Voiceover:
Welcome to The Dr. Gundry Podcast where Dr. Steven Gundry shares his groundbreaking research from over 25 years of treating patients with diet and lifestyle changes alone. Dr. Gundry and other wellness experts offer inspiring stories, the latest scientific advancements, and practical tips to empower you to take control of your health and live a long happy life.
Dr. Steven Gundry:
On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the best snacks to eat and the ones that are marketed as healthy but really not and why. Plus, the best milk and milk substitutes to use. And finally, my favorite, mushrooms. Stay tuned, foodies and health enthusiasts. We’re in for a fun ride. Lectin-free snacks. Eat this, not that. Sunflower seeds. I know you see all the ball players eating their sunflower seeds and don’t follow their example. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds are loaded with lectins. Sunflower oil, pumpkin seed oil loaded with lectins.
Instead, use sacha inchi seeds, use barrow nut seeds, lectin-free, loaded with protein, or just munch on some pomegranate seeds. Now, you’ll notice I’ve talked about a couple of seeds and some people think that I tell you to avoid all seeds. That’s not true at all. There are certain seeds and certain nuts that you probably should avoid. On the other hand, there are certain seeds that are really good for you. So just because it says a seed doesn’t mean it has lectins, but these are great for you.
How about chips? Now, I hope everybody watching knows that potato chips are really bad for you. They’re usually cooked in lectin-rich oils, omega-6 oils. They’re usually made from potatoes, which are lectin bombs in and of themselves. Corn chips, the same problem. They’re almost always cooked in high omega-6 oils, and 70% of my patients with leaky gut have antibodies to the various components of corn. Now, there are a number of grain-free chip products on the market, as I’ve seen through over 20 years with my patients.
Just because something is grain-free or even lectin-free doesn’t make it your first choice for snacking. For instance, this chip is definitely lectin-free. It has cauliflower and carrots and cassava, but it’s cooked in sunflower oil and it has chia seeds. But the worst part of this chip and this chip is that it’s mostly simple carbohydrates. So just do the math. So eight chips have 140 calories. Okay, that’s a lot of calories for eight chips, but there are 19 grams of carbohydrates in those eight chips.
There’s two grams of fiber, so that means there’s 17 grams of carbohydrate per serving. There’s four grams of carbohydrate in one teaspoon of sugar, so there are over four teaspoons of sugar in one serving of this packet. So regardless of how healthy it may sound, this is a carbohydrate sugar bomb. The same way this sounds healthy, cassava, avocado oil, coconut flour, oop, there’s chia seeds, but this has 20 grams of carbohydrate per serving. There’s three grams of fiber.
This also has 17 grams of carbohydrates per serving. This is not what you think you’re getting. And sadly, I see this happen with my patients all the time. They’re eating a healthy lectin-limited alternative to a potato chip, and yet their triglycerides go up, their insulin goes up, their insulin resistant goes up, all because they’re trying to make a healthy choice. Don’t be tricked. Now, what about popcorn? Well, popcorn, same problem, it’s corn. Every time you pop a grain, you actually expose it to rapid digestion and turns into sugar.
Now, I’m a big fan of sorghum popcorn. In fact, I usually have a handful every night, but it doesn’t have any lectins. But buyer beware, this is not a health food replacement. So for instance, this is a lot better than these. In a half a cup, there’s only eight grams of carbohydrate, one gram of fiber, so there’s seven grams of carbohydrate in a half a cup. Do the math. There’s still about two teaspoons of sugar in each half cup. And believe me, a half cup is not a whole lot. Do what I do when I’m using this treat.
Pour some olive oil all over it, soak it up with olive oil, and use it as a delivery device to get olive oil into your mouth, which is exactly what my wife and I do. Then it becomes a real health food. Number four, hummus. Hummus sounds like the greatest food in the whole world. It’s made out of chickpeas. It could have some olive oil in it. But hold on. Chickpeas and other beans and legumes are loaded with lectins. And so all that healthy hummus that you see at the store, at the farmer’s market, please do yourself a favor, stay away from it.
On the other hand, you can get pressure-cooked chickpeas in the grocery store. Two companies make them. One, Eden brand. The other Jovial like a happy person. These have been pressure cooked, so they’re perfectly safe. Make your own hummus at home. Why? Use the pressure-cooked beans, you’ve eliminated the lectins and you’ll save a lot of money from what you’re going to buy in the store. And you don’t even know where those beans have been. This is the way to go.
