400+ Foods High in Lectins and Lectin-Free Diet [PDF List]

Lectins are sticky proteins found in many plants, and they have gained attention due to their potential to affect gut health and overall well-being. In this article, I explore foods with lectins and their drawbacks based on recent studies.

By examining the role of lectins in different food groups, I aim to provide valuable insights and help you make informed choices about your diet. As you can see in the comments, this lectin-free food list has helped many people overcome severe health issues.

If you are curious whether raw red kidney beans, soybeans, or whole grains are high in lectins and poisoning, this article covers you. So, join us on this educational journey as we unravel the mysteries of lectin-rich foods and their impact on our bodies.

Download the free printable PDF list summarizing all the foods high in lectins (red) and foods for a lectin-free diet (green) in this article.

Table of Contents:

• What Are Lectins?
• What Foods Are High in Lectins?
• Are High-Lectin Foods Bad for You?
• Are Lectins Bad for Your Gut?
• How to Reduce Lectins in Food
• List of Foods High in Lectins
• Foods on a Lectin-Free Diet
• The Bottom Line

What Are Lectins?

Lectins are large, sticky proteins that can bind to glucose molecules. Plants use these toxins as a defense mechanism against predators.

While animals have teeth and claws to protect themselves against predators, plants do not handle such weapons. Moreover, they are rooted so that they cannot run away.

Therefore, plants have evolved to produce chemicals called lectins to ward off insects, microorganisms like fungi, and other predators (Dolan et al. 2010¹).

Accordingly, the concentration of these plant toxins is often exceptionally high in new pest-resistant crops (Macedo et al. 2015²).

In our bodies, lectins adhere to sialic acid in the nerve endings of the intestine and brain, which inhibits communication and causes brain disorders.

These sugar molecules also exist in body fluids and blood vessel linings. Therefore, lectins can cause inflammation and even toxic reactions (Freed 1999³).

Although people do not digest lectins, these sticky proteins can sneak into the bloodstream via the gut.

Lectins can damage the epithelium, impair digestion and absorption of nutrients, induce changes in bacterial flora, interfere with fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism, and alter hormonal status.

Eating high-lectin foods can inhibit our body’s ability to absorb essential minerals, such as zinc, iron, and calcium (Vasconcelos et al. 2004⁴).

Hence, lectins are antinutrients.

Lectins also facilitate the attachment and binding of viruses and bacteria and help them reach their targets, such as organs. Therefore, some people more sensitive to lectins are more susceptible to viruses and bacterial infections than others.

Moreover, lectins, for example, in potatoes, promote the release of histamine, which can lead to excessive production of stomach acid (Pramod et al. 2007⁵).

What Foods Are High in Lectins?

Grains, pseudocereals, legumes, nightshades, seed oils, and other processed foods are highest in lectins.

For example, you will find vast amounts of lectins in whole-grain products, margarine, and breakfast cereals.

Seeds, grains, leaves, bark, and shells are the parts of plants where the highest concentrations of lectins hide. You may have heard that people placed tomatoes before the pantry to keep insects away.

And with good reason. Tomatoes are among the foods highest in lectins. Hence, the concentration of lectins in the skin and seeds is exceptionally high. For example, these lectins can paralyze smaller insects.

When an animal eats a plant, lectins in the seeds help keep them intact as they pass through the predator’s digestive tract. After the animal has excreted the seed, it ensures the survival of the plant’s species.

However, lectins also bind to carbohydrates, especially complex sugars (polysaccharides), in the predator’s body after it has eaten the plant.

Accordingly, lectins target sugar molecules and attach themselves to them on the surface of the cells of other organisms, such as fungi, insects, and other animals.

Nevertheless, humans are predators of many plants as well.

Since we are significantly larger than insects, the effects of lectins are usually not immediately noticeable. But they appear over more extended periods.

Are High-Lectin Foods Bad for You?

Due to their binding properties, lectins can cause nutrient deficiencies, disrupt digestion, and cause severe intestinal damage.

The disruption of the integrity of the intestinal barrier is the gateway to various autoimmunities. Lectins can lead to cross-reactivity, forming antibodies to lectin and bacterial antigens, leading to autoimmune diseases (Vojdani 2015⁶).

