WHY LECTINS LEAD TO LEAKY GUT AND WAYS TO

DECREASE LECTINS.
Kea Schwarz

4/3/18
Introduction
Lectins are proteins that have the capacity to bind to specific carbohydrates

reversibly without changing their covalent structure.1,2,3 They are present in many

dietary staples like cereal grains, legumes, potatoes, and fruits. They were first detected

in plants as hemagglutinins in the 19th century. By the early 1960s, researchers agreed

that these proteins also agglutinate different types of cells and many of them are sugar

specific. Few lectins were isolated until the 1970s. During this time they were shown to

be useful tools in the study of carbohydrates on cell surfaces. Subsequently, over the

years hundreds of lectins have been isolated from plants. Due to their many different

biological activities, lectins have been a topic in research for over 100 years. 4 Lectins

are known to aid in biological recognition that involve cells and proteins which protect

plants against pathogens, like fungi and other organism. This is due to their insecticidal

mechanism of action, which makes them harmful to many insects and pests of crops. 2,3

This is beneficial to the plant, but may be wreaking havoc on its consumers. Lectins

affect lymphocyte mitogenesis and have a stimulating and inhibiting effect in the

gastrointestinal tract. They have also been shown to aggregate immunoglobulins, inhibit

fungal growth, and induce histamine release from basophils. As knowledge about

lectins increases so has speculation of their dietary role in a range of conditions such as

inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease.1,2 Lectins are able to surpass digestion

in the gastrointestinal tract of its consumers. This enables them to bind to glycosyl

membrane groups of the cells that line the digestive tract. In consequence of this

interaction, sequences of harmful local and systemic reactions are prompted. Therefore,

lectins are grouped into a class of molecules considered antinutritive and are also a

toxic substance.3 They have been shown to locally affect the turnover and loss of gut
epithelial cells, impair the luminal membranes of the epithelium, interrupt nutrient

digestion and absorption, promote changes in the bacterial flora in the digestive tract, as

well as modulate the state of immunity in the digestive tract.3,4 Systematically, lectins

are thought to disrupt macronutrient metabolism, stimulate the enlargement and atrophy

of important internal organs and tissues, and modify the hormonal and immunological

status in the body. 3,5 In large amounts, lectins can create serious issues in health and

growth of animals. Decades of research suggests that many lectins are toxic,

inflammatory, resistant to digestion and certain cooking methods, and present in foods

as potential promoters of food poisoning.3,5 Although, risk for toxicity from lectin

consumption is rare, there is always a possibility for harm due to contamination,

overconsumption, or allergy.5 Evidence suggests that lectins pose a threat to the

gastrointestinal tract potentially leading to leaky gut and autoimmune diseases. Certain

measures may be taken to decrease the lectin quantity in plant products maintaining

nutritional and health quality of consuming lectin containing plants.

Health Impacts of Lectins

Mammals have developed a specialized gastrointestinal system for the purpose

of digestion and absorption. This system is maintained by the mucosal barrier.

However, in pathological conditions permeability of the epithelial lining is compromised.

This allows for the passage of toxins, antigens, and bacteria into the lumen and then

into the blood stream. A specialized barrier function is required to block exterior

antigens from entering while still absorbing nutrients. Luckily, the intestine is held

together by tight junction proteins. Tight junctions create a selectively permeable barrier

between epithelial cells. Other factors support this barrier including mucins, cytokines,
antimicrobial molecules, and immunoglobulins. The occurrence of any abnormality

among these features increased intestinal permeability and enables entry of exterior

antigens from the intestine into the blood stream. This is called a “leaky gut”. This

“leakage” may promote both local and systemic immune responses. Many diseases

may also emerge or be exacerbated as a result of a leaky gut. These include

autoimmune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, autoimmune

hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and systemic lupus.6 These issues may

result from high intake of lectins. Furthermore, high concentrations of raw lectins may

also cause acute toxic reactions when consumed by humans. This can lead to nausea,

bloating, vomiting, and diarrhea.2 Lectins have also been found to inhibit plasma

membrane repair. Therefore, they are toxic to wounded cells in the gastrointestinal tract.