So you can replace your store-bought hummus with something you make at home. Another great option is to make macadamia nut hummus. I’ve actually got the macadamia hummus recipe right here on my YouTube channel. Check it out. So how about almonds? Everybody’s favorite snack. The problem with almonds is that the peel of an almond has got a pretty nasty lectin that a number of my patients react to. Now, Marcona almonds or peeled almonds or blanched almonds are safe for most people.
But if you have gut issues or a known autoimmune disease, then you should know that a large percentage of my patients react to all the parts of almonds, almond flour, almond milk, even if it comes from blanched and peeled almonds. So buyer beware, almonds are not your best source of a snack. There’s plenty of other great nuts. As you know, my world-famous Gundry Nut Mix combines macadamia nuts, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans and put all those into a bowl.
You can also for really fun, and you’ll find the recipes in my book, bake them with olive oil and some rosemary and other herbs, toss them around on a baking sheet, and it’ll really add a new dimension to your nut mix. Lots of options instead of almonds. Push those aside in the grocery store. Now, many people when they’re looking for a snack go for yogurt or they go for Greek yogurt. First of all, Greek yogurt, folks, it doesn’t come from Greece. It’s made from American cows. American cows have a protein that’s pretty mischievous called casein A1, and it’s an inflammatory protein.
Now, casein A2 milk yogurt is starting to become available. Goats and sheep contain casein 2. So if you’re going to have yogurt, make sure it’s sheep milk yogurt or goat milk yogurt or coconut yogurt, and make sure it’s plain. Nothing else added. That’s your assurance that you’re getting the right casein A2, that it’s been fermented, and that there’s no more sugar in there. Now, a lot of you will look and look on the label and say, “Wait a minute, there’s six grams of carbohydrates.”
No, there isn’t. Turns out, labeling laws require the manufacturer to put the original ingredient that you started with on the label. Sheep milk lactose is eaten by the bacteria, so it’s not there anymore. So there is no sugar in plain yogurt despite what you see on the label. Now, with coconut yogurt, quite frankly, there isn’t much sugar. And in this case, there’s still six grams, but actually the bugs have eaten all the sugar. The same sort of thing. So perfectly safe to have plain yogurts.
There’s no sugar left because the bacteria ate it. But a word of warning, don’t use flavored yogurt. Avoid the fruit. Avoid the vanilla. Whenever you see a flavoring, I guarantee you there will be loads of sugar, or even worse, a sugar substitute that’s going to wreak havoc on your gut and your microbiome. So goat yogurt, sheep yogurt, coconut yogurt, A2 milk yogurt, you’re good to go as long as it’s plain. If you want to sweeten it, add allulose, my favorite sweetener of all time, and you’ll be fine.
Now, there’s a traditional snack called ants on a log, and that contains celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Well, celery is pretty good for you in limited amounts, but the peanut butter, lectin bomb. Raisins are pure sugar. So what do you do? Well, I’ve made ants on a log with macadamia nut butter. You could do it with pistachio butter. You could do it with walnut butter. For the holidays, put some pomegranate seeds on there and you’ve kind of got a cute little yule log for the holidays.
Number eight, this stuff’s got to go, folks, chia seed pudding. It’s everywhere. Everybody raves about chia seeds and there are things to like about chia seeds. They make a gel that does contain a small amount of omega-3 short-chain fatty acids. And that sounds like a good idea and there are human studies that show we do absorb this short-chain omega-3 fat from chia seeds. But sadly, there are human studies that giving human volunteers chia seeds increases one of the markers of inflammation called C-reactive protein.
Not what you want to do. On the other hand, basil seeds, part of the basil family, which is the mint family, are loaded with antioxidants, also loaded with omega fats, make the exact same nice puffy fiber that chia seeds do, but don’t add to inflammation and they’re readily available. This is my favorite company, Zen Basil. If you can’t find it, make sure that you’re looking for organic basil seeds and use them exactly as you would chia seeds, and I think you’ll actually find you’ll like them a whole lot better.
Number nine, granola bars. Granola bars are basically a bar of sugar and lectins and glyphosate. Almost every granola bar tested in this country by the Environmental Working Group found fairly high levels of glyphosate, Roundup, the weed killer, and another herbicide that’s banned from the United States. So all you’re getting is a pesticide, herbicide-laden sugar bomb. Instead, there’s great bar alternatives here at Gundry MD. You can have a honey nut bar. You can have a coconut bar that tastes exactly like a Mounds bar in my opinion.
