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Hello dears.

After so many years of experimentation, I've found that a low-Lectin no-sugar diet makes me feel optimal. This is the exclusion of...

-dairy -tubers -corn -minimal eggs -nuts -pork -fruit -honey/agave/all sugars

By optimal I mean that my digestion, immunity, energy levels, and mood are all stable. Now here's the thing- If i eat even a little of the above foods, i feel the effects. But I get angry/resentful with such a restrictive diet and will "cheat" and then not only feel suboptimal, but shamed, guilty, and angry too. Negative feedback cycle ensues.

So my question is...

Does anybody else follow this protocol? How do you keep it feeling unrestrictive? Do you have a 'safe' food reward?

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Wherefore art thou not considering rice syrup? It might fit your criteria due to high food reward coupled with no fructose, as opposed the the aforementioned sweet things. – Kamal Oct 3 2011 at 18:14
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why do you feel cheated? what i mean is why don't you feel thankful that you have so many options open to you? its only by some amazing twist of fate that i am not in a refugee camp waiting for anything food-like to come my way. – sage_ Oct 3 2011 at 19:16
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Don't get angry. Eat another steak, have a beer and celebrate being able to eat beef and wheat. Happy Oktoberfest! – thhq Oct 3 2011 at 19:22
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Friends, Romans, Meredith, lend me your ears! Dates are roughly 50% fructose. – Kamal Oct 3 2011 at 21:50
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moody food of us that trade in love!! – LiveBigger Oct 3 2011 at 22:42
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3 Answers

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Tough one. There's no shame in feeling shamed, but it's lame to be out of the game (not eating food you like). A few more rewarding foods that may be considered:

Sushi: The core ingredients don't seem to have lectins or fructose. Some people love love love sushi. Maybe one of them is you?

Alternative tubers: It seems to be hard to find lists of lectin contents. But, totally speculating here, the "older" tubers from Africa have been eaten for a lot longer than tubers like potatoes and cassava. So maybe some taro chips are in order? Not that I know if they have lower lectin contents or not.

Lectin variety: I bet you've already thought of this one, but might as well repeat it. If different lectins have different reactions in different people, eating a small amount of lectins from a variety of different plants low in lectins would mimic the ancestral high-food-variety life. Since you don't eat wheat/soy, the major sources of lectins are obviously gone, so maybe it just takes one more step to get to an acceptable level?

Watery fruits: The one that comes to mind, which is often villified for high fructose content, is watermelon. But strawberries have very few grams of fructose per ounce of tastiness.

Kale chips: No lectins, no sugar?

Sweet Potato: "(Lectin) Does not react with human cells. Reacts with rabbit cells." (From http://www.ajcn.org/content/33/11/2338.full.pdf)

Non-nutritive Ingestive Behavior: I'm not sure why they don't think of a pithier name for this. But coffee and tea, flavored to the max, has less lectins than most foods (if I recall correctly). Peppermint tea with coconut cream?

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Good call on the kale chips... Maybe I need to make a ton and store them in cupboard. They definitely are a rewarding food that I find to be guilt-free, sans a few stinky toots. – LiveBigger Oct 4 2011 at 0:01
Nice one Kamal, interesting as always. I love the bit about sweet potatoes. Sometimes I wonder how much of issues like the OP's are in their head. Like, tell them that there are no lectins in X food and then they eat it and feel fine. Not picking on this OP particularly, I just mean questions of this sort. – ben61820 Oct 4 2011 at 1:30
What's an OP??? – LiveBigger Oct 4 2011 at 2:12
Original poster. – Paul Oct 4 2011 at 7:48
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Ah, yes. I thought it might be 'obsessive paleohacker'. – LiveBigger Oct 4 2011 at 12:47
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I consider a well-grilled fresh king salmon filet on a bed of finely shredded cabbage to be a safe reward. The same goes for grouper or halibut, provided they're well buttered.

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I'd be angry too if I gave up ALL of those. I am lucky, I guess, because I experience an almost opiate level of well-being by giving up grains, processed sweeteners, dairy (except occasional butter/heavy cream) and starchy veggies. I am able to eat lots of fruit and non-starchy veggies and that only seems to increase the sense of healing/fat-burning overnight. I don't eat many nuts and no seed oils. I eat LOTS of fatty meat. Sometimes I eat 3 eggs per day and sometimes I go weeks without, but they seem neutral for me. The only sweeteners I'm able to use without consequences are less than a tsp of either honey or blackstrap molasses per day (for coffee.)

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