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

by Steven R. Gundry

I’ve discovered a significant part of the answer to the mystery of why our collective health has declined and our collective weight has risen so drastically in just a few decades—and it starts with plant proteins called lectins.

There is no question that consuming certain plants is essential for good health—and therein lies the paradox. They power your body and provide most of the hundreds of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients that you need not just to live, but also to thrive.

Because their initial predators were insects, plants developed some lectins that would paralyze any unfortunate bug that tried to dine on them.

the plant doesn’t want its babies to be eaten before the protective coating is completely hardened, so it uses the color of unripe fruit (usually green) to convey the message “not yet” to the predator. Just in case the predator can’t interpret this signal, the plant often increases the toxin levels in the unripe fruit itself to make it absolutely clear that the time is not right.

green means “stop” and red (and orange and yellow) means “go.” Red, orange, and yellow signal sweetness and desirability to your brain, a concept that food marketers have long known

however, now when you buy fruit in North America in December, it was likely grown in Chile or another country in the Southern Hemisphere, picked slightly unripe, and then given a blast of ethylene oxide when it arrived at its destination.

The ethylene oxide exposure changes the color to make the fruit appear ripe and ready to eat, but the lectin content remains high because the protective coating of the seed never fully matured and the fruit never got the message from the parent plant to reduce the lectin content.

Thanks to the high lectin count, eating fruit picked too early is detrimental to your health.

Because it does not have to travel a long distance over several days, it may be picked ripe and not have to be gassed.

You may already know that nightshades, which include such culinary favorites as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and peppers, are highly inflammatory. We’ll come back to the nightshade family, which also includes goji berries, as well as to grains and to beans and other legumes, later.

If you’re a plant, any compound that makes your predator think twice about eating your offspring is a good thing from your viewpoint. Think about that the next time you encounter a jalapeño pepper.

WHAT ARE lectins anyway? For the most part, with one important exception, they are large proteins found in plants and animals, and they are a crucial weapon in the arsenal of strategies that plants use to defend themselves in their ongoing battle with animals.

Natural pesticide

lectins target and attach themselves to sugar molecules, primarily on the surface of the cells of other organisms—particularly

Lectins are sometimes referred to as “sticky proteins” because of this binding process, which means they can interrupt messaging between cells or otherwise cause toxic or inflammatory reactions,

If you have ever experienced brain fog, thank lectins.

In addition to the potential to cause health problems, lectins can also stimulate weight gain.

Wheat helped your ancestors gain or maintain weight in ancient times when food was often scarce; back then, a “wheat belly” was a great thing to possess! And guess what? That WGA in the “ancient” forms of wheat is just as present in modern wheat—hence the weight gain.

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. (That same corn and grain in processed foods bulk you up as well,

THE LECTINS IN beans and other legumes, wheat and other grains, and certain other plants are especially problematic for humans.

When cows and other animals eat grain- or soy-based feed, both of which are full of lectins, these proteins wind up in the animals’ milk or meat. The same thing happens with the meat and eggs of chickens raised on feed full of lectins.

She was an indirect grain and legume eater! We immediately removed chicken from her diet, and sure enough, within two weeks Yvonne’s eczema vanished. Three years later, it is still gone, and so is the free-range chicken.

The next time your nose runs after eating spicy foods, you’ll know that you’ve just eaten some lectins.

Wheat is addictive, acting like an opiate in your brain. Like most people, you tolerate its ill effects because you are addicted to it. In addition to its addictive properties, wheat presents another huge problem for us—it actively promotes weight gain.

this: to fatten a steer or other animal for slaughter, the farmer feeds it grains (and soybeans and other legumes), along with low-dose antibiotics. Grains with a side of antibiotics have the same effect on humans, plumping us up

You’ve already met a stealth villain lurking in wheat: wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Just to be clear, WGA is not associated with gluten; rather, it is found in bran. This means that white bread contains gluten but not WGA, while whole wheat bread contains the double whammy!

So how do you avoid WGA? Simply steer clear of whole-grain bread and other whole-grain products.

Although I once believed that any white grain was inferior to any brown (whole) grain, I have since

changed my stance.

the real reason that both French men and women are more likely to keep their shape and have fewer heart problems than Americans is that they are not consuming WGA.

It’s also why Italians eating their own version of white bread and only small portions of pasta made with white flour—in Italy, pasta is a first course, not the main dish Americans make