You don’t have to just reach for the granola bar. There are also a number of other bars that are in the keto category, which I like and approve, and the list is on my yes list in Unlocking the Keto Code and The Energy Paradox. But be careful with these keto bars. First of all, a lot of them have bad ingredients, like you’ll see peanut butter in a lot of them. A lot of them will sneak in Splenda, which is sucralose, as one of the ingredients. So read the ingredients very carefully before saying, “Dr. Gundry approves of keto bars.”
There are some good ones out there, but please, even the good ones, read the label because they change almost on a monthly basis what the ingredients are. Finally, everybody’s favorite snack, peel a banana and eat it. Here’s the problem with bananas. Number one, when we do food sensitivity testing on our patients, bananas frequently rank really high on foods that people are sensitive to. Not allergic to, sensitive to. That means they actually promote inflammation.
Number two, bananas when they’re ripe, the starch in green bananas changes to a rapidly absorbable fructose that will wreak havoc on raising your triglycerides, will increase your mitochondrial damage both in your liver and in your kidneys, and it’s not the snack you’re looking for. On the other hand, buy your bananas green. Peel them. And it should be hard to peel. Throw the peeled bananas in the freezer. Thaw one out to use and eat it like a popsicle.
It’s not going to be as sweet as you’re used to, but that green banana contains resistant starches that the bacteria in your gut think is one of the best health foods for them. Let’s talk about the best and the worst milk or milk replacement products. First up, plain, old, everyday regular milk. This is a no-go from the start. First of all, it contains the wrong protein called casein A1. Casein A1 is an inflammatory protein that’s present primarily in Holstein cows, which is that black and white cow you see in America.
So this is an inflammatory bomb. Number two, we forget that milk is mostly sugar. Yeah, there’s a bit of protein and there’s a lot of fat, but there’s a ton of sugar in regular milk. Third, milk is designed to make baby cows grow quickly, so it’s loaded with insulin-like growth factor one. It makes cows grow quickly, just like baby sheep, baby goats. You’re not a baby cow. You don’t need insulin-like growth factor, nor does your child. So put that back. How about number two? Everybody’s into almond milk.
Now, almond milk has its own problems. Number one, you’ll notice that there’s a peel on this package of the almond, and the peel of the almond has lectins. Not only that, even if you found almond milk that has been blanched and peeled, a number of my patients with leaky gut and with autoimmune diseases react to almonds. In fact, it’s on my no list in the new book Gut Check. So even if says organic, just be very careful with almond milk. How about oat milk?
Well, number one, every oat milk tested has shown glyphosate and another herbicide that’s banned from the United States, but almost every oat product tested contains this herbicide which stunts growth. So this isn’t even organic. It doesn’t really matter. Oats contain a protein that cross-reacts with gluten, which means it’s a no-no for people who are sensitive to gluten. And by the way, 100% of my patients when we test them test for antibodies against gluten. 100%. So that’s a no-no unless you want a healthy dose of glyphosate and herbicides in your white milk product.
Soy milk, same problem with soy milk. Soy is traditionally now sprayed with glyphosate at harvest time, so not even soy is safe. Soy contains one of the nastiest lectins that’s been described. So if you want lectins and glyphosate in your milk, get soy milk. Not. Are there other options? Well, there actually are increasingly other better options. For instance, here’s walnuts. Walnuts make a great milk. Why be interested in walnuts as a milk? They contain a short-chain omega-3 fat called alpha-linolenic acid, and they’re actually a pretty good source of alpha-linolenic acid.
And if you’ve read my previous books or you’re reading the Gut Check book, you know that alpha-linolenic acid, the short-chain omega-3 fat, is incredibly good for your heart health and incredibly good to prevent lipopolysaccharides, those little pieces of dead bacteria from entering your circulation. And now this is readily available. How about coconut milk? Coconut milk’s another really good choice. I should mention that any of these pseudo-milk products, these white products that have some health benefits, you don’t want to get them flavored.
Even vanilla flavoring is a no-no. Because if you see any flavoring or vanilla, there’s lots of added sugar to these products. Luckily, these are unsweetened and unflavored, so they’re perfectly acceptable. Plus, coconut milk has sometimes some pretty good content of medium-chain triglycerides, which may benefit you as I talk about in the books. But there is a word of warning about any of these products, and that is what are you going to put these products on? Quite frankly, you’re probably going to be putting them on cereal.