The acute gastrointestinal distress caused by constant mechanical and membrane

disruptors can be reduced and repaired in part by exocytotic events that patch the

gastrointestinal membrane. However, cell surface-bound lectins occurring through

consumption of lectin containing plants have been shown to inhibit exocytosis. This

represents a form of protein-based toxicity that is the basis of plant derived lectin food

positioning.7 These issues demonstrate the negative effects lectins can have on the gut

lining. The inhibition of gut epithelial cell repair by lectin interference promotes a variety

of inflammation enhancing disease processes.8

Role of Lectins in Inflammation

Inflammation occurs when epithelial cells are continuously exposed to

mechanical and chemical stressors, like food and bacteria.8,9 This leads to frequent

membrane disruption. In turn, leading to thickening of the cell walls.10,11 Thickening of

the cell walls is the immune system attacking a potentially harmless virus, bacteria, or

food in the gut, which may result in bowel injury.11 As previously mentioned,

macromolecule movement depends on paracellular permeability and its regulated

depends on modulation of tight junctions.9 Autoimmune diseases are linked to intestinal

permeability as well as changes in the function of tight junctions.9,11 In other words,

inflammation leads to leaky gut which may be a progressive issue leading to

autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune reactivity is dependent on the interaction of dietary

lectins and the facilitation of bacterial growth. Release of bacterial toxins increases the

permeability of the gut. This allows for the passage of dietary lectins and other antigens

into the circulation which can lead to further systemic issues.9 One potential mechanism

of action underlying lectin induced inflammation involves the induction of caspase 1

activation and IL-1b proinflammatory cytokine secretion by the NLRP3 inflammasome.

NLRP3 is a type of Inflammasome which is triggered by microbial infection, or signals of

danger. When consumed, lectins leak out of the lysosome and are translocated to the

endoplasmic reticulum. Once stationed in the endoplasmic reticulum, lectins cause a

release of calcium which promotes mitochondrial damage. The inhibition of calcium was

shown to suppress NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Inflammation caused by plant

lectins therefore depends on the NLRP3 inflammasome. This means lectins activate the

NLRP3 inflammasome promoting inflammation and inflammatory diseases.12 Though

many issues have can be associated with lectin intake, there are various possible

solutions that may reduce the negative activities of lectins.

Possible Solutions
 Lectins are found in especially high amounts in legumes. This is why legumes have

been the main focus in plant lectin research. Certain cooking methods including

soaking, heating, autoclaving, and fermentation have been reviewed as potential

solutions in the reduction of plant lectins. Firstly, the effect of fermentation on lectin

concentration of lima beans was tested by Ibrahim et al. Fermentation is thought to

allow beneficial bacteria to digest and convert many of the harmful substances in foods

into inert constituents. However, not all of the lectins were completely destroyed by the

fermentation process.13 Furthermore, in some studies soaking has been shown to

remove some of the lectins in beans. During soaking, water is dispersed into starch

granules and protein fractions of beans. This facilitates gelatinization and protein

denaturation which softens the texture and promotes leaching of certain constituents

into the surrounding water. Ibrahim et al, showed that long durations of soaking

legumes in a bicarbonate solution resulted in a significant reduction in the antinutritional

factors including lectins. In the study, researchers soaked cowpeas for 16 hours before

noting significant alterations in lectin availability.13 Furthermore, in another study,

Adeparusi found that soaking lima beans in distilled water was an effective method in

the removal of lectins.14 However, soaking does not decrease antinutrient properties of

all types of beans. One study performed by Sharma et al, showed that neither soaking

nor dehulling then soaking for up to 10 hours was able to remove the haemagglutinating

activity in fava beans completely. However, leaching out of lectins was observed during

soaking. That being said, the amount left in the bean was still enough to agglutinate

rabbit erythrocytes.15 Rabbit and human erythrocytes are different. Therefore, there may

difficulties when comparing the effect that the remaining lectins may pose to humans.
Another cooking method tested in attempt to reduce or eliminate lectin concentration in

beans was the application of heat. Cooking pregerminated cowpeas as opposed to

cooking raw cowpeas was proven to be the most effective method in removal of

lectins.13 When it came to cooking lima beans, lectins were totally removed by this

process, proving to be the most effective way to remove lectins from lima beans. 14

However, in the same way soaking failed to remove all the lectins from fava beans,

cooking also did not remove the haemagglutinating activity in fava beans completely.15

One method that was found to completely rid lectins from fava beans was autoclaving.

