Pain is a persistent problem. Today we uncover the question is your diet causing pain with expert Dr. Joe Tatta. 
Back pain runs in my family. In fact, I’m not immune to it having my own share of back struggles well before the age of 30. I often question what my life will be like in 30 years if I already struggle with pain. I have a feeling I’m not alone. Pain is everywhere and is often just chalked up to the ‘aging’ process, but what if there was a way to retrain your brain to overcome pain?
I interviewed a leading expert in the pain field, Dr. Joe Tatta, and his response will blow your mind! Yes, you can actually retrain your brain to overcome pain and create a new lifestyle free of it!
Listen to the podcast to get all of the details and make sure you check out his book, Heal Your Pain Now.
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In the rest of this blog we’re going to uncover what grains have to do with pain and why you should consider going grain-free.
is your diet to blame?
If you listen to the podcast you know there are a lot of factors that go into account when uncovering pain. But one big question is, what does your diet have to do with your pain? The answer is inflammation.
Our food system is made up of a lot of inflammatory causing foods or those that cause damage or a reaction in your body inducing your immune system to take over. Some of the most common inflammatory causing foods are; corn, wheat, eggs, dairy, and soy.
GASP!
I know what you are thinking, those five things are in the majority of foods!
This is true and something that needs to be taken into account. However, don’t panic there are a lot of ways to get around this and learn a new diet that actually nourishes your body without the added indigestion and inflammation. In fact, I lay this all out in my program called The Simple Cleanse complete with over 100 recipes that are completely inflammatory free.
Today we’re going to break down just one inflammatory causing agent found in grains, lectin.
what are lectins
Lectins are a large class of carbohydrate-binding proteins found in all forms of life, including the human body. We’re specifically going to look at the role of lectins from plants in causing inflammation, because obviously not all lectins are created equal. In fact, some are very helpful like the ones inside our own bodies.
But in the case of plant-lectins, they can be damaging.
Before we can get into this too much, I do have to caution you that science is still trying to figure out the very accurate and specific role of plant lectins. However, what they have found is they appear to be a part of the plant’s natural defense mechanism, important for survival of the plant. They are so advanced that they are one of the few things that can pass through the stomach of the human body and leave relatively undigested.
why are they bad?
Again, not all lectins are harmful. However, there are ones that create a ‘stickiness’ making them prone to attaching to the intestinal walls. This disrupts the body’s routine maintenance of cells creating more wear and tear overtime. Given this you can understand why the number one symptom of lectin overdose is digestive distress.
Other causes of lectin damage include:
- Hard to digest causing an imbalance in gut bacteria.
- Interact with the gut barrier and damage the junctions between cells {also known as leaky gut}.
- Stimulate the immune system to respond once inside the blood stream.
lectins and pain
Generally a few lectins here and there aren’t the threat. It comes down to repeated exposure to lectins {most commonly found in grains and legumes in our diets today}. This leads to damage of the GI system and cause penetration into the bloodstream. The leak allows the lectins to interact with glycoproteins and anti-bodies on cell surfaces.
Of course when this happens there is an interference in the body creating an immune response against the lectins and the tissue to which they are attached. This turns into a royal battle happening at the cellular level inside the body leading to excess inflammation and cell damage.
In other words, the lectins attach themselves to cells and try to block the defense of our body against it by putting our healthy cells in the middle. This leads to harm or death of our healthy cells as well as an intense stress via the immune system interaction causing pain, inflammation, disease, etc.
This is most often referred to as an autoimmune reaction.
lectins and grain
Of course lectins are in many areas of our diet. In fact, lectins can be found in a lot of otherwise ‘healthy foods’. So the question becomes to eat grains or not to eat grains?
No matter how you look at it, lectins can cause or worsen inflammation and pain. So if you really have a pain issue or an autoimmune issue eliminating grains and legumes for a period of time can test out to see if your body begins to heal.
However, if you choose to eat grains it’s important to note that lectins in themselves aren’t harmful, it’s generally the amount. So cut back at all costs and stick to the unrefined grains which are more nutritious than the refined versions because they contain more nutrients.
tips with lectins
If you can’t imagine life without grains there are a few tips to reduce the harmful effects of lectins inside the body. I will note again that if you are struggling with pain or have an autoimmune condition at least giving up gluten-containing grains can greatly help. The combination of gluten plus lectins is like a double whammy inside our body.
For now, here are four ways to slow the harm of lectins.
1. sprouting
Most lectins are continued in the outer coat of the grain. When the seed is able to sprout, the coat is metabolized which removes the lectins. If you look for bread, purchase sprouted grains or do it yourself.
2. fermenting
The fermentation process of grains involves beneficial bacteria that actually digest and remove the lectins for us. You often see fermentation with vegetables and dairy but grains can be fermented as well. Think sourdough or legumes like tempeh. Both of which have the lectins broken down via the good bacteria making it easier to digest lessening the exposure to harmful lectins.
3. soaking and cooking
Soaking legumes and grains is an important component. I know it’s easy to overlook the step on the package questioning why in the world you would need to soak it, but it is for this reason alone. The soaking process helps to degrade the outer shell getting rid of some of the lectins.
Not to mention the cooking process continues this process to further remove the lectins, change the carbohydrate structure and make the grain less ‘sticky.’ The soaking process should take overnight or at least 8-10 hours and the soaking liquid removed before cooking. Some say adding baking soda to the soaking water may help further the process even more.
4. choose a variety
Given lectins are in many foods it’s important to rotate. But easier said than done when you love the same toast every single morning. I know the routine is strong but instead of changing it all just pick a couple of different things each week and change them out then.
In the end eating a wide variety may be more important than worrying about the how much and what kind. No matter what we’re all unique. What bothers one won’t interfere with another. You have to be your own detective. Uncovering what is specific to you and not what the next fad diet has.
Small changes, consistent change and a better outlook can change everything. Lectins are just one key in uncovering answers to the persistent problem with pain. Try it out for 30 days and see if it impacts your pain. If you need more help, don’t forget to sign up for the Simple Cleanse and take all of the steps Dr. Tatta talked about in overcoming pain for good.
Make sure you listen to the episode and check out his latest book, Heal The Pain here!