And while there are lectin-free cereals that I talk about in all the books, you’re still getting a huge load of carbohydrates and simple sugars. If you put them in your coffee, again, you’re looking unsweetened varieties of these products to put in your coffee. Finally, we’re beginning to see A2 milk in the stores. Now, A2 refers to casein A2 as opposed to what is in most milk, which is casein A1. Casein A2 is much safer. It doesn’t have the inflammatory property of casein A1. Most people in my practice who think they are lactose intolerant, the sugar in milk, in fact are casein A1 intolerant.
And when we give them casein A2, they don’t have a reaction. Now, the same thing applies to this milk as the other. It’s loaded with sugar, lactose, and it’s loaded with insulin-like growth factor. So cow’s milk, even if it’s A2 is still not your best choice. On the other hand, we’re beginning to see A2 cream cheese and A2 yogurts and those, the sugar, has been eaten by the bacteria and makes it a perfectly acceptable form of dairy to use. Now, there’s several other fake milks that are not up here that do deserve attention.
Cashew milk is very popular. Unfortunately, cashews are part of the poison ivy family and they contain a really nasty lectin. I can’t tell you the number of people who have heard some of my podcasts who had stomach issues and were using cashew milk and got rid of their cashew milk, and lo and behold, the problem resolved. Same way with rice milk. Many of my patients react to not only brown rice, but also white rice. And rice milk, unfortunately, is mostly sugar. Again, if you add a flavoring to any of these milks, you negate any potential health benefit.
Speaking of negating health benefits, there are now lots of products based on pea protein. And pea protein sounds great. It’s vegan. It’s plant-based. The problem is peas are real lectin bombs. Now, there are options. If you do protein isolates of peas or protein isolates of beans, the lectins have been removed. So pea protein isolate-based foods and bean protein isolate-based milks are actually okay from that standpoint. The other thing, buyer beware, pea protein is cheap.
And a lot of companies who have a pretty good product, like for instance, macadamia nut milk is a pretty good product, have started to add pea protein as a thickener. So you’ve got to read the label. Now, just because it says, for instance, walnut milk, read the fine print. Good news, this is just filtered water and walnuts. But sadly, every time I go to the grocery store and pick one of these up, I see another company that’s added pea protein to their nut milk to make it thicker and creamier.
Just put it back if you see the word pea protein. How about the three best mushrooms to eat or to take as a compound? Shiitake. I’m going to talk about mushrooms that you probably can find in your grocery store, either fresh or in dried forms. And the good news is it doesn’t matter whether they’re dried or fresh, they both have the same properties. You’re obviously going to have to soak the dried mushrooms before you use them. But we’re seeing even in plain old everyday grocery stores a lot of these mushrooms appearing.
Shiitake are rich in minerals and vitamins. They’re full of vitamin E. Interestingly enough, shiitake mushrooms when they’re exposed to ultraviolet light, which they are with sunlight, produce vitamin D. So mushrooms in general are actually one of the only foods that you can eat that do deliver vitamin D to you. Now, the nice thing about shiitake mushrooms and mushrooms in general, mushrooms are full of what are called polysaccharides. Now, polysaccharides, as the name implies, is many sugar molecules.
And we’re beginning to learn that these chains of sugar molecules are nearly impossible for us to digest with our digestive enzymes, which means that these long-chain sugar molecules are delivered to our gut bacteria who happen to think they’re the best thing since, excuse the expression, sliced bread. So sliced mushrooms are food for your good gut bacteria. So what? Well, the happier your gut bacteria are, the more immune promoting compounds that they produce. And we’re beginning to realize that our immune system is fortified by the information that it’s given by our gut bacteria.
And I go into this extensively in the new book Gut Check. So giving our good gut bacteria these long-chain polysaccharides means that the immune boosting properties of mushrooms weren’t so much from the magical mystical compounds in the mushrooms themselves, but it was these long-chain sugar molecules that were feeding the good gut bacteria that in turn improve the immune system. The great thing about shiitake mushrooms is they have a very meat-like texture and flavor.
So if you’re trying to reduce your animal protein for multiple reasons that I go into in all my books, shiitake mushrooms are a great place to start to add to stir fries, to add to preparations, even other vegetables to give you that kind of meaty mouthfeel that you want. Look for them in the store, use them, try them out. Your gut buddies will love you and so will your immune system. All right, number two, lion’s mane. Now, lion’s mane is kind of a newcomer to the grocery store, but it’s been known about for a very long time for its neuro and brain boosting properties.