The heart surgeon Steven Gundry landed a bestseller with The Plant Paradox, where he points out adverse health effects that lectins can cause:

• Acne
• Age spots, skin markings
• Allergies
• Alopecia
• Anemia
• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease)
• Bone loss (including osteopenia and osteoporosis)
• Brain Fog
• Cancer
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Colon polyps
• Cramps, tingling, and numbness
• Cranial Nebula
• Dementia
• Depression
• Diabetes, prediabetes, insulin resistance
• Exhaustion
• Fat in the stool (due to poor digestion)
• Fibromyalgia
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Gut problems (bloating, pain, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea)
• Headaches
• Heart disease, coronary heart disease, vascular disease
• High blood pressure
• Infertility, irregular menstrual cycle, miscarriage
• Irritability and behavioral changes
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Joint pain
• Little testosterone
• Low levels of immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin M, and immunoglobulin A
• Low white blood cell count
• Lymphomas, leukemias, multiple myeloma
• Male pattern baldness
• Memory loss
• Migraine
• Nutritional deficits due to malabsorption
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
• Reduction in dental health
• Reflux or heartburn
• Ringing in the ears
• Skin rashes
• The slow growth of infants or children
• Vitiligo
• Weight gain or loss

Many people could improve these ailments by following a lectin-free diet.

Are Lectins Bad for Your Gut?

Lectins can cause a leaky gut and other diseases by penetrating the intestinal wall.

The understanding of lectins fills some dark spots in conventional medicine that have been unexplained for a long time. And like so often, these harmful effects start in the second brain, our gut.

Leaky Gut

Leaky Gut Syndrome means the barrier separating the outside world (the contents of your gastrointestinal tract) from your body leaks.

As a result, there is a loophole in the gut mucosal lining through which bacteria and toxins can enter the bloodstream from the gut and cause inflammation and diseases.

If you want to keep Leaky Gut Syndrome in check, it is crucial to eliminate the cause of the holes in the unicellular intestinal wall: Foods high in lectins.

According to studies, it is precisely lectins in grain that can cause injuries to the intestinal wall.

Above all, it is gluten that can cause a “leaky gut” because it makes up an incredible 80% of the proteins in wheat.

This concentrated load of foods high in lectins, such as wheat, can cause considerable damage to the intestinal wall (Haupt-Jorgensen et al. 2018⁷).

What makes gluten so dangerous is that it can trigger a process in the cells of the intestinal wall that destroys the proteins holding it together (Sturgeon et al. 2016⁸).

Hence, they create a gap in the intestinal wall. Besides gluten, it is mainly wheat germ agglutinin that damages the intestinal wall.

Because it is not a large protein like other lectins but a tiny one, it easily passes through loopholes in the intestinal wall.

Therefore, bacteria and viruses, such as influenza, can overcome the barrier of the gut mucosal lining with the help of lectins (Dalla Pellegrina et al. 2009⁹).

Thus, lectins in grains make it possible for a wide variety of harmful substances and pathogens to trigger many diseases.

Weight Gain

Besides diseases, foods high in lectins can trigger weight gain.

Again, wheat and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) causes additional pounds on your scale.

For this reason, wheat has helped humanity to hibernate successfully over and over again. Due to WGA, whole grain bread is extraordinarily fattening.

Because, unlike gluten, WGA is a lectin primarily contained in the bran. For this reason, white bread contains gluten but no wheat germ agglutinin.

Accordingly, the supposedly healthy wholemeal bread is among the foods highest in lectins.

Since WGA can bind to insulin and leptin receptors, it promotes weight gain. Therefore, it promotes the effectiveness of the storage hormone insulin and helps store body fat more efficiently (Shechter 1983¹⁰).

On the one hand, WGA increases insulin resistance, leading to even more weight gain (Kamikubo et al. 2008¹¹).

On the other hand, insulin resistance is a condition that sooner or later leads to type 2 diabetes and other modern diseases.

Some physicians even suggest that WGA prevents glucose from entering the muscles. As a result, the body stores glucose as body fat instead of burning it in the muscles.

On top of that, wheat germ agglutinin causes inflammation.

Inflammation

Since they trigger an immune response, lectins have also been linked to autoimmune inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes.

Not only does it penetrate the intestinal wall more quickly, but WGA can also bring free radicals to the gut mucosal lining, which can damage this thin wall.

Besides WGA, peanut agglutinin (PNA), jacalin in jackfruit, and other lectins in legumes can cause kidney inflammation. Thus, these lectins promote nephritis (Engel et al. 1997¹²).

