The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain

Dr. Steven R. Gundry, MD

Apr 2017 · The Plant Paradox Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

From renowned cardiac surgeon Steven R. Gundry, MD, the New York Times bestselling The Plant Paradox is a revolutionary look at the hidden compounds in "healthy" foods like fruit, vegetables, and whole grains that are causing us to gain weight and develop chronic disease.

Most of us have heard of gluten—a protein found in wheat that causes widespread inflammation in the body. Americans spend billions of dollars on gluten-free diets in an effort to protect their health. But what if we’ve been missing the root of the problem? In The Plant Paradox, renowned cardiologist Dr. Steven Gundry reveals that gluten is just one variety of a common, and highly toxic, plant-based protein called lectin. Lectins are found not only in grains like wheat but also in the “gluten-free” foods most of us commonly regard as healthy, including many fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and conventional dairy products. These proteins, which are found in the seeds, grains, skins, rinds, and leaves of plants, are designed by nature to protect them from predators (including humans). Once ingested, they incite a kind of chemical warfare in our bodies, causing inflammatory reactions that can lead to weight gain and serious health conditions.

At his waitlist-only clinics in California, Dr. Gundry has successfully treated tens of thousands of patients suffering from autoimmune disorders, diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases with a protocol that detoxes the cells, repairs the gut, and nourishes the body. Now, in The Plant Paradox, he shares this clinically proven program with readers around the world.

The simple (and daunting) fact is, lectins are everywhere. Thankfully, Dr. Gundry offers simple hacks we easily can employ to avoid them, including:

• Peel your veggies. Most of the lectins are contained in the skin and seeds of plants; simply peeling and de-seeding vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers) reduces their lectin content.
• Shop for fruit in season. Fruit contain fewer lectins when ripe, so eating apples, berries, and other lectin-containing fruits at the peak of ripeness helps minimize your lectin consumption.
• Swap your brown rice for white. Whole grains and seeds with hard outer coatings are designed by nature to cause digestive distress—and are full of lectins.

With a full list of lectin-containing foods and simple substitutes for each, a step-by-step detox and eating plan, and delicious lectin-free recipes, The Plant Paradox illuminates the hidden dangers lurking in your salad bowl—and shows you how to eat whole foods in a whole new way.

Ratings and reviews

Absolute BS mixed in with a tiny bit of truth, Lectin is vilified by some, a protein found in uncooked beans that is toxic to humans. In this book, he ignores the fact that the plants with the most lectin (but still tiny amounts at that), such as beans, lentils and nuts, contain thousands of other healthy chemicals key to the best diets on the planet.

Just be aware that there is a lot of debunked information in this book. Look up the information on YouTube. The information on the chemicals we are exposed to in our food, daily hygiene and surroundings is an eye opener. I have no idea why my review is dated 1969. It's July 2021.

A nice gradient education about details you probably would not otherwise bother to learn, which puts you in much more control, in fact it makes it possible to understand what he is saying and why his proposed diet is so workable. There are over 50 different metabolic body types, which is why some diet saves one and "kills" another. Dr Gundry makes a very good argument and poses a very workable solution to that which ails us. After the first couple of chapters, try the free sample, you are well on your way of understanding the basic principles of the diet. In other words rather than telling you to trust him, he brings your understanding up to a level where you can make your own educated decision. Though I must say I find it hard to negate the simple points he make. This is a surprisingly easy read that took me deeper than I've ever gone before, with occasional laughter of recognition. Based on my previous education about body health this seem to be the missing part. Now I will start applying his diet and though I'm not overweight and never got into most of the typical foods I still have some concerns which I am anticipating will be gone soon.

About the author

Steven R. Gundry, MD, is the director of the International Heart and Lung Institute in Palm Springs, California, and the founder and director of the Center for Restorative Medicine in Palm Springs and Santa Barbara. After a distinguished surgical career as a professor and chairman of cardiothoracic surgery at Loma Linda University, Dr. Gundry changed his focus to curing modern diseases via dietary changes. He is the bestselling author of The Longevity Paradox, The Plant Paradox, The Plant Paradox Cookbook, The Plant Paradox Quick and Easy, and Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution, and has written more than three hundred articles published in peer-reviewed journals on using diet and supplements to eliminate heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, and multiple other diseases. Dr. Gundry lives with his wife, Penny, and their dogs in Palm Springs and Montecito, California.