Are Lectins in Beans Dangerous?
Nutrition Diva explains whether beans might contain a hidden hazard.
Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS
Q. You often recommend beans and legumes as good sources for opens in a new windowfiber and opens in a new windowvegetarian protein but I’ve read that the leptins in legumes can cause intestinal damage. What’s the deal?
A. Lectins are proteins produced by most plants as a sort of natural pesticide. When consumed in sufficient quantity, lectins are irritating to the digestive tract—and this discourages insects and other animals from over-feeding on the plants. Lectins can also cause digestive problems in humans (to a plant, humans are just really big pests!) and it is true that legumes contain relatively high concentrations of lectins. However, cooking legumes (as well as soaking, sprouting, and/or fermenting them) renders the lectins largely harmless. Seeing as dried beans and lentils aren’t really edible unless they’ve been cooked or sprouted first, I think the problem pretty much takes care of itself.
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opens in a new windowBeans image courtesy of Shutterstock