Autoimmune Diseases

Lectins can induce the formation of antibodies against healthy cells. Thus, they can cause autoimmune diseases (Saeki et al. 2014¹³).

Since immune cells confuse proteins in healthy cells with lectins, these antibody attacks are called molecular mimicry.

Since they are pretty new to our nutritional cycle, some assume that lectins contained in foods from the New World, such as tomatoes, are more likely to cause this confusion.

Accordingly, lectins are associated with the following autoimmune diseases:

• Arthritis
• Crohn’s disease
• Dermatomyositis
• Fibromyalgia
• Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s disease)
• Lupus
• Microscopic colitis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Psoriasis
• Raynaud’s syndrome
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Scleroderma
• Sjögren’s syndrome (dry eyes and dry mouth)
• Systemic sclerosis
• Ulcerative colitis

The surgeon and bestselling author Steven Gundry even further claims that lectins promote all autoimmune diseases. Therefore, he thinks autoimmune diseases can be treated with a lectin-free diet in general.

According to Gundry, drugs, especially antibiotics, can also change your gut microbiome and intestinal mucosal lining in the long run.

They weaken the barrier of the intestinal wall daily, allowing lectins to penetrate.

Scientists suggest three factors are crucial for the development of autoimmune diseases (Ferroli et al. 2012¹⁴):

• Genetic preconditions
• Leaky Gut
• Lectins

Therefore, not everyone can get an autoimmune disease from lectins, but everyone with a genetic precondition will.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that lectins cause two of the three factors by damaging the intestine.

In conclusion, a lectin-free diet is a promising remedy to improve or even cure autoimmune diseases.

Parkinson’s Disease

Lectins can cross the blood-brain barrier and migrate from the gut to the brain, damaging the midbrain and causing Parkinson’s disease (Zheng et al. 2016¹⁵).

They can climb the vagus nerve from the gut to the brain and accumulate in its control center.

The vagus is the longest of our cranial nerves and represents a direct connection from the gut to the brain. Hence, the gut is called the second brain for a reason.

Accordingly, patients with vagus nerve cut had 40 percent less Parkinson’s disease since lectins could not reach the brain directly (Svensson et al. 2015¹⁶).

For this reason, Parkinson’s disease also occurs more frequently among vegetarians since they eat more plants and thus more foods high in lectins.

How to Reduce Lectins in Food

You can peel, core, soak, sprout, ferment, boil, and pressure cook plant foods to reduce their lectin content.

However, these methods can vary highly in effectiveness. Most cannot entirely neutralize lectins.

Since a vegan diet is a global trend, consuming foods high in lectins has increased enormously.

Vegetarians and vegans often build their diets on legumes and nightshades due to limited alternatives and a lack of protein sources.

Reducing lectin in foods is vital for people limited to plant-based protein sources. But watch out, some methods circulating on the internet promise to neutralize lectins easily, while their effect is minor.

Use the following science-backed methods to reduce lectins effectively:

Peeling and Coring

Nightshades, such as eggplants, potatoes, peppers, goji berries, and tomatoes, come from the New World.

Therefore, as late as 400 years ago, after Columbus discovered America, they could enter our food chain and guts for the first time.

Moreover, Europeans did not want to eat tomatoes for more than 200 years – and rightly so, as they contain countless lectins. It was not until the end of the 19th century that dishes such as tomato sauce and pizza were adapted and made famous in Italy.

However, even today, real Italians still peel and core tomatoes when preparing tomato sauce. Since peels and seeds contain the most lectins, this is still an effective way to reduce lectin content.

How to remove lectins from tomatoes:

• Add tomatoes to boiling water
• Peel them
• Cut the fruits in halves
• Squeeze out the seeds

This peeling and coring of tomatoes reduce lectins. However, this does not mean that the tomatoes are entirely lectin-free.

Removing seeds and skin can also help reduce lectins in other nightshades and cucurbits.

Soaking

While soaking can reduce antinutrients, its effect is often overestimated. To be generally effective, combine it with another method, such as boiling, fermenting, and sprouting (Shi et al. 2018¹⁷).

This way, you can reduce legumes and grains’ lectin, oxalate, and phytate content (Noonan et al. 1999¹⁸).

However, there is no evidence soaking could reduce gluten or wheat germ agglutinin in cereals.

