Ep. #516: Dr. Gundry’s Plant Paradox Debunked: 7 Science-Based Reasons It’s a Scam

Every year, a couple health and wellness books go great guns, saturating the airwaves and selling millions of copies.

You know, books like How Not to Die, Grain Brain, and Why We Get Fat.

The talk of the town is currently Dr. Steven Gundry’s The Plant Paradox, which claims the conventional advice of eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is flawed and in many cases even harmful.

In other words, according to Dr. Gundry, many of the foods you’ve been told were good for you contain substances that spark “chemical warfare” in your body and insidiously undermine your health over time.

Gluten, dairy, and sugar—the usual suspects—are fingered, but so is another component of many fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains that many people haven’t heard of: lectins.

These little “splinters of protein,” as Dr. Gundry calls them, purportedly wreak havoc in the body, causing weight gain, “leaky gut,” cancer, and heart, brain, and autoimmune disease, as well as a slew of nuisances like acne, gas, morning stiffness, joint pain, migraines, and chronic pain and fatigue.

In fact, lectins are so destructive that Dr. Gundry denounces them as the common cause for most health problems, full stop. Thus, he says, it’s time to slaughter the sacred nutrition cow of generally eating more plant food, because it’s making people sick, fat, and ultimately dead.

To support his claims, Dr. Gundry stands on the shoulders of his 40-year career as an accomplished surgeon and medical expert, which includes:

- Performing over 10,000 heart surgeries
- Patenting multiple medical devices widely used in heart surgeries
- Pioneering new research on heart transplants for infants
- Serving as volunteer president of the American Heart Association
- Founding a “waitlist-only” clinic for disseminating his wisdom to a lucky few

He’s also scored major social proof for his teachings, including appearing on just about every major mainstream media platform and receiving celebrity endorsements.

It’s hard to argue with bona fides like those. Or is it?

While Dr.Gundry presents himself as a charismatic caregiver who only wants what’s best for his patients and the world, many of his peers aren’t buying it.

They point to gaping holes in his interpretation of the research, which they say clearly rejects his lectin hypothesis and maintains the nutritional value of getting the majority of your calories from plant foods.

Who’s right?

Well, the short story is this:

The Plant Paradox is rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and outright misinformation, and the diet espoused in it is unnecessarily restrictive and blatantly designed to sell people overpriced and ineffective supplements.

And in this podcast, you’re going to find out why.

5:38 - What is the plant paradox diet?
9:47 - What are lectins and why are they the target of Dr. Gundry’s book?
12:43 - What are the benefits of lectins?
16:48 - Do the healthiest people in the world eat a lot of lectins?
25:58 - Do lectins make you fat?
34:21 - Do lectins cause heart disease?
37:31 - Do lectins cause leaky gut?
42:03 - Were our ancestors diet low on lectins?
45:14 - Can lectins make you sick if they’re eaten raw?
47:49 - Are Dr. Grundy’s products and supplements good?
57:30 - How can you use food to optimize your body composition, physical health, and longevity?

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Mentioned on The Show:
Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/

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