 Not only do most breads have lectins and the most famous lectin and bread is gluten, most breads are just basically pure refined carbohydrates. Now one of the really sad things is that most of us know sugar is really bad for us and sugar is a combination of two sugars. Glucose and fructose. Fructose is the fruit sugar and so sucrose, which is table sugar, which we think of as sugar, is a combination of those two sugars that are bound together. When we take a starch, we'll use wheat for an example, and we process it into a fine powder. That starch is unfortunately easier to digest and appear in your bloodstream than breaking down straight table sugar. So many of you know that the glycemic index table, 100, which is basically the worst, was based on white bread because it is basically instant sugar and sucrose, table sugar, sits around 75, just as a comparison. Now, why is it important? Because most bread has about four teaspoons of sugar per slice. So that every time you have that healthy sandwich, you're eating the equivalent of eight teaspoons of sugar. And I can guarantee you that most of you would probably rather pour eight teaspoons of sugar on your palm and lick it up to get that much sweet taste. Now, having said that, there are some types of breads that are worse than others. Number one, topping the hit list, and I do mean hit list for your health, are sprouted breads like Dave's killer bread or Ezekiel bread. Why? It turns out that sprouting of any grain increases the lectin content. Now, why is that? Remember, lectins are the plant defense system against being eaten personally or against having the seed eaten, which is the baby of the mother plant. As the seed sprouts, that is it the most vulnerable. And so the lectin content in the sprout actually dramatically increases. So that's the last thing you want to eat if you're trying to reduce lectin content. In fact, I've told this story, I've written about this story in one of my books, and I'll just bravefully mention it again. We had a woman with rheumatoid arthritis who wanted to get off her biologic medications, which we did. Her rheumatoid arthritis markers became normal. Her arthritis disappeared in her hands. As you know, I see my patients every three to six months. And when I saw her about six months later, I noticed that her rheumatoid arthritis markers were again positive after being negative. And she related that her arthritis, she could feel and you could see it in her hands. So immediately we went to her food list and I said, well, you know, what the heck? You know, you've added something. She said, no, I haven't changed a thing. I said, you've added something. And she said, oh, yeah, I've added a new bread, which is really healthy. It's Dave's killer bread. And I said, oh my gosh, you know, that's one of the worst things you can do. Get rid of that. I'll see you back in three months or we're gonna recheck. Sure enough, getting rid of Dave's killer bread, her rheumatoid arthritis markers became normal again, and lo and behold, the arthritis in her fingers subsided. All because she got rid of a healthy lectin containing food. So perfectly well-named. If you want a killer bread, you get the message. Number two, whole grain breads. Now, here's the problem. Wheat, rye and barley and to some extent oats and rice have a lectin called wheat germ aglutinin in the germ. Now the germ is kind of where the new little baby is living and that's on the outside of the grain and wheat germ aglutinin is extremely well known as one of the most mischievous lectins ever discovered. Why? Two reasons. Wheat germ aglutinin is so tiny that it can be absorbed through the wall of the gut without the presence of leaky gut. On the other hand, gluten is a very large lectin and gluten cannot be absorbed without leaky gut. Now interestingly, as you know, gluten causes leaky gut, which then allows gluten to be absorbed, but back to WGA. It can be absorbed without leaky gut. Now, here's the problem. WGA is looking for sugar molecules to attach to and these sugar molecules are present in the lining of our blood vessels called the glyco calyx. They're present in the lining of our blood brain barrier. They're present in the lining of our joints and they're present in the myelin sheath that protects our nerves. And WGA is a foreign protein. So it is a splinter. So when it sticks to the lining of our blood vessels or the lining of our blood brain barrier or the lining of our joints, our immune system attacks it as a foreign protein. And there's very good evidence, and I show it again in the upcoming book, Gut Check, that WGA from whole grains is one of the leading causes of heart disease, leaky brain and dementia, arthritis, and even MS. And for 10,000 years, millers have been trying, trying to remove WGA, wheat, germ, agglutinin from grains to eliminate this problem. The other thing that I showed in the plant paradox is that WGA can actually attach to insulin receptors on fat cells and turn insulin receptors on and can actually contribute to fat accumulation. So whole grain goodness for goodness sake, stay away from whole grain. Now, number three, ancient grain breads. There are a number of grains that are, quote, ancient, a number of which actually have gluten. So, camot, acorn, farina. These are old names for cousins of wheat. And remember, barley and rye contain gluten. Almost all oats have a molecule that cross-reacts with gluten. So even if you see gluten-free oats, which is an oxymoron in my opinion, please stay away from whole oats. Also, as you know, consumer reports and the environmental working group have discovered large amounts of weed killers, including glyphosate, on almost all American oat products. Some of these weed killers are banned, but they still are present in our products. So, same thing goes with buckwheat. Years