Soaking results vary significantly depending on the crop.

While lectins in pigeon peas and cowpeas can be significantly reduced by soaking, they can hardly be reduced in kidney beans, field beans, and soybeans (Onwuka 2006¹⁹; Dhurandhar et al. 1990²⁰; Liu et al. 1987²¹; Sharma et al. 1992²²).

Sprouting

Sprouting is an induced process (germination) that hatches the plant from the seed.

It can reduce antinutrients and increase the bioavailability of nutrients in seeds, grains, and legumes (Singh et al. 2015²³).

To induce germination, you must soak the cleaned seeds in cold water for 4-12 hours.

After that, you need to rinse the seeds and put them in a germination container (sprouter) that should not be in direct sunlight.

Sprouting works best if you wash and drain the seeds every 10 hours. Repeat the process three times.

However, this process is not very effective.

Sprouting soybeans decreases the content of lectins only slightly (Bau et al. 1999²⁴).

In other legumes, sprouting may increase the lectin content.

Scientists even suggest feeding animals with sprouted beans and grains can cause cancer (Buchmann et al. 2007²⁵).

Fermentation

Fermentation is the most effective method to reduce lectins in food. It is an ancient method that makes foods last longer.

This natural process uses bacteria or yeast fungi to digest carbohydrates in food. These bacteria also metabolize indigestible compounds such as lectins.

For example, the Japanese have fermented soy products such as miso, tempeh, and natto. Eastern Europeans also have sauerkraut or kvass, a fermented drink made from beet.

Indians make dosas by fermenting lentils, rice dough, and lassis with fermented milk.

Another example is Tabasco sauce, for which peppers are peeled and cored before fermenting.

There is strong evidence that fermentation reduces lectins. For example, fermentation in sourdough neutralizes gluten (Rizzello et al. 2007²⁶).

Fermentation for more than 72 hours can even destroy most of the lectins in lentils (Cuadrado et al. 2010²⁷).

Traditional tempeh production from soybeans can reduce lectins by up to 95% through fermentation (Reddy et al. 1994²⁸).

Boiling

Regular Boiling is not very effective for lectins.

For most legumes, boiling them in water can help reduce antinutrients such as oxalic and phytic acid (Shi et al. 2018²⁹; Noonan et al. 1999³⁰).

Lectins are more resistant to heat denaturation than animal proteins.

Wheat germ agglutinin and oilseed lectins, such as peanut agglutinin, are extremely heat stable. Normal boiling fails to inactivate them (Pusztai et al. 1998³¹).

Another disadvantage of boiling is that it removes water-soluble minerals from foods.

Pressure Cooking

Steam cooking in a pressure cooker is more effective than boiling, steaming, or baking.

Many people like to use pressure cookers because it is the gentler cooking method. Nevertheless, minerals such as iron and calcium are also lost with this method.

The method effectively reduces lectins in legumes (Deol et al. 2010³²).

It may also help reduce lectins in some pseudo-cereals, such as quinoa.

However, the pressure cooker cannot neutralize wheat, rye, barley, and oat lectins. And yes, that is foods high in lectins containing gluten.

List of Foods High in Lectins

Legumes, cereals, nightshades, seeds, and processed foods are generally high in lectins.

More important than knowing all the lectin-free foods is to remember which ones are highest in lectins and can harm your health.

Get the printable PDF of the following list of foods high in lectins PDF to stop guessing when you go grocery shopping.

Legumes

Avoiding legumes is essential since they contain large amounts of lectins:

• All beans, including sprouts
• Chickpeas
• Edamame
• Green beans
• Hummus
• Legumes
• Lentils
• Pea Protein
• Peas
• Soy Protein
• Soy
• Structured vegetable protein
• Sugar Peas
• Tofu

Fruits

Among fruits, especially the families of nightshades, cucurbits (both are fruits, not vegetables) and melons are highest in lectins:

• Chili’s
• Cucumbers
• Eggplants
• Goji Berries
• Melons (all types)
• Peppers
• Pumpkins (all types)
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini

Processed Foods

Lectins are not exclusive to whole foods. On the contrary, it is precisely industrial processing that makes lectins – usually paired with refined carbohydrates – even more concentrated and thus harmful:

• Margarine
• Milk
• Pasta
• Rice
• Bread
• Cookies
• Flour
• Cookies
• Cornflakes
• Cereals
• Tortillas
• Potatoes
• Potato Chips
• Sugar
• Agave syrup
• Acesulfame potassium
• Sucralose
• Aspartame
• Saccharin
• Maltodextrin
• Energy drinks
• Diet soda
• Zero Beverages

Grains and Pseudo-Grains

Cereals and grains contain very high amounts of lectins.

