lectin research question
Can I ask people to provide some input? I have researched lectins a
bit (certainly not enough to claim to be an expert) and I have been
running into sources that say that most lectins are not blood type
specific. This is in scientific articles–not from diet gurus. Has
anyone out there run into this too? My little brain is churning
because a lot of what I have read indicates that grains (wheat,
quinoa, rice, buckwheat, oats, rye, barley, millet and corn), all
legumes, dairy, and the nightshade family (includes potato, tomato,
eggplant and pepper) have lectins that agglutinate with every blood
type. The only things that I saw in the literature that I check out
that were blood type specific (always blood type A) were Elderberry,
Jerusalem Artichoke, Lima Bean, and Snail.
I can send a list of sources that I have been reviewing. One summary
article by a clinical nutritionalist in California (that is where I
found out about some of the science journal articles) says that Dr.
D’Adamo’s testing approach only looked at how lectins react with
blood cells and that “Lectin intolerance reactions occur in the gut,
general circulation (artery walls and the like), brain, gland or
organ as well as red blood cells. Sensitivity of one type of cell
does not necessarily determine whether another type cell will or will
not react.”. Some articles indicate that it is impossible to know how
the lining of the gut will be effected because it is too difficult to
measure. I find this all very curious and I would like to know what
other people think or if they have run into similar things in
scientific articles. As a non-doctor I find it difficult sometimes to
reconcile the differences between all of these medical researchers. I
should note too that I have looked at some of the articles that
D’Adamo uses–but I have to earn a living so I can’t look at
everything.
I’ve been thinking about removing my two-three servings of grain a
week, my one-two servings of beans per week, and the remaining
members of the night shade family (tomato & pepper). That would
pretty much give me the Paleo diet for the most part. I have read
that soaking, sprouting, and cooking can reduce lectin levels in food-
-but that levels can still remain high and contribute to ill health.
Does anyone recall Dr. D’Adamo addressing these types of
contradictions in any of his messages to message boards or lectures
that he may have given? I can’t find anything that address these very
specifics in the books that I have (ER, LR, & the Encyclopedia) or in
the databases on his website. Maybe I just missed it when he address
these concepts–any constructive help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Lydia
March 11th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
In a message dated 9/26/2003 2:27:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
katchy71@… writes:
Does she reference her summary with studies and have you read the studies?
I’ve found that many of these “summaries” were disguised commercials for
something and when I dug a little further, I found the summaries to be pretty
groundless. To be fair, I read a lot of vegan studies and “summaries” that
really
have no scientific basis once you pull the string on the research. All of Dr
Ds research made sense to me and seemed to be very logical in it’s experimental
approach and structure. Even he will tell you that blood type isn’t the
whole story but it is an indicator of what is good for us. Unfortunately, we
don’t start with the diet in the beginning but somewhere after we’ve poisoned
ourselves to varying degrees so we will react individually to the diet for a
while. If someone has their mucus membranes or intestinal bacteria destroyed
from
bad foods, they’ll not respond to the diet as well as others. It took me
several months to begin to lose weight because I had screwed up my insulin
resistance so badly.
Not to denegrate her findings since I haven’t seen them but most
nutritionalists have a bias because they’re taught the food pyramid in school
and so they
“see” it in their research. Having been there, it is very easy to make
research “fit” what is generally believed instead of being a detached, impartial
scientist. Saw many students defending their thesis go down in flames because
of
preconceived ideas.
Is the article on a website? If so, could you list it?
March 12th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I think it has to do with the different ways people learn.
Knowing whys can help integrate it into people’s thinking.
March 13th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Hi, Lydia!
You are asking very good questions. Of course, I am a researcher, too, and
I question everything. ; ))))
I’m way behind in my e-mails, so I don’t have time right now to go into
this in depth. From my research so far, there are two ways to look at lectins:
1. Blood type - the ABO blood types are determined by–lectins. So to me,
it made sense that some lectins might be compatible with some other lectins
and incompatible with others, and neutral with yet others. So I didn’t
have any problem with Dr. D. doing his experiments and finding that that is
indeed the case. This is the source of the statement that eating the
Avoids for any blood type is like having a teeny, teeny blood transfusion
of the wrong type blood. And why people in good health can “get away” with
eating more Avoids than those with health challenges–their bodies have the
strength to handle them better.
2. Lectins as lectins in general - there was an excellent site by a
scientist about lectins in foods; sadly, it is no longer there. (Where is
the site that stores a lot of the pages on othe net, so I can try to find
it there?) The information in the page by Krispin appears to be taken from
it (without acknowledgement, the last time I looked). This seems to be
about the way certain lectins affect everyone, and doesn’t seem to have
anything to do with blood type. It may have more to do with the digestive
tract and other organs in the body.
I don’t think of these two ways as contradictory at all. It’s just two
different ways to describe how some substances called lectins affect our
bodies. I see them as complementary–both are necessary.
That’s as far as I can go right now. I hope this helps a bit. I’m on the
PaleoDiet List, and I eat mostly Paleo, avoiding the Type O Avoids. If you
would like that addy, let me know. Keep those questions coming, Lydia–I
don’t do blind faith very well, either.
Jane
Tucson, AZ USA
March 25th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Hello Lydia -
open forum for idea exchange and not a place of mere “because it says
so” dogma spouting.<<
I am not sure why you sound the way you sound. Nobody is against you
here. I think I speak for everyone when I tell you that we are all here
for 2 reasons: TO LEARN & TO HELP. That is the bottom line.
If you assume that we are not open minded because we don’t do a lot of
extra research before giving the diet a try, then I could turn around
and say: that you don’t have an open enough mind to except that we all
function differently. AFTER ALL WE ARE FOLLOWING THE BTD! The most
attacked diet of all. So maybe you should consider all of us pretty open
minded.
As I said before, the moment I saw the book I knew my life would never
be the same. The first thing I did is read the book and memorize my food
lists. Then I went to work - by following Peter’s many years of
research. - eating like an A!
I’ve been here since the beginning, and I am not going anywhere. Working
in the health food industry for over 20 years I can say that I have seen
it all. I became a vegetarian at age 20 and followed a diet that was
somewhat close to the A diet. Call me lucky, but I have never been to a
doctor since I took responsibility for my health. (18).
Do all the research that you can make time for & educate us here.
Meantime follow the diet - & if you run into trouble? Go back to the
basics. You know what that is.
The O diet is the easiest diet I have ever seen! How lucky can you be?
Sometimes I wish I was an O! I mean - meat/greens/fats/some
fruit/water/lots of exercise. Can it get any simpler?
Love Thomas
March 26th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Dear Thomas,
That is my one pitfall, I am basically exercise intolerant, it puts me into a
crash and bedbound for a day or two so I don’t. I do however have to walk up
and down stairs since that was the only kind of house that we could afford to
build that would meet our needs last year. Now my knees are giving me problems
and I sound like I have a pocket full of marbles when I go up or down normally,
orthopod said to take one step at a time. Some times I just don’t have the time
for that. I do plan to do the arthritis protocol one of these months, but I am
also getting an electric wheelchair from Medicare so I can get around better
down here and not hurt myself just walking around my home. May also eventually
use it outside on trips if needed. Guess I can save my current energy, what
little I have, for exercise, like walking up and down the stairs!
Hugs, Michele