The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain

by Steven R. Gundry

Instead of a hard casing, the naked seed contains one or more chemicals that weaken predators, paralyze them, or make them ill, so they won’t make the mistake of eating the plant again. These substances include phytates, often referred to as antinutrients, which prevent absorption of minerals in the diet; trypsin inhibitors, which keep digestive enzymes from doing their job, interfering with the predator’s growth; and lectins, which are designed to disrupt cellular communication by, among other things, causing gaps in the intestinal wall barrier, a condition known as leaky gut. Whole grains actually contain all three of these defensive chemicals in the fibrous hull, husk, and bran. (Teaser alert: This is just one reason that the idea of “whole-grain goodness” is a huge misconception, as you’ll learn in chapter 2.)

Speaking of stomach acid, get this: Not only do we keep eating foods that are designed to hurt us, but we also feed them to animals in the food chain, which suffer similarly from their diet. Left to their own devices, cows would never consume corn and soybeans—their natural diet is grasses and other forage—but that is exactly what they are fed on industrial farms. The lectins in corn and soy are far more effective than grass in making the cow heavier and giving them a better ratio of fat.

As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.” But you are also what the thing you ate, ate. When you consume organically raised produce and pastured animal products—and I do not mean free-range—the nutrients in the plants and the nutrients the plants got from the soil (as well as the plants the animals ate) pass into your body and are incorporated into every one of your cells. Knowing how the food you eat was grown and raised is not just a lifestyle choice; it also directly affects your health.

Your intestinal cells absorb vitamins, minerals, fats, sugars, and simple proteins, but not large proteins—and lectins are relatively large proteins. If all is well with your gut health and its mucous layers, lectins should not be able to squeeze past the mucosal cells. But if you ever engaged in the old playground game of red rover, think of how the big kids tried to pry your arms apart to break through the line. That’s exactly what happens when lectins attack your mucosal

This is likely a primary cause of type 1 diabetes.6 Southern European cows, goats, and sheep continue to produce casein A-2 milk, but because casein A-1 cows are hardier and produce more milk, farmers prefer them. The most common breed of cows worldwide is the Holstein, whose milk contains this problematic lectinlike protein. If you think that drinking milk gives you a problem, it’s almost certainly the cow’s breed that is at fault, not milk per se. The black and white Holstein is the classic example of the A-1 cow, while the Guernsey, Brown Swiss, and Belgian Blues are all casein A-2. That’s why I recommend that if you consume dairy, you opt for only casein A-2 dairy products, which grocery stores have recently started selling, particularly on the West Coast. Alternatively, use goat or sheep milk products to be safe.

Since 1950, commercial bakers in the United States have replaced the rising agent of yeast with transglutaminase, which is also a binding agent. When I do eat bread in the United States, it makes me feel bloated, but I have no such reaction with white bread made with yeast when I am in Europe. That’s because yeast ferments and destroys the lectins in wheat, taming their effects. And guess what? In France and Italy, where bread is produced by traditional yeast-rising techniques, almost all the bread is white, not whole wheat. It contains gluten, which has been digested by the yeast, but no WGA. Would it surprise you then to learn that sourdough bread, made by fermenting wheat with bacteria and yeast, consistently ranks as one of the safest and least injurious breads, in terms of blood sugar spikes? The bacteria and yeast together “eat” the lectins and a good deal of the sugars!

have a better idea: Die young—at a very old age. Or as Liping Zhao, a Chinese holobiome researcher, puts it, “Eat right. Stay fit. Live long. Die quick.” I believe that this is what most people want for themselves.

important that it deserves to be my fourth and final rule. RULE NUMBER 4: You Are What the Thing You Are Eating, Ate If you prefer, think of this as a piece of parental advice: When you sleep with someone, you are sleeping with everyone that person ever slept with! If you eat meat, poultry, farm-raised fish, eggs, and dairy products, you are largely an ear of corn and a pile of soybeans, because that is what almost all industrially raised food animals are regularly fed.