Cooking dehulled beans for 15 minutes followed by autoclaving them for 25 minutes, at

212 degrees Celsius, completely eliminated lectins from fava beans. It was found that

the phytohematogglutinin (lectin) activity was destroyed in the autoclaved beans after

just 5 minutes.16 Cooking solves issues related to lectin intake. However, studies have

also shown that certain cooking methods may affect the overall nutrient availability and

palatability of legumes.

Legumes represent an important component of the human diet. Certain constituents

in legumes have been linked to health hazards like lectins, but benefits from legume

consumption is also apparent. Benefits including the reducing the risk of cardiovascular

disease, diabetes, and some cancers have been related to the consumption of legumes.

Furthermore, preparation and cooking legumes can improve or impede nutritional

quality of the food as well as other factors. Legumes offer a good source of protein as

well as some fats, carbohydrates, dietary fibers, and B-vitamins. However, changes in

temperature can alter the flavor, texture, and appearance of legumes making them

softer, savorer, and overall palatably acceptable, but at the expense of decreasing
nutrient availability. Cooking beans reduces the content of vitamins in fava beans,

lentils, and chickpeas.17 Though studies demonstrate decreased nutrient availability, the

pros of cooking and consuming legumes far outweigh the cons.

Conclusion

In summary, lectins play a key role in protecting plants against pathogens.2

Therefore, lectins are found in many plant products, including many that are regularly

consumed by humans.2,3 The issue is that lectins can surpass human digestion which

leads to inflammation and weakening of the epithelial lining. 4,5,6,7,8,9 Weakening of the

lining in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to other issues including inflammation.10,11

The mechanism by which lectins promote inflammation involves the activation of NLRP3

inflammasome.12 Inflammation increases permeability of the tight junctions in the

gastrointestinal tract and promotes the development of inflammatory diseases including

certain autoimmune diseases and certain cancers. However, different methods of

cooking are shown to have an effect on removing lectins from legumes. Certain

methods including fermentation, soaking, heating, and autoclaving have been tested.

Soaking does a good job at removing some lectins in certain varieties of legumes. 13,14

However, autoclaving and cooking seem to be the most effective methods.13,15,16 At the

same time, processing may lead to nutrient loss. Cooking has been shown to decrease

the vitamins and minerals in legumes whereby decreasing total antioxidant capacity. 17

Soaking and then cooking has shown to decrease cooking time and increase nutrient

availability but may not remove all the lectins in the beans. 15,17 Ultimately, there are

more pros than cons to cooking and consuming legumes as they are a good source of

protein and dietary fiber.17 There is a lot of nutrition information available to the public. It
can be difficult for the average consumer to sort through scientific studies with a

comprehensive understanding of the potentially conflicting results that may appear in

the literature.

Application to Dietetics Practice

The average consumer is bombarded by nutrition information on a daily basis

whether it be a new fad diet in the magazines at the grocery store check out line or a

health claim labeled on a cereal box. Health professionals are responsible for providing

reliable information about nutrition to their patients. For example, many people may be

turned off by the new of legumes containing antinutrients. Once they took note of that,

they wouldn’t be able to see any positive nutritional qualities in legumes. It would

ultimately be irresponsible for a dietician to suggest a lectin free diet. There are such a

wide variety of healthy plant foods that contain lectins. In the case that a person is very

sensitive to lectins, a special diet built this food sensitivity may be advised. However, for

the majority of people, natural fruits, vegetables, and legumes containing lectins provide

more benefit to health than harm.18 Understanding the best cooking methods for nutrient

retention is essential for scientific research in food development as well as for the

consumer who can make decisions about how to prepare many healthy foods like

legumes.17 Furthermore, understanding the mechanism responsible for the induction of

autoimmunities can enable dieticians design appropriate treatments for the prevention

of many lectin-induced autoimmune diseases.9

Overall, lectins can cause harm and promote inflammation in the gut, but certain

cooking methods have been shown to reduce the amount of lectins in legumes. These

factors are important in the dietetic practice because some people may be sensitive to
lectins, but the majority of individuals do not have a sensitivity to lectins. It is the

responsibility of the clinical team to work with patients in solving any issues related to

lectins and autoimmune diseases.

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