Furthermore, you will find pseudo-cereals, such as quinoa, among these foods highest in lectins:

• Barley
• Barley Grass
• Brown rice
• Buckwheat
• Bulgur
• Corn
• Corn products
• Cornstarch
• Einkorn
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Kamut
• Oats
• Popcorn
• Quinoa
• Rye
• Spelt
• Wheat Grass
• White basmati rice
• White rice
• Wild rice

Nuts and Seeds

Besides seeds, it’s strictly speaking legumes (not nuts), such as peanuts and cashews, that are exceptionally high in lectins:

• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Chia seeds
• Peanuts
• Cashews

Seed Oils

The following seed oils contain not only vast amounts of lectins but also omega-6 fatty acids that promote inflammation:

• Canola
• Corn
• Grapeseed
• Peanut
• Safflower
• Soy
• Sunflower
• Partially hydrogenated

Dairy

Northern European cows give milk containing A1 beta-casein instead of the protein A2 beta-casein. And this A1 beta-casein is converted into a lectin-like protein called beta-casomorphin during digestion.

The effects of beta-casomorphin are very similar to those of true lectins. Milk containing A1 beta-casein causes digestive problems, inflammation, and subtle cognitive impairment (Jianqin et al. 2016³³).

Unfortunately, Northern European cows are mainly used for milk production, as they give more milk and are therefore more profitable than Southern European cows. You can find this milk in dairy products that are not from France, Switzerland, or Italy, such as:

• Cottage cheese
• Cheese
• Ice cream
• Ricotta
• Yogurt (incl. Greek)
• Yogurt ice cream

Foods on a Lectin-Free Diet

Fish, meat, green vegetables, and berries are the foods lowest in lectins.

Here you will find a complete list of lectin-free foods:

Vegetables

Besides leafy greens, most sorts of cabbages are native to Europe and low in lectins:

• Algae (Nori)
• Artichokes
• Arugula
• Asparagus
• Basil
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chicory
• Chinese cabbage
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Jerusalem Artichoke
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Mint
• Mushrooms
• Mustard leaves
• Okra
• Olives
• Onions
• Pak Choi
• Parsley
• Perilla (Shiso)
• Purslane
• Radicchio
• Radish
• Radishes
• Lettuce
• Sauerkraut
• Seaweed (Kelp)
• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Watercress
• White and red cabbage

Fruits

Although most fruits are high in sugar, that is not true for avocados, which shine with healthy fats and nutrients. Additionally, berries and citrus fruits are low in lectins and fructose and excellent sources of antioxidants:

• Avocado
• Blueberries
• Blackberry
• Strawberry
• Raspberries
• Citrus fruits (no juices)
• Lemon juice

Nuts and Seeds

Unlike seeds, many nuts do not contain high amounts of lectins:

• Brazil nuts
• Coconut (not water)
• Coconut milk
• Flax seeds
• Hazelnuts
• Hemp seeds
• Macadamia nuts
• Pecans
• Pine nuts
• Pistachios
• Psyllium
• Sesame
• Walnuts

Oils and Fats

Among lectin-free oils, coconut oil should be the first choice for frying, as it has the highest proportion of heat-stable saturated fatty acids:

• Algae
• Avocado
• Cod Liver
• Extra Virgin Flaxseed (cold-pressed)
• Extra Virgin Olive
• Hemp seed
• MCT
• Macadamia
• Red Palm
• Shiso (Perilla)
• Virgin Coconut
• Walnut
• Fish
• Krill

Fish and Seafood

On the lectin-free foods list, the following fish can be a great protein and omega-3 source if not farmed:

• Anchovies
• Butterfish
• Carp
• Clams
• Crabs
• Hake
• Halibut
• Lobster
• Mackerel (North Atlantic)
• Mullet
• Oysters
• Prawns
• Saithe
• Salmon
• Sardines
• Scallops
• Sea Wolf
• Squids
• Trout
• Tuna

Meat

If the animals were not excessively fed with grains, corn, or soy and treated with antibiotics, the following options represent foods with zero lectins:

