein mixture) [1].

Proteins termed lectins (from the Latin legere, “to select”) have the ability to bind to specific carbohydrate molecules.

They are found in every living organism, including viruses, bacteria, and most foods, to one degree or another, but most of them are harmless. Scientists have been studying lectins since 1884.

Some scientists believe that lectins are part of a plant’s protection mechanisms [2].

Plants also use lectins to communicate with their environment, for cell organization, and as reserve proteins, among other functions [3].

Different Types of Plant Lectins

In plants, lectins are concentrated in seeds, early-stage leaves, and roots. Leaves typically contain fewer lectins, although this may vary from plant to plant. A great example of a leaf is romaine lettuce.

The types of food lectins that can cause sensitivity include [4, 5, 5]:

• Legume lectins, such as white kidney beans. On average, 15% percent of a bean’s proteins are lectins.
• Cucurbitaceae lectins, found in the sap or juice of cucumber, melon, and squash.
• Prolamins, such as gluten and gliadin, are the alcohol-soluble lectins found in cereal grains.
• Agglutinin or hemagglutinin found in soybean and wheat germ, which can cause blood agglutination (clumping)

Plant agglutinins have the ability to clump blood cells of certain blood types, which suggests that people with certain blood types may be more susceptible to health problems due to lectins than others [6].

Some plant lectins, such as castor bean ricin and white kidney bean agglutinins, are very toxic to humans and rats. Ricin can cause blood agglutination and might be used in chemical warfare and genetically engineered herbicides [4].

White kidney bean hemagglutinins can cause acute nausea, followed by vomiting and diarrhea.

Other plant lectins are less toxic, but they can cause damage in other ways.

Harmful Effects of Dietary Lectins

1) Resistant to Digestion

Lectins can withstand heat and digestion in both rats and humans. They can be readily transported through the gut wall into the blood [7, 8, 9].

In the blood, lectins may stimulate the immune system and modify hormone functions, or get deposited in blood and lymphatic walls [9, 10].

2) Damage the Gut Lining, Causing Leaky Gut

Lectins bind to gut lining cells, cause cell damage, and increase the uptake of intestinal content [11].

Some dietary sources of lectins, such as wheat, can directly break tight junctions in gut cells [12].

Lectins can cause leaky gut, allowing increased exposure of both dietary and bacterial antigens (inflammatory agents) to the immune system [13].

They can also interfere with nutrient absorption [14].

3) Stimulate the Immune System

As lectins reach the bloodstream, most people develop antibodies against dietary lectins [15, 16].

These antibodies don’t necessarily protect you from harmful lectins. Whether this causes disease depends on individual susceptibility.

In mice, administration of lectins through the nose or by feeding stimulates IgG and IgA production, similar to that of the cholera toxin [17].

Lectins can potentiate the immune response to antigens that wouldn’t be inflammatory by themselves. For example, mice fed with wheat germ agglutinin and egg white protein develop much stronger antibody responses to egg white protein than if they are fed egg white protein alone [18, 19].

Therefore, consumption of lectin-containing foods with other products can increase the risk of developing sensitivity to other foods.

As lectins can potentiate the immune response to other antigens, they might be used along with oral vaccines [20].

Lectins can induce mast cell reactions, suggesting they can aggravate allergies and histamine intolerance.

4) Cause Autoimmunity

As lectins can act as triggers to the immune system, they can cause autoimmunity in susceptible people [21].

Lectins trigger autoimmunity by binding to glycoproteins and glycolipids (sugar molecules attached to proteins and fat), such as sialic acid, on the surface of the cells. Interestingly, the brain and gut are rich in sialic acid.

In humans, sialic acid is present in almost all body fluids and tissues. In the blood, it’s found in fibrinogen, haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, α1 -antitrypsin, complement proteins, and transferrin [22].

Lectins also increase inflammation by stimulating IFN-gamma, IL-1, and TNF-alpha production[11].

5) Affect the Gut Microbiota

Lectins affect the composition of the gut bacteria and may cause dysbiosis (microbial imbalance), predisposing you to autoimmune diseases. However, the mechanism by which lectins affect gut bacteria is not fully understood.

