(upbeat music) (chimes) - What's goin on Jigsaw crew? It's Thomas DeLauer, and that is not a real apple. But it still looks cool
like it does with Jigsaw. Anyway today I'm talking about lectins. Lectins are a component of food, 30% of all our food, that can be bad and a lot of
people think are terrible, but I'm going to debunk some of the myths surrounding lectins, and really give you the science. Basically all lectins are, are a form of protein that encourages the binding of certain molecules. Basically, what it does is it causes a certain sugar molecule
to bind to the membrane of another cell. So since it is sugar binding, it means that lectins
attach to carbohydrates. They purpose of a lectin
attaching to a carbohydrate is so that they can communicate
with other molecules in the body better. That's all they're trying to do. So lectins cause these
cells to basically clump up. Let's just simply put it like that. Because they're clumped up, it's easier for them to communicate without the involvement
of the immune system. Normally when cells communicate
there is a small involvement of the body's immune system. So lectins are actually a positive thing. But the negatives come into the equation when we start talking about
how lectins are digested. You see because lectins are so big, and because there are so
many things bound together, they run through our digestive system like an absolute maniac, like a raging bull just
totally destroying things. Let me explain it like this. Inside your intestinal track, you have these things called villi. Villi are basically like
little finger like things that stick out of your
intestinal track, right? So you've got your small intestine, and it's got these small little fingers that absorb nutrients. Food comes along and it
goes in between the villi. Okay and that's how it absorbs. But when you have lectins involved, lectins cause the
molecules to bind together. So now your villi have no longer become an absorption mechanism, they've become bowling pins and the lectins are a bowling ball. And it comes through, and it pummels them and it destroys them. When that happens you've
inhibited digestion because you no longer have the villi to absorb the nutrients. So now instead of having
all of this surface area to absorb nutrients you have this. So you have just completely eradicated the chance of absorbing
some really good nutrients. That's where lectins cause a big problem and that's where they get such a bad rap. So to add insult to injury, once the villi is damaged
you now have trauma. Trauma equals inflammation, inflammation equals antibodies, antibodies equal a myriad of other issues that occur within the intestinal tract. But it gets even worse. Since you've caused damage
and since you've caused trauma and since you've now caused inflammation, you have opened yourself
up to those lectins getting into the blood stream through what's known as a leaky gut. Now I don't want to spend a
lot of time on a leaky gut cause you've probably heard about it. Basically it causes an opening so that things can leak
through the intestinal tract and into the blood stream
that ordinarily would not. This means things like lectins. These lectins barely belong
in the digestive system, let alone in the blood stream. So now that these lectins are floating around in the blood stream, we have inflammation being
triggered up everywhere, but we also have another issue. Lectins really have a nice
affinity for insulin receptors and a nice affinity for leptin, that's leptin with a P, receptors. What does that mean? It means that lectins can ultimately lead to diabetes and diabetes like symptoms, or at least insulin resistance, but it can also lead to leptin resistance which is what dictates
whether your metabolism goes fast or slow. Leptin communicates with your brain, and I know that's confusing because we have lectin and leptin, so don't get too caught up on that. Basically all it means
is that if these lectins get through your intestinal tract, they could really funk some stuff up. Now normally a little bit of damage to those villi is normal, right? So when you consume food, it's gonna break it down a little bit. But it actually encourages
them to grow back stronger. But when you have lectins
they damage them so bad, they don't grow back very well. And continually the lectins basically blunt the regrowth of the villi. So now you have this situation
where the villi is damaged and it can't regrow. So can you cause permanent
damage to your gut? Not really. But you can cause long term enough damage that it is going to be hard to absorb nutrients for quite some time. But that's enough negative,
scary stuff about lectins. Because we really have to talk
the cold, hard truth here. Again, 30% of the food that
we consume have lectins. Lectins are there as a good mechanism for our cells to communicate. So then why are they so bad? Well they're only bad if
you're consuming a ton of them. Okay we really just need to
consume them in moderation. Because a small amount
can actually be good. You see a small amount
can activate what's known as the complimentary immune system, which can actually help fight pathogens. So lectins can work advantageously towards good health
with your immune system. But again just in moderation. And a lot of it comes down
to how you cook the foods that contain lectins. You're not going out and
eating raw beans, are you? I sure hope not because if that's the case then we have some other
things to talk about. But the thing is, lectins
are prevalent in raw foods and if you're not
cooking them all the way. So when you look at beans, you simply wanna be soaking
them for a long time before you cook them. Which if you look at the package, usually it tells you
to do so to begin with. So soak your beans, soak your grains, soak your legumes, soak your lentils, and then cook them all the way through at a moderately high temperature. The other thing that causes
excess release of lectins, is cooking them slowly. So if you slow cook beans
or you slow cook chili, you're going to have more lectins than if you soak your
beans and then cook them at high heat like your supposed to. It's plain and simple. You really should just
follow the directions that are on the label, and you're probably not gonna have that much of an issue with lectins. But also you may not want to be consuming copious amounts of beans to begin with. One, you have other
things that are going on like your body lacks the
enzymes to break down a lot of the proteins
in beans to begin with, but you also have a family
to be concerned with. And I don't think that
they want you eating a lot of beans day in and day out. Alright Jigsaw, now I
know you're not out there eating fake fruit and fake food, but you're still probably
not getting your minerals. And especially not getting your minerals if you're eating a lot of
foods that contain lectins, because if you listen to what I just said your minerals probably aren't
getting absorbed either. So make sure that you check out Jigsaw's MAG SRT, and also the Electrolyte Supreme, so that you can get the
most out of your body and the most out of your minerals. So click on through and I
will see you on the next page. (electronic noise) (chimes)
