The Plant Paradox Cookbook: 100 Delicious Recipes to Help You Lose Weight, Heal Your Gut, and Live Lectin-Free

by Steven R. Gundry

The false sweetness doesn’t help you lose weight by saving you calories. On the contrary, it decimates your friendly bacterial population3 and triggers your brain to seek more sweets and store fat for the winter

Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with the normal functioning of your hormones. They are commonly found in plastics, including personal care products, household

fruit, sugar, seeds, eggs, soy, nightshades, roots, or tubers. No corn, soy, or canola oils, or any form of beef or conventionally-raised meats. Removing

Basically, you eat nothing but organic vegetables from the “yes, please” list, as well as avocado and small amounts of wild-caught fish, pastured chicken, tempeh, shellfish, hemp tofu, or certain Quorn products (listed on the “yes, please” list), and healthy fats and

avoid extra-virgin olive oil and coconut oil because they

use macadamia nut oil, walnut oil, avocado oil, ghee, MCT oil, or perilla oil (a popular cooking oil in Asia that’s available in Asian markets, at Whole Foods, and from online sources). You can drink all the water and black and green tea (sweetened only with stevia) you’d like. Appropriate recipes for this phase include Garlic-and-Walnut-Stuffed Mushrooms, Ralph’s Breakfast Scramble (the vegan version), Lemon, Kale, and Chicken Soup, and Tangy Coconut Greens.

recommend an herbal blend called Swiss Kriss, which

this phase of the program, you are basically retraining your eating habits so that you create a healthy digestive environment that continues to nurture your gut buddies and doesn’t let the bad guys come roaring back and take over the place. If Phase 1 was about pulling the weeds in the overgrown garden of your digestive tract, Phase 2 is about nurturing the soil and rebuilding the fences that keep unwelcome critters out of your crops. In my experience, it takes people six weeks to fully establish a new habitual eating pattern; for that reason, Phase 2 of the Plant Paradox program lasts for six weeks.

steer clear of all fruit except for those allowed on Phase 1, avoid cow’s milk dairy as much as possible (although coconut milk and yogurt are okay; as are milk, cheese, and yogurt made from sheep and goat milk so long as you don’t overdo them because they do contain Neu5Gc), and omit beans and tofu and other unfermented soy products (for everyone, but this is of particular note if you are a vegetarian

for the first two weeks of Phase 2, limit your consumption of coconut oil and olive oil. Since we’re trying to cool inflammation as much as possible during this early phase of the program, easing off these oils will help you meet that goal, at least for now. After two weeks on Phase 2, you can begin to add these oils back into your normal rotation.

You should also maximize your resistant starch intake to fuel your rehabbed gut buddies—plantains, sweet potatoes or yams, taro root, shirataki noodles (a tasty pasta alternative found in the grocery store refrigerator case), parsnips, turnips, jicama, celery root, Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes), as well as green mangoes, papayas, and bananas. Other foods that help feed your friendly bacteria are radicchio, Belgian endive, okra, artichokes, onions, garlic, and mushrooms—they provide an indigestible (to

leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables, so continue to eat plenty of these (as you did in Phase 1). Like I mentioned in Rule

Nuts are a great snack for this phase, particularly polyphenol-rich pistachios, walnuts, macadamias, and pecans, up to a half cup a day. Fresh or dried figs (which are technically a flower and not a fruit) and dates are good sources of the fibers only your good gut buddies love, and are great to use in limited amounts when you need a sweet boost—add them to salads or

addition, in Phase 2 you’ll start taking a fish oil capsule—one that contains the highest number of milligrams of DHA that you can afford. Ideally you’ll consume a total 1,000 mg of DHA a day—either before each meal

Vitamin D3. Aim for taking 5,000 to 10,000 IUs a day, unless you are working

if possible, and with the guidance of your health-care provider, of course—any prescription drugs that disrupt your microbiome, including antibiotics, stomach-acid-blocking drugs (replace with Rolaids, Tums, DGL, or marshmallow root), and NSAIDS (such as ibuprofen and naproxen; replace with Tylenol or boswellia extract).

They’ve lost excess weight or gained a few pounds if they were underweight. If they’ve been suffering from arthritis or an autoimmune condition, they marvel at how much their chronic pain has dissipated. Their digestion is improved and any constipation or diarrhea has rectified itself. They also understand that they haven’t merely completed a diet; they have changed their bodies for the better—and they want to keep feeling good.

this point you can start eating more coconut oil, introducing “baby” versions of lectin-containing foods such as cucumbers, zucchini, and Japanese eggplant (because these immature versions contain few or no seeds), as well as peeled and seeded heirloom tomatoes and peppers. Next comes pressure-cooked beans and lentils in small amounts. If you tolerate those well, then try small servings of pressure-cooked white basmati rice (preferably from India) or pressure cooked pseudo-grains like quinoa. In terms of timing, reintroduce no more than one new food a week so that you can assess the effect each has on you and your microbiome. If you can pinpoint one or two troublesome foods by watching your bowel movements, your joints, your skin, and your

weather or anytime you need a