ago, when I was first coming up with this program, I was really excited that buckwheat might be a safe grain. But sadly, buckwheat, amethyst, quinoa all have major lectins, and so none of these are safe foods, despite what you think about an ancient grain. Now, I don't have a dog in this fight. I think buckwheat is great. I think soba noodles are wonderful. Do I think bread is one of the most addictive foods there is, absolutely true. I have nothing against these things, except they are major contributors to our illness. And let's not forget, ever since grains were introduced to our diet 10,000 years ago, we had dramatic decrease in our health. And even in our height, we shrunk about a foot in 2,000 years after grains were introduced. So let's beware of these. Now, are there safe, regular breads out there? Well, the safest, if there is such a thing, is non-holy white bread, but more in particular, sourdough bread. I'm not telling you to have white bread and sourdough bread. Let's not be confused. But they are better of a bad situation, but they're still not ideal. When I say after sourdough bread, we know that fermentation actually breaks down lectins as a part of fermentation. Traditionally, all breads were made by fermentation. The dough rose from yeast, eating the sugars in bread, producing gases that rose the bread. And gluten happens to be a marvellously stretchy compound and gluten can trap air bubbles. And that's how things rose. Modern commercial bread, even modern sourdough bread doesn't use fermentation to raise the bread. We use artificial ways of raising the bread using transglutaminase. And don't get me started on that. So if you get commercial white bread or commercial sourdough bread, the odds are you're not getting fermented bread, even if you started with a sourdough starter. Find a breadmaker that actually uses classic artisan fermentation techniques and you'll be much safer. But it's a variation on the theme. Also, most wheat in the United States is contaminated with glyphosate. And so even if you're using these techniques, even if you're using fermentation, the glyphosate in our breads are enough to cause untoward damage to the wall of your gut. Now, one more tip if you are going to get bread and you are going to buy artisan sourdough bread. Let me share with you a tip I learned in England when I was studying there years ago. Many of you know that the English have served toast for breakfast and they serve toast on toast holders and their little racks that they put the toast and the toast dries out and cools. Now, you think that's a really stupid idea because it's hard to spread the butter and that's true. But why do they do this? Well, there's actually method to their madness. Whenever we have these starches, we want to try to make them resistant to being digesting. And it just so happens that toasting bread actually increases the resistant starch. But get this, just like rice and other starches, if you cook it and then cool it, you get even more resistant starch. So the clever English cool their toasted bread, making it less likely to become sugar in your blood. So if you got to have your bread, toast it and then cool it and you'll be better off. Let's make this clear. I do not recommend eating these foods. It's not going to do your gut any favor. It's not going to do your arthritis any favor. And it's not going to contribute to healthy weight management. But I sympathize. These things are really hard to give up. My wife loves bread. And she realized after me hounding her enough that this was probably not a good practice. So we had to break her of that. And she had to use a mantra of I am a person who doesn't eat bread. And the other thing that we found and I counsel all my patients, I just did this weekend, please, please, please. When you go to a restaurant, tell them not to bring the bread. If they arrive with the bread, help them take it away. Why? Because if it's there, you're going to eat it. You won't be able to help yourself. If it's not there, you can't eat it. It's one of the simplest things you can do. And even that takes some effort. Now, just remember, there is no human need for bread. We did perfectly fine for millions of years without it. It's in every culture in the world because let's face it. It's tasty and it's cost effective. And you'll see that there were other reasons that bread might have been introduced, but that's enough for today. Now, I put together a list in my books of plant, a paradox, approved bread alternatives, some of which are commercially available. Bread seriously has several breads that are plant paradox compliant. I make a Gundry MD bread mix. I make a sourdough bread mix. A rice bakery makes baguettes and white slice low. Uprising foods have approved breads. There are great bread recipes like my sturdy sandwich bread in my plant paradox family cookbook, Claudia, Kershichi's cookbooks and blogs and lectin free Gourmet's blog. All have really good bread recipes that are plant paradox compliant. A disclaimer, just remember that patience and you and me can overdo safe breads. I have many well-meaning patients who hear me that, OK, these breads are safe. They are lectin free. That doesn't mean they are carbohydrate and sugar free. That doesn't mean that they will not raise your insulin level. That does not mean they will not raise your triglyceride levels. Even though these recommended foods are lectin free, I'd prefer that you have none. Even these lectin free flowers, once you grind them into a fine powder, they become mischievous in terms of your blood sugar. However, if you want to have the best possible results, look for breads or recipes with psyllium husk fiber, like my sturdy bread recipe has for some redeeming health benefits. psyllium husk feeds friendly bacteria, so you can have your cake and eat it too.