Do you suffer from uncontrolled problems with digestion or unexplained weight fluctuations? If so, it may simply be a question of food hypersensitivity.

Some people are unable to tolerate certain cereals, pulses and dairy products. Why? Because of lectins – proteins found in both animal- and plant-based foods which specifically attach themselves to carbohydrates, potentially causing food hypersensitivity with symptoms such as:

- gastro-intestinal: indigestion, gas, bloating, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting.
- or more general: food cravings, energy lows, headaches, fatigue, unexplained weight gain, mood swings or low mood…

Even though lectins are not broken down easily or destroyed at high temperatures, the body is normally able to neutralise 95% of them. However, a tiny amount – around 5% - may not be digested by the stomach and can therefore cross the gut wall, reacting with antigens on red blood cells. The red blood cells then agglutinate in organs, variously affecting the nervous, cardiovascular, digestive or hormone systems.

In addition, lectins may induce resistance to a hormone which regulates fat reserves called leptin, and in particular, they mimic insulin by stimulating adipocyte fat storage.
Gliadin is one of the most common lectins, found in wheat, oats, rye and barley, and is the cause of much inflammatory discomfort. Other lectins upset the balance of gut flora and most stimulate intestinal production of harmful polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and cadaverine) which reduce digestibility and use of protein in the intestine.

Blood group is a factor
Antigens (glycoproteins), present on the surface of blood cells, are specific to each blood group and in fact determine individual blood type. Some dietary lectins can actually attack a blood group because they resemble antigens from another blood group.

Natural remedies
It is obviously impossible to change one’s blood group, but many day-to-day digestive problems can be effectively resolved by using first-line preventive substances that bind to these troublesome lectins and eliminate them from the body. These include soluble fibre, saccharide substances as well as those that ‘nourish’ the gut and protect it from inflammation.

- Bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) is an important source of soluble fibre, including pectin, which increases intestine viscosity and is broken down by microorganisms, releasing short chain fatty acids with prebiotic benefits.
- Western larch (Larix occidentalis) provides prebiotic arabinogalactans that help relieve the symptoms of IBS, diverticulitis and ulcerative colitis.
- Sodium alginate is a gel-forming derivative of brown seaweed that ‘captures’ the lectins enabling them to be eliminated from the body.
- N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) , a mucopolysaccharide, is able to bind to wheat lectins.
- Two sugars are also very effective : fucose, extracted from Fucus vesiculosus algae, which binds to yeast and bacteria, and D-mannose, which is uniquely able to ‘stick’ to and neutralise Escherichia coli lectins, relieving urinary discomfort.
- L-glutamine is the main amino acid that provides energy to intestinal mucosa cells, both maintaining and repairing them.
- And finally curcumin, the active substance in curcuma, is now widely-recognized for significantly reducing intestinal inflammation.