Bar Napkin confessions

‘RD’elusion – Nutrition Pro Questioning Paleo…
robbwolf.com

As a Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian (RD) that is open­ly paleo and advo­cates a paleo lifestyle in prac­tice, I often get inquiries from other RD’s ques­tion­ing the effi­ca­cy, safe­ty, rec­om­men­da­tions and/or over­all idea of paleo. I recent­ly…

The foods that are not part of a paleo lifestyle; grains, legumes, soy, dairy, etc, all contain proteins and/or anti-nutrients that our bodies were not designed to handle. Grains contain large protein molecules called ‘lectins’. The digestive system doesn’t have the ‘equipment’ necessary to breakdown lectins, which means, they just hang around in the gut. These ‘loose canons’ have the ability to bind to certain gut receptors and then act as ‘keys’ unlocking a door that lets them out into our bodies. Unfortunately, lectins were ‘born in a barn’ – not only do they not close the door as they leave, but they also damage the gut on the way out. This is how the gut gets ‘leaky’ and it doesn’t end there. Since the lectins are not part of the ‘normal’ environment, the body doesn’t recognize them and the immune system, standing on guard, initiates an attack on the strangers creating antibodies against them. The antibodies made have a striking resemblance to other proteins normally found in our systems. This leads to an autoimmune response (the body attacking itself). The story is similar for legumes and dairy both of which also contain proteins, anti-nutrients and protease inhibitors that irritate the gut in much the same way as lectins. While many may feel exempt from the whole process, claiming that they feel fine – this may not necessarily be the case. While some may be more sensitive to these foods than others, it is likely that removing them will have positive effects across the board.