Other good choices include macadamia nut oil, walnut oil, avocado oil, Thrive algae oil, and ghee. (Ghee is clarified butter, meaning that the milk solids—protein—have been removed and with them the offending lectinlike casein.) You can also use citrus-flavored cod liver oil on salad or to dress cooked vegetables.

coconut yogurt and toss into any salad dressing. • Consume lemon juice and vinegars, including balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy, which also contains polyphenols.

Paradox Although you should eat as many vegetables in the cabbage family (crucifers) as possible, if you have been told or suspect that you have IBS or “leaky gut,” remember my advice to overcook all crucifers initially. When eaten raw or in large quantities, these vegetables often cause stomach upset and diarrhea. If you are new to them, increase your intake gradually. Crucifers, including sauerkraut, activate specialized white blood cells in the intestinal lining, and those cells contain receptors that calm the immune system gone awry. Compounds in cruciferous veggies thus alert the border patrol on your gut wall to calm down and not to shoot anything that moves. These receptors are called the Ah receptors. When activated, your immune cells say, “Ah.” Now you know why Mom made you eat your broccoli!

scenario that halts a lot of followers of low-carb, high-protein diets, such as Atkins, South Beach, Protein Power, and Paleo. Even cutting out sugar does not diminish insulin levels, because of all that protein. Again, the excess protein morphs into sugar and results in insulin release, which blocks the action of the hormone-sensitive lipase, preventing fat from converting to ketones. The side effects of this blockage typically manifest as headaches, low energy, aches, and the so-called Atkins or low-carb flu. To be clear, you have to cut out not only sugars but also proteins to stop this process. Really? Both? Fat chance of that happening, you say. In fact, you are right. Fat will give you a chance!

SUCCESS STORY Diabetes and Cancer Have Disappeared Melinda Y., a new seventy-seven-year-old patient, had diabetes, which was in itself serious, but her bigger problem was the large squamous cell cancers on both her legs. The tumors were too large for surgery and chemotherapy is notoriously ineffective for lesions this large. She had heard in online chat rooms that all would not be lost if she followed what I had suggested for other cancer patients. She flew into Palm Springs for a visit. I immediately placed her on the Keto Plant Paradox Intensive Care Program. Within six months, not only did her diabetes disappear, but her cancers also completely resolved. It’s an amazing but true story about the power of this program! While we are starving cancer cells, every other cell in your body, including your brain, can also use ketones to power Mighty Mouse and his clones. As a cardiac surgeon, I know that heart cells much prefer ketones to glucose for everyday energy use or when under intense performance challenges, such as running a marathon. If you are experiencing memory loss, Parkinson’s, or neuropathy, exciting research suggests that the exhausted Mighty Mice in your nerve cells can come back to life if they are fed ketones instead of sugar.4

Unlike everything you have almost certainly been told by your diabetic educator, fat is your friend. Say it with gusto: “Fat is my friend!” Another important thing you should understand is that protein, carbs, and fruit are your enemies and fat and ketones are your friends.5 In contrast to the teachings of nutritionists who deal with the condition, diabetes is just a metabolic derangement brought about by too much protein, sugar, and fruit overworking your poor mitochondria. Diabetes is completely curable, a fact I see every single day.

To be clear, with the Keto Plant Paradox Intensive Care Program, you will immediately eliminate the vast majority of toxins that are killing your kidneys—namely, lectins, fruits, and excessive amounts of animal protein.

The Keto Plant Paradox Intensive Care Program in Practice

What You’ll Eat THE SAY “YES PLEASE” list for the Keto Plant Paradox Intensive Care Program eliminates almost all fruits, except those that are listed as resistant starches. All other fruits move to the Just Say “No” list. This is the main change, and everything else remains nearly the same as the basic program. Consume absolutely no fruit except for avocados, green bananas and plantains, green mangos, and green papayas. (Okay, nitpickers, okra is fine, too. It is technically a fruit, but that mucusy stuff that many people hate binds lectins like a magnet.) As far as fats go, initially concentrate on medium-chain fatty acids or the short-chain fatty acids in butter or ghee, but a word of warning: Too much coconut oil or MCT oil in too short a time can give you diarrhea.

Sample Meal Plans for the Keto Plant Paradox Intensive Care Program

“Green” Egg-Sausage Muffins