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Duck
• Goose
• Pheasant
• Pigeon
• Quail
• Ostrich
• Pork
• Lamb
• Deer
• Elk
• Wild boar
• Grass-fed beef
• Bison
• Prosciutto

Dairy

In contrast to Northern European cows, goats, sheep, buffalo, and Southern European cows still produce casein A-2 milk, which is contained in the following lectin-free foods:

• From France/Italy/Switzerland
  • Butter
  • Cheese
• Buffalo (Italy)
  • Butter
  • Mozzarella
• Casein A2
  • Cheese
  • Cream
• Heavy cream cheese
• Ghee
• Coconut yogurt (no dairy product)
• Parmesan
• Pecorino
• Sour cream
• Grass-fed butter
• Goat and sheep
  • Kefir
  • Butter
  • Yogurt
  • Cheese
  • Milk
  • Cream

Resistant Starches

Resistant starches are not suitable for weight loss, but for a lectin-free diet:

• Baobab fruit
• Celeriac
• Green bananas
• Green papaya/mango
• Khaki
• Konjac Tuber
• Millet
• Palm lily blossoms
• Parsnips
• Plantains
• Sorghum Millet
• Sweet potatoes
• Tapioca
• Taro root
• Tigernuts
• Turnips
• Yam bean
• Yams

Flour

Not only in the low-carb and keto cuisine but also generally, the following lectin-free foods enjoy great popularity as flour substitutes low in lectins:

• Almond flour
• Arrowroot flour
• Chestnut flour
• Coconut flour
• Flax flour
• Flour from green bananas
• Hazelnut flour
• Manioc flour
• Sesame flour
• Sweet potato flour
• Tigernut flour

Condiments

Besides these lectin-free condiments, you can also enjoy Tabasco sauces in moderation:

• Vinegar (without added sugar)
• Herbs and spices (not chili)
• Mustard
• Pepper
• Sea salts (pink Himalayan, Celtic, Redmond)
• Miso

Beverages

As with losing weight, no juices are allowed in a lectin-free diet, no matter if marketed as organic or natural. Instead, drink the following beverages to maximize health benefits:

• Water
• Mineral Water
• Lemon water
• Herbal Tea
• Green Tea
• Black tea
• Coffee
• Red wine (one glass a day)

The Bottom Line

Foods high in lectins, such as various grains, ensured the survival of humanity since they were most effortless to store before refrigeration.

When food was scarce, the lectins in grains and beans could provide body fat to survive rough winters.

However, today, in times of abundance, the same effect works against us.

Since the supermarket does not close from November to March, the fattening effect of foods high in lectins is redundant.

Especially since they promote a variety of diseases, it makes sense to avoid foods high in lectins. Besides harming gut health, lectins can cause autoimmune, Parkinson’s, or mental diseases like depression and anxiety.

Although they are not the only factor in developing diseases, a lectin-free diet can be decisive for curing them.

Comment below if you overcame a serious health condition with a low-lectin diet, as many others already did.

Frequently Asked Questions

What foods are the highest in lectins?

Nightshades (e.g., potatoes, tomatoes), cucurbits, legumes, grains, and processed foods are highest in lectins.

What are the worst foods for lectins?

Nightshades, seeds, legumes, grains, and bakeries contain lectins you better avoid.

Are eggs high in lectin?

Eggs aren’t high in lectins, especially not if they are pasture-raised.

Are lectins bad for your gut?

Lectins can damage the gut mucosal lining, causing a leaky gut. Furthermore, they can bring bacteria and viruses into your body when overcoming this intestinal barrier. As a result, lectins can cause inflammation, autoimmune and other diseases.

Do lectins cause inflammation?

According to studies, lectins can cause inflammation.

Is oatmeal high in lectins?

Yes, oatmeal is high in lectins and other antinutrients.

What are the 3 foods Dr Gundry says to avoid?

Goji berries, chia seeds, and wheatgrass are the 3 superfoods Dr. Gundry says to avoid.

Are bananas high in lectins?

Although conventional 🍌 bananas contain lectins, green bananas are lectin-free (resistant starch).

Do carrots have lectins?

No, 🥕 carrots are considered lectin-free foods.

Are lectins good or bad for you?

Lectins can cause several health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, or Parkinson’s disease.

Are tomatoes high in lectins?

