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Lectin, Gluten, Phytic Acid, Emulsifiers

Sprouting to Remove Lectins
Lectins
Lectins
Lectins are a type of carbohydrate-binding protein. “Plants have evolved to produce chemical compounds—like lectins—to repel microorganisms, insects, and other pests.[2]”.
Lectins are plant compounds most commonly found in legumes, potatoes and nightshade vegetables. For many people, lectins could cause intestinal damage and inflammation,
Lectins and the Gut Microbiota - “Some lectins may affect the gut microbiota as well as having systemic effects such as the modulation of inflammation and immune function[17,18].”
Dietary lectins are powerful exogenous growth factors for the small intestine, can induce dramatic shifts in its bacterial flora, and interfere with its hormone secretion. In addition, lectins which are transported across the gut wall into the systemic circulation can modulate the body's hormone balance, metabolism and health. Although these physiological effects are mediated or reinforced by immune responses, they are primarily the result of the specific chemical reactivity of lectins with cell surface receptors of the gut. Clearly, as the interactions between lectins and the gut are predictable and may be manipulated to our advantage, the exciting scientific challenge is now to explore the possible transfer of the existing knowledge gained from animal experimentation to medical-clinical practice.
Lectins Removal - To make it short, lectin removal is linked to a diet change. To learn more about your options in that direction, we recommend to watch a short video by Dr. Gundry who is considered as one of the leading experts in this field.
To put it shortly,Lectin removal from vegetables such as squash, cucumber, eggplant, pepper and tomatoes can be achieved by removing the skins and seeds. Cooking, especially with wet high-heat methods like boiling or stewing, or soaking in water for several hours, can inactivate most lectins.
Gluten
Gluten is part of the lectin protein “family”. Wheat, rye, barley and oat are some of the seeds with high gluten that are most commonly used in many processed foods.
Gluten and Neurodegeneration - “On the gut level, gluten enhances intestinal permeability by compromising functional tight junction integrity resulting in a leaky gut [12,16,18,45].”
“Gluten consumption affects microbiome/dysbiome composition and diversity [38,45,49]. The cross-reactivity of anti-gluten/-gliadin/-wheat antibodies with cerebral molecules further attest for the gut-brain axes connecting those heavily consumed nutrients to chronic brain conditions.
“Despite the paucity of evidence establishing a causal relationship between dietary gluten intake and neurological disorders, a number of studies demonstrate an association between the 2 and/or a beneficial effect on neurological symptoms when gluten is restricted from the diet [2]”
Gluten Removal - “Here, the authors report the results of a randomised cross-over trial involving middle-aged, healthy Danish adults, showing evidence that a low-gluten diet leads to gut microbiome changes, possibly due to variations in dietary fibres.”
Bottomline, eliminating or drastically reducing gluten intake in our diet is important to our health.
Unlike other lectins, soaking, sprouting or boiling does not significantly reduce gluten from the hosting seed (wheat, ray…), so the only option left is to drastically reduce the intake of processed foods that are made from these seeds.[1]
Phytic acid,
This acid is the primary way phosphorus is stored in many plants, including beans, seeds, and nuts. See the table in this article for more details about phytic acid content in various seeds.
When phytic acid is consumed, it binds to other minerals to create phytates. Because you don't have any enzymes that can break phytates down, the minerals that are absorb into them are no longer available to our body.
People sometimes refer to phytic acid as an anti-nutrient, because it blocks the absorption of certain minerals into the body.
When you eat foods with high content of phytic acid, the molecules bind with certain minerals in our digestive tract, including Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Chromium and Manganese. Once this occurs, our body no longer has access to these nutrients.
Generally, the more phytic acid we eat, the more minerals are blocked from our body. Read more here for detailed Phytic acid content of various seed types.
However, recent studies have shown that phytic acid's anti-nutrient effect occurs only when large amounts of phytates are consumed within a diet that is already lacking nutrition, given that “most phytate (37-66%) is degraded in the stomach and small intestines”. It also only affects the absorption of nutrients eaten at the same meal.
Phytic Acid Removal
As presented in this article, Soaking (overnight) and sprouting could be most effective to reduce the Phytic Acid content of most “seeds”.
Emulsifiers
Dietary Emulsifiers alter the composition and activity of the Human Gut Microbiota, irrespective of their origin, be it chemical or natural.
Here are two different ways in which the emulsifiers attack the delicate and ancient ecosystem in the intestine:
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They are physically abusive, or literally "peel off" the mucous layer on the wall of the intestine. Such an injury naturally leads to a more leaky gut, systemic inflammation... and a lot of suffering and chronic illness.
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They change the community of intestinal bacteria, and impair their function as the "keepers" of the guts intelligent barrier.
As we know from many other examples, damage to the microbiome and the intestinal wall also leads to various damage to the brain and behavior, so it is not surprising that an experiment on mice showed that the emulsifying substances change their behavior and causes anxiety!
Lectins Removal
Gluten
Gluten Removal
Phytic Acid
Phytic Acid Removal
Emulsifiers
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