Overview
About Lectin
Lectin exposure highlights higher-lectin foods like kidney beans, wheat germ, cashews, and tomatoes that may cause discomfort for some until they're well cooked.
Lectins are proteins found in many plant foods, especially legumes and grains. Some people follow low-lectin diets believing they reduce inflammation and digestive issues, though properly cooked foods have reduced lectin content.
In the data
Where you will find lectin
- Graded high in lectins (E), which sit mainly in the skin and seeds, so peeling and scooping the seeds lowers the load for lectin-sensitive eaters
- Rated high in lectins, another reason lectin-avoiders skip potatoes even when they are cooked
- Moderately high in salicylates and high in lectins, either of which can cause symptoms in sensitive people
- High in salicylates, moderate in oxalate and high in lectins. The lectins sit in the seeds and skin, so deseeding and peeling reduce the load without removing it
Examples
A few ingredients either way
Rated high
Grading
How we grade lectin
Every ingredient in the database carries one grade for lectin, and this page, the checker and the app all read that same grade. It describes the ingredient as it is usually eaten. Portion size and preparation move it.
Practical
Working with lectin
- Pressure cooking destroys most lectins in beans and legumes.
- Peeling and deseeding tomatoes and peppers reduces lectin content.
- Proper cooking destroys most lectins - never eat raw beans
- Pressure cooking is highly effective at reducing lectins
- Peeling and deseeding reduces lectin content
- Fermentation can reduce lectins in some foods
- Sprouting may increase or decrease lectins depending on the food
Method
Test it with a diary
Most people find their own triggers by logging meals and symptoms for a few weeks and reading the result back. Three steps.
- 1Log every meal for a few weeks. Type it, say it out loud, or scan a barcode, and it lands as a list of ingredients.
- 2Rate how you feel through the day on whatever you are tracking, whether that is bloating, headaches, skin or sleep.
- 3Read the pattern back. Every ingredient you logged is scored against the days you felt worse, and the result ranks lectin against everything else you eat.
Questions
Questions people ask
Is cucumber high in lectins?
Cucumber grades high on lectins (E), but they are concentrated in the peel and seeds rather than the flesh. If lectins are a concern for you, peeling the cucumber and scooping out the seeds leaves the mild, watery flesh that most people tolerate easily.
More about cucumber
Read next
Where to go next
References
Lectin sources
Where the lectin grades come from: food composition databases, clinical guidelines and patient organisations.
4 sources from peer-reviewed research, regulatory bodies, and clinical guidelines.
Get started
Tracking lectin?
Log what you eat and how you feel, and the app finds the pattern for you. Or look an ingredient up here first.
Get the app