Lectins reduce levels of intestinal heat shock protein (iHSPs), an anti-inflammatory protein that is important for healthy interaction with the gut bacteria and defense against oxidative stress [23].

In rats, dietary lectins increase gut levels of E. coli and Lactobacillus lactis, both of which are associated with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis [24].

Kidney bean lectins can cause E. coli overgrowth in the gut, while snowdrop lectins and mannose-specific lectins can block this effect [25].

6) Cause Abnormal Cell Growth

Lectins can cause enlargement and overgrowth of cells in many tissues, including the intestines, pancreas, and liver [26, 3].

In cell-based studies, lectins triggered lymphocyte growth and activation [5].

Insulin

At low doses, wheat germ agglutinin can mimic the insulin function in fat cells. However, at higher doses, wheat germ agglutinin can cause insulin resistance (in a cell-based study) [27].

Enlargement of the pancreas due to dietary lectins may reduce insulin levels in rats [5].

Obesity

In a cell-based study, wheat germ agglutinin and ricin from castor oil can increased fat synthesis in fat cells [28].

Brain Functions

In roundworms, lectins can be transported from the gut to dopamine neurons, and interfere with neuronal and dopamine functions, suggesting that it may contribute to Parkinson’s disease [29].

The Lectin Avoidance Diet

Diet Formula

The Lectin Avoidance Diet has a simple formula: eat meat and seafood, as much as you want, mainly during the day.

The Lectin Avoidance Diet excludes grains, beans, nuts, seeds, most potatoes, and all dairy.

Allowed foods include all seafood, meat, eggs (if not allergic), and most fruits and vegetables.

Romaine lettuce, cruciferous veggies, cucumbers, and celery are the best vegetables to include. Raw honey, citrus fruits, berries, and pineapple are the recommended fructose-containing foods.

Japanese and purple sweet potatoes are the best starch to include in your diet, but it’s probably better if they’re pressure cooked. Other sweet potatoes, nightshade vegetables (like tomatoes), and squash could be consumed if pressure cooked.

However, even if you get rid of lectins, you won’t get rid of all anti-nutrients. For example, tannins are found in many plants and are considered anti-nutritional because they can alter nutrient digestion and absorption [30].

Cure Autoimmune Disease

A study of 800 autoimmune patients evaluated a diet with no grains, sprouted grains, pseudo-grains, beans and legumes, soy, peanuts, cashews, nightshades, melons and squashes, non-Southern European cow milk products (Casein A1), and grain/bean-fed animals.

Most of these patients got their TNF-alpha (an inflammatory molecule) levels reduced to normal after 6 months on this diet.

The study concluded that increased adiponectin is a marker for lectin and gluten sensitivity, while TNF-alpha can be used as a marker for gluten/lectin exposure in sensitive individuals [31].

Dr. Steven Gundry, the author of the study, frowns upon foods that originated from America.

Feel Better By Eliminating Harmful Food Compounds

I see myself as a canary in a coal mine as I’m sensitive to many foods. Over time, I’ve built up a list of food products that cause an insignificant level or no inflammation.

At some point, I realized that many of my health problems resulted from lectins.

I understand that not everyone is the same, but I’ve noticed that others who are very sensitive to foods struggle with similar issues.

This doesn’t mean you won’t be able to eat anything else for the rest of your life.

This diet is just to inform you about the foods that are relatively safe. Personally, I live off of these foods and try not to stray.

The Lectin Avoidance Cookbook

Due to frequent queries about how to implement this diet, I have released the Lectin Avoidance Cookbook. If you have chronic inflammation and suspect that some of it may come from food, doing an elimination diet may help you manage your health issues.

The Lectin Avoidance Diet may help with:

• Chronic fatigue and Fibromyalgia
• Brain fog
• Histamine intolerance
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Irritable Bowel Disease
• Other autoimmune diseases

In the Lectin Avoidance Cookbook, we have 93 recipes and counting. We’ve also added the Lectin Avoidance Diet Companion Guide, which explains:

• How to know if you are sensitive to lectins
• Ways to mitigate the health effects of a high-meat diet in order to ensure a long and healthy life
• The scientific rationale that led me to use resistant starch Hi-Maize as a healing food
• Ways to hack your metabolism if you are too thin or cannot lose weight due to inflammation

After you pay for the book, you will be redirected to a link where you can download it. The redirect takes about 5-10 seconds, so be patient. If you have any issues, email [email protected]

Try the cookbook. If you don’t start feeling better within 30 days, I will give you 100% of your money back!

