Remember to continue the other items we started: (Day 1) LongLife Vitality Supplements, Zendocrine Capsules, (Day 2) a drop of lemon or grapefruit in a glass of water and Curbing Cravings Tea, (Day 3) evening detox bath, (Day 4) Morning Liver Flush drink, (Day 5) De-Stress time, (Day 6) Using Geranium and a nice Foot Soak, (Day 7) adding TerraZyme & Rosemary Essential Oil to help support our digestive system, (Day 8) Remove sugar from snacks.

Today I want to talk about another substance that I believe causes A LOT of digestive issues. It’s lectin. Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins, macromolecules that are highly specific for sugar moieties.

Lectins perform recognition on the cellular and molecular level and play numerous roles in biological recognition phenomena involving cells, carbohydrates, and proteins. Lectins also mediate attachment and binding of bacteria and viruses to their intended targets. For example, it is hypothesized that some hepatitis C viral glycoproteins attach to C-type lectins on the host cell surface (liver cells) for infection.

Lectins may be disabled by specific mono- and oligosaccharides, which bind to ingested lectins from grains, legume, nightshade plants and dairy; binding can prevent their attachment to the carbohydrates within the cell membrane. Some lectins may be powerful toxins as for instance ricin, and others have been incorporated into genetically engineered crops to transfer traits, such as resistance to pests and resistance to herbicides.

Lectins are found in many foods, not just grains, and consumed in smaller amounts, your body will do just fine with them. But foods that have large amounts of lectins are more problematic. Some of the lectins and foods that cause digestive issues include wheat, rice, spelt and soy.

Sprouting and fermenting grains reduces phytates and lectins, making these foods easier to digest. GMO (genetically modified organisms) and hybridized foods tend to be the highest in lectins since they have been modified to fight off bugs. Also, gluten-containing grains will damage your intestinal lining and cause ‘leaky gut syndrome’.

So while you are working to detox your body and heal your digestive system, stay away from all grains, especially ones that contain gluten like wheat. Once your gut is healthy, you can add back in grains that have been fermented and sprouted to eat occasionally.

Beware, even though a product states its gluten-free it may have other substances that we will be talking about in future posts. That is why I state to use whole foods, unprocessed foods. Currently, our society is processing foods to make them more resistant to insects and spoiling. This processing is adding substances that our digestive system can not handle correctly.

Using a low-carb diet will help as most of the carbs in our food system contain gluten. I found carb-cutting comfort foods to chase away winter chills! Here are 12 recipes to help.