Lectins, Leaky Gut & Celiac Disease - The Connection

Emilem · December 4, 2012

I was diagnosed with celiac disease in March of this year (2012) after experiencing an on-set of the following symptoms:

-EDEMA (extreme tissue swelling all over the body that never seemed to subside)

-SINUS CONGESTION and SCRATCHY THROAT

-Achiness

-Fatigue

-Anemia (falling asleep all of the time)

-Severe cravings/constant hunger

I immediately eliminated ALL gluten. I felt better for a few weeks, then I felt progressively worse. I've toyed with elimination diets of all sorts for the past six months. I have been able to pinpoint some problematic foods, but what throws me for a loop, is that some herbs, and possibly some vegetables seem to bother me.

I've recently discovered that many celiacs are sensitive to all lectins when they have a leaky gut. I have felt better cutting these well-known lectins from my diet

-legumes

-dairy

-all nuts

-soy

-nightshades & citrus

However, I feel there are some other things lingering in my diet that contain high lectin levels. Is it true that garlic and onion are high in lectin? Are there any fruits and veggies that are known for high lectin content??

mushroom · December 4, 2012

From my reading and experience most lectin-intolerant people are not intolerant to all lectins, but rather specific groups of lectins. You have listed most of the groups up there. Soy and peanuts belong with the legumes, or at least I put them in the same class. I avoid the peanuts not because of trialling them but because I do not tolerate soy. I have no problems with any dairy lectins at this point. I do not know the lectin content of garlic and onion and they do not give me a problem; they are, however, quite high in salicylates which many celiacs have a problem with. I tolerate all tree nuts. One of my big no-no's is corn and the outer skin of the corn kernel is very high in lectins to prevent insect predation. Corn was my first identified reaction to food. And it was a revelation to me when I found out about lectins It explained so many things.

Have you actually individually trialled all those food groups, i.e., challenged each one individually? Because if not you may not need to eliminate them all. It is good to eliminate them all to start with (I would include the corn - and that is a hard one ) and then do an individual challenge of each group? If one food of a group is okay, then try another in the same group the following week, eating small amounts of it each day. Continue testing until you know your response to each group or you may eliminate things unnecessarily.

Have you addressed the issue of healing your leaky gut? Because, as I found to my detriment, until you do you may continue to "lose" other foods which infiltrate your blood stream the same way gluten does.

I would be happy to discuss this some more with you.

LeakyGutRsrch · December 12, 2012

On 12/4/2012 at 6:21 PM, Emilem said:
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in March of this year (2012) after experiencing an on-set of the following symptoms:

-EDEMA (extreme tissue swelling all over the body that never seemed to subside)
-SINUS CONGESTION and SCRATCHY THROAT
-Achiness
-Fatigue
-Anemia (falling asleep all of the time)
-Severe cravings/constant hunger

I immediately eliminated ALL gluten. I felt better for a few weeks, then I felt progressively worse. I've toyed with elimination diets of all sorts for the past six months. I have been able to pinpoint some problematic foods, but what throws me for a loop, is that some herbs, and possibly some vegetables seem to bother me.

I've recently discovered that many celiacs are sensitive to all lectins when they have a leaky gut. I have felt better cutting these well-known lectins from my diet
-legumes
-dairy
-all nuts
-soy
-nightshades & citrus

However, I feel there are some other things lingering in my diet that contain high lectin levels. Is it true that garlic and onion are high in lectin? Are there any fruits and veggies that are known for high lectin content??

Do not overlook the obvious: What is your position on alcohol. For me it was #1 contributor.

GottaSki · December 12, 2012

Ditto what Mushroom said, except I am currently intolerant of ALL the high lectin groups with the exception of onions and garlic for which I am very grateful - they add flavor to almost everything I eat.

Eggs also contain high lectin count -- I thought I was fine with them after elimination trials -- turns out I was wrong -- the reaction was not as sudden as with my other intolerances, but when I had a major flare/setback I finally thought what foods are left that I haven't removed -- removed eggs two months ago - have improved greatly -- but it's a combination of removing eggs and finding that one of my worst intolerances is high histamine foods. If you bloat after eating foods that are normally safe for you -- like leftovers of a meal that was safe or bananas or red wine bother you -- take a look at the high histamine list too.

Hang in there -- this silly food puzzle seems impossible to figure out at times -- but it is doable.