Foods Allowed In The Diet (Low In Lectins)

Proteins

You should get a good amount of protein in the morning – about 30 grams.

Your diet should consist of 20 to 30% protein if you are suffering from an autoimmune or chronic inflammatory disease.

• Fish – My top 5 are frozen wild-caught salmon, fresh wild sardines, roe (fish eggs), oysters, and anchovies (any low-toxicity seafood is ok)
• Meat products
• Beef – Preferably grass-fed
• Chicken – I eat the whole chicken except for the sharp bone fragments, which I chew to get the marrow out
• Pork
• Cricket flour
• Hemp protein
• Liver – Beef or chicken (without additives)
• Bone broth – Best to make your own
• Brewer’s yeast or nutritional yeast (without synthetic folate)
• Glycine
• Cooked tempeh (Some people can’t handle this and it is not allowed on Dr. Gundry’s diet)

Eggs are fine from a lectin standpoint, but people with chronic gut inflammation easily develop egg allergies.

Carbs

My favorite source of safe carbs is raw honey.

Fruits aren’t rich in lectins, but they do have tannins. I eat fruit occasionally, even though they spike my immune system. My favorites are pineapple and citrus. Dr. Gundry and I look at melons unfavorably.

• Starch – I find purple sweet potatoes the least inflammatory whole food starch. Japanese sweet potatoes aren’t too bad either. Any sweet potato is fine, as long as they are pressure cooked.
• Fruits – Blueberries, pineapple, citrus, golden berries, papaya, mulberries, and mango
• Fiber – resistant starch is my main source of fiber
• Trehalose
• Carob

I use raw honey and resistant starch for all of my carbs.

Fats

Use caprylic acid, black cumin seed oil, extra virgin olive oil, and ghee for your oils.

Cut omega-6 oils out (except black seed oil and olive oil).

Try to have a couple of tablespoons of caprylic oil daily. Space them right, and you shouldn’t have gastrointestinal upset. Use 1 tbsp black cumin seed oil and extra virgin olive oil daily.

• Caprylic acid – The best oil. Try to have 3 to 5 tablespoons daily (1 to 1.5 with each meal). Reduce dosage if you get gastrointestinal problems and work up
• MCT oil
• Black cumin seed oil – Anti-inflammatory oil with thymoquinone
• Avocados or avocado oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Ghee – In moderation for sauteing, stir-frying, and using for sleep
• Hemp seeds – This is the only seed I tolerate

To some people seeds cause problems, but they are better than nuts. In the beginning, stick with the above mentioned and eventually try the seeds. I don’t eat seeds since I get some degree of inflammation from them. 

Vegetables

• Romaine lettuce
• Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts (steamed, boiled, or stir-fried)
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Sprouts – broccoli, alfalfa, etc.

Other non-nightshade vegetables are fine.

Condiments/Other

• Dulse powder or Nori for iodine
• Sunflower lecithin – After meals for PS and PC
• Mustard
• Italian seasoning
• Stevia
• Xylitol
• Nutritional yeast (no folic acid)

Other spices are okay in general.

Chili, paprika, and cayenne pepper are part of the nightshade family, so some people might react to them.

Foods Excluded From The Diet (High In Lectins)

• All grains
• Nightshades, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant
• Gluten from wheat, rye, barley, malt, and maybe oat
• Legumes and all beans including soy and peanut; cashews are part of the bean family and are not allowed
• Dairy, including milk and milk products as cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and kefir
• Yeast (except Brewer’s and nutritional)
• Fruits (during the trial period)

Look for symptoms of intolerance: bowel, sleep, or mood changes, memory impairment, or any other significant changes you can relate to the ingestion of the food group. It may take a week or so for the symptoms to appear.

To download a full list of foods to eat or avoid on the Lectin Avoidance Diet, click on the button below.