Lion’s mane consumption has been associated with producing BDNF, brain neurotrophic factor, that actually stimulates neurons to grow and divide and to send out dendritic processes. And lion’s mane is rich in BDNF. So that in itself is a great reason to add lion’s mane into your diet. And if you can’t find it, it’s really readily available in capsule form. And again, it’s one of the few really good ways to stimulate neurotrophic support and cognition. If you’re interested in improving your cognitive abilities or maintaining them as you get older, lion’s mane is right up there.
Now, there’s also as many of you know a coffee cherry. Coffee cherry is actually the fruit of the coffee bean that in good old days was thrown away. Coffee cherry also promotes BDNF production. Same way with shiitake mushrooms, lion’s mane produces gastrointestinal health. Because like all mushrooms, lion’s mane is rich in these polysaccharides. And the more polysaccharides I can get into your diet, the better. And so lion’s mane is just another piece of the puzzle. Plus, lion’s mane has a really interesting fun texture.
If you’ve never seen lion’s mane, it’s so named because it looks like a bushy lion’s mane. And sometimes you see them, they’re going to start white. Sometimes they’re a little yellow golden. But again, we’re finding this more and more in grocery stores, certainly in farmer’s market, and that texture has got a great mouthfeel that makes them really great stir-fried. Even on their own, they are absolutely delicious with some olive oil and herbs thrown in. So look for lion’s mane and do your brain a favor.
All right, number three, turkey tail. Now, turkey tail mushrooms have been known for their potent immune boosting properties. They’re loaded with flavonoids and terpenes. Flavonoids are part of the polyphenol family that I talk so much about. If you remember, these compounds by themselves are not readily absorbed, but we now know that polyphenols in general are essential for the health of our gut bacteria. They’re actually prebiotics.
And the good news is the gut bacteria eat these compounds, eat these phenolic compounds and produce the active forms that improve our mitochondrial health. And the more improvement in our mitochondrial health, the more improvement in our immune system health. Plus, you get actually an added benefit. If you’ve read Unlocking the Keto Code or read The Energy Paradox or the upcoming Gut Check, you know that phenolic compounds in general, flavonoids in general, polyphenols in general are important compounds to uncouple mitochondria.
And it’s the uncoupling of mitochondria that not only improves mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial health, but also allows you to, if you will, waste a few calories. So if you’re looking to drop a few pounds, consider adding mushrooms, including lion’s mane, shiitake, and turkey tail into your diet. Once again, we’re beginning to see these in most stores. Oftentimes they’re loose. You sometimes see them in culinary packages. Another great way to incorporate all these mushrooms into your diet is to make soups.
It’s time of the year to make soups. And once again, you can add kind of a meaty texture to your soups by throwing these mushrooms into the pot. You’ll get a benefit of taste. You’ll get a benefit of your gut buddies enjoying them. Your immune system will improve, and you might get a little smarter. Now, it’s time for the question of the week from my recent post about almonds being inflammatory for a lot of patients, even peeled ones. Mary Ann Kloh from Instagram ask, “Could it be because of the high amount of salicylates in almonds?”
Well, that’s a good question, but in fact, as you probably know, salicylates are incredibly anti-inflammatory. Salicylic acid is aspirin. And of course, that’s how they work. So no, it’s actually because a great number of people have an IgG sensitivity to almonds. And unfortunately, almonds do have lectins in them, particularly in the peel. Now it’s time for the review of the week. From Goldhunter on YouTube, “Reading Dr. Gundry’s The Plant Paradox cured my wife’s fibromyalgia after a decade of suffering.”
Well, thank you. That is actually kind of how I got started in treating autoimmune diseases. I had mentioned in my first book, Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution, of a woman with fibromyalgia who came to my clinic and resolved her fibromyalgia following my program. And after the publication of that book back in 2007, people started coming into my clinic asking what I knew about autoimmune disease.
And as I am fond of saying, I told them I didn’t know anything about autoimmune disease, but I knew a whole lot about the immune system because I was a transplant immunologist researcher. And so I knew how the immune system worked and how to fool it as a transplant surgeon. I said, “If you want to play, I’m game.” And of course, the rest is history, and now 80% of the patients that I see I see because of an autoimmune disease. And I can assure you that fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disease.
And just like with your wife, thank goodness we have wonderful success with fibromyalgia, and thank you for writing about that because that’s why I do what I do.
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