The skin and seeds of tomatoes contain many lectins.

References

#1-7

¹Dolan, L. C., Matulka, R. A., & Burdock, G. A. (2010). Naturally Occurring Food Toxins. Toxins, 2(9), 2289-2332. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins2092289

²R. Macedo, M. L., R. Oliveira, C. F., & Oliveira, C. T. (2015). Insecticidal Activity of Plant Lectins and Potential Application in Crop Protection. Molecules, 20(2), 2014-2033. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules20022014

³Freed DL. Do dietary lectins cause disease? BMJ. 1999 Apr 17;318(7190):1023-4. doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7190.1023. PMID: 10205084; PMCID: PMC1115436.

⁴Vasconcelos, I. M., & Oliveira, J. T. (2004). Antinutritional properties of plant lectins. Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology, 44(4), 385–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.05.005

⁵Pramod, S. N., Venkatesh, Y. P., & Mahesh, P. A. (2007). Potato lectin activates basophils and mast cells of atopic subjects by its interaction with core chitobiose of cell-bound non-specific immunoglobulin E. Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 148(3), 391-401. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2249.2007.03368.x

⁶Vojdani A. (2015). Lectins, agglutinins, and their roles in autoimmune reactivities. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 21 Suppl 1, 46–51.

⁷Haupt-Jorgensen M, Holm LJ, Josefsen K, Buschard K. Possible Prevention of Diabetes with a Gluten-Free Diet. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 13;10(11):1746. doi: 10.3390/nu10111746. PMID: 30428550; PMCID: PMC6266002.

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⁸Sturgeon, C., & Fasano, A. (2016). Zonulin, a regulator of epithelial and endothelial barrier functions, and its involvement in chronic inflammatory diseases. Tissue Barriers, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/21688370.2016.1251384

⁹Dalla Pellegrina, C., Perbellini, O., Scupoli, M. T., Tomelleri, C., Zanetti, C., Zoccatelli, G., Fusi, M., Peruffo, A., Rizzi, C., & Chignola, R. (2009). Effects of wheat germ agglutinin on human gastrointestinal epithelium: insights from an experimental model of immune/epithelial cell interaction. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 237(2), 146–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2009.03.012

¹⁰Shechter Y. (1983). Bound lectins that mimic insulin produce persistent insulin-like activities. Endocrinology, 113(6), 1921–1926. https://doi.org/10.1210/endo-113-6-1921

¹¹Kamikubo, Y., Dellas, C., Loskutoff, D. J., Quigley, J. P., & Ruggeri, Z. M. (2008). Contribution of leptin receptor N-linked glycans to leptin binding. The Biochemical journal, 410(3), 595–604. https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20071137

¹²Engel, U., Breborowicz, D., Bøg-Hansen, T., & Francis, D. (1997). Lectin staining of renal tubules in normal kidney. APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica, 105(1), 31–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1699-0463.1997.tb00536.x

¹³Saeki, Y., & Ishihara, K. (2014). Infection-immunity liaison: pathogen-driven autoimmune-mimicry (PDAIM). Autoimmunity reviews, 13(10), 1064–1069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2014.08.024

#14-19

¹⁴Ferroli, P., Caldiroli, D., Acerbi, F., Scholtze, M., Piro, A., Schiariti, M., Orena, E. F., Castiglione, M., Broggi, M., Perin, A., & DiMeco, F. (2012). Application of an aviation model of incident reporting and investigation to the neurosurgical scenario: method and preliminary data. Neurosurgical focus, 33(5), E7. https://doi.org/10.3171/2012.9.FOCUS12252

¹⁵Zheng J, Wang M, Wei W, Keller JN, Adhikari B, King JF, King ML, Peng N, Laine RA. Dietary Plant Lectins Appear to Be Transported from the Gut to Gain Access to and Alter Dopaminergic Neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans, a Potential Etiology of Parkinson’s Disease. Front Nutr. 2016 Mar 7;3:7. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2016.00007. PMID: 27014695; PMCID: PMC4780318.

¹⁶Svensson, E., Horváth-Puhó, E., Thomsen, R. W., Djurhuus, J. C., Pedersen, L., Borghammer, P., & Sørensen, H. T. (2015). Vagotomy and subsequent risk of Parkinson’s disease. Annals of neurology, 78(4), 522–529. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.24448

¹⁷Shi, L., Arntfield, S. D., & Nickerson, M. (2018). Changes in levels of phytic acid, lectins and oxalates during soaking and cooking of Canadian pulses. Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.), 107, 660–668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.02.056

¹⁸Noonan, S. C., & Savage, G. P. (1999). Oxalate content of foods and its effect on humans. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 8(1), 64–74.