Food Groups That Deserve Special Attention

Seafood

Seafood is an important dietary component for lectin-sensitive people. Like any food, it may cause health issues in a minority of people. However, the DHA from fish oil is critical in the modulation of the immune system and the decrease of lectin sensitivity.

I do well with mildly cooked wild-caught salmon (less well with fully cooked), fresh mildly cooked wild sardines (not canned), and fresh oysters. Other kinds of seafood are good as well.

To reduce the risk of parasites, I buy frozen wild salmon, defrost it in my fridge for 24 hours, and warm it up or cook it lightly. Industrial freezers should kill all the parasites, and if they don’t, 145 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes will. I also use a lot of spices. The immune system protects against parasites as well, so I’m personally not concerned about them.

I’ve experimented with having up to 18 oz. of wild salmon a day without any problem. I currently eat 6 oz. a day.

If you’re worried about mercury, you can take NAC or R-lipoic acid to prevent heavy metal accumulation and to activate detox pathways.

The point of the diet is to get good quality DHA, iodine, protein, and less omega-6.

Raw Honey

Raw honey has some great benefits that starch doesn’t have. It’s the healthiest carb source for lectin-sensitive people. Honey:

• Coats the stomach
• Is a very powerful anti-microbial, which means it should help SIBO
• Has beneficial prebiotics, such as FOS and GOS
• Contains few lectins
• Has both immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory properties
• Combats mold toxins
• Contains fructose, which helps increase energy by increasing orexins

Eggs

Eggs are extremely nutritious and are considered a superfood. However, in some people, eggs can cause other health issues due to egg intolerance if you’ve been on a heavy lectin diet for a while, or if you suffer from excessive stress.

I developed an allergy to eggs in my early 20s, but most people are fine with them. If you feel fine, then indulge, because eggs are super-healthy. If you can include eggs, you can reduce your need for supplements.

How to Reduce the Lectin Levels in Food

• Soaking for 2+ hours and cooking destroys bean lectins. In common beans, the lectin content declines from 820 to 3.2, while in fava beans it declines from 51.3 to 6.4 [32].
• Pressure cooking destroys lectins in some foods, such as beans, sweet potatoes, and some squashes.

Nutrients to Add

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Potassium

Additional Lectin Sensitivity Resources

Genetic Factors

To learn if you are genetically susceptible to lectins, order a SelfDecode DNA test kit, which comes with an annual subscription or lifetime access. SelfDecode is the best genetics app out there and is the market leader in giving you recommendations based on your genes, symptoms, and blood tests.

With our new system in place, we can tell you which parts of your physiology are not working and how to fix them.

You can see how substances interact with your problematic genes, which genes you should be careful about, and which substances best fit you.

Most importantly, you can see if you have the lectin sensitive gene, and if you do, find out ways to reduce lectin sensitivity.

By using SelfDecode, I’ve been able to figure out that the cannabinoid gene is the most important for lectin sensitivity. I drew on multiple lines of evidence to figure this out. After seeing the gene in all of my clients with this food sensitivity (I personally have 2 bad alleles), I was able to confirm the important role of this gene.

Table: Genetic SNPs that Contribute to Lectin Sensitivity

Read this post to learn more about other markers and symptoms of lectin sensitivity.

More Tools

If you are suffering from inflammation, it is important to figure out which foods you are reacting to. You may or may not be sensitive to lectins.

Therefore, avoiding lectins permanently might not be the best solution. The best way to find out is to do an elimination diet. You remove most common food sensitivities until your symptoms subside, then you bring them back one at a time to determine if you react to each food.

At the end of the diet, you should be able to eat a diverse diet comprising of foods that do not cause you any inflammation.

• The Lectin Avoidance Diet Cookbook provides recipes, instructions, and resource list to help you figure out foods that cause you inflammation
• The SelfHacked Elimination Diet course provides both the science and practical step-by-step instructions to figure out your food sensitivities and overcome them
• The All About Inflammation course provides background info about inflammation and layperson-friendly science behind it

Note: SelfHacked is supported by purchases of these products. All proceeds get reinvested back into the company to help serve you better and improve the quality of our products, so we thank you for supporting us!