¹⁹Onwuka, G.I. (2006) Soaking, Boiling and Antinutritive Factors in Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan) and Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 30, 616-630.
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#20-22

²⁰Dhurandhar, Nikhil & Chang, Kow-Ching. (2006). Effect of Cooking on Firmness, Trypsin Inhibitors, Lectins and Cystine/Cysteine content of Navy and Red Kidney Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Journal of Food Science. 55. 470 – 474. 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1990.tb06789.x.

²¹Liu, K., & Markakis, P. (1986). Effect of maturity and processing on the trypsin inhibitor and oligosaccharides of soybeans. Journal of Food Science, 52(1), 222-223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1987.tb14012.x

²²Sharma, A., & Sehgal, S. (1991). Effect of processing and cooking on the antinutritional factors of faba bean (Vicia faba). Food Chemistry, 43(5), 383-385. https://doi.org/10.1016/0308-8146(92)90311-O

²³Singh, A. K., Rehal, J., Kaur, A., & Jyot, G. (2015). Enhancement of attributes of cereals by germination and fermentation: a review. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 55(11), 1575–1589. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2012.706661

²⁴Bau, M., Villaume, C., Nicolas, P., & Méjean, L. (1996). Effect of Germination on Chemical Composition, Biochemical Constituents and Antinutritional Factors of Soya Bean (Glycine max) Seeds. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 73(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0010(199701)73:1<1::AID-JSFA694>3.0.CO;2-B

²⁵Buchmann, C. A., Nersesyan, A., Kopp, B., Schauberger, D., Darroudi, F., Grummt, T., Krupitza, G., Kundi, M., Schulte-Hermann, R., & Knasmueller, S. (2007). Dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA) and 2,4-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIBOA), two naturally occurring benzoxazinones contained in sprouts of Gramineae are potent aneugens in human-derived liver cells (HepG2). Cancer letters, 246(1-2), 290–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2006.03.013

²⁶Rizzello, C. G., Angelis, M. D., Cagno, R. D., Camarca, A., Silano, M., Losito, I., Vincenzi, M. D., De Bari, M. D., Palmisano, F., Maurano, F., Gianfrani, C., & Gobbetti, M. (2007). Highly Efficient Gluten Degradation by Lactobacilli and Fungal Proteases during Food Processing: New Perspectives for Celiac Disease. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73(14), 4499-4507. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00260-07

#27-33

²⁷Cuadrado, C., Hajos, G., Burbano, C., Pedrosa, M., Ayet, G., Muzquiz, M., Pusztai, A., Gelencser, E. (2002). Effect of Natural Fermentation on the Lectin of Lentils Measured by Immunological Methods. Food and Agricultural Immunology. 14. 41-49. 10.1080/09540100220137655.

²⁸Reddy, N., & Pierson, M. (1993). Reduction in antinutritional and toxic components in plant foods by fermentation. Food Research International, 27(3), 281-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/0963-9969(94)90096-5

²⁹Shi, L., Arntfield, S. D., & Nickerson, M. (2018). Changes in levels of phytic acid, lectins and oxalates during soaking and cooking of Canadian pulses. Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.), 107, 660–668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.02.056

³⁰Noonan, S. C., & Savage, G. P. (1999). Oxalate content of foods and its effect on humans. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 8(1), 64–74.

³¹Pusztai, A., & Grant, G. (1998). Assessment of lectin inactivation by heat and digestion. Methods in molecular medicine, 9, 505–514. https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-396-1:505

³²Deol, J. K., & Bains, K. (2010). Effect of household cooking methods on nutritional and anti nutritional factors in green cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) pods. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 47(5), 579-581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0112-3

³³Jianqin, S., Leiming, X., Lu, X., Yelland, G. W., Ni, J., & Clarke, A. J. (2016). Effects of milk containing only A2 beta casein versus milk containing both A1 and A2 beta casein proteins on gastrointestinal physiology, symptoms of discomfort, and cognitive behavior of people with self-reported intolerance to traditional cows’ milk. Nutrition Journal, 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-016-0147-z