Grains and beans are negative aspects of the Mediterranean Diet that are countered by the large amounts of olive-oil polyphenols, large amounts of red-wine polyphenols, and fish.
Although I am a voracious plant predator, one has to realize that there is not a human need for fruits and vegetables: just ask an Eskimo.
The most troublesome plant lectins are found in the hulls of grains, in beans and legumes, and the nightshade family - specifically the peels and seeds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc.
The amazing thing is when people change nothing except removing major lectins, they start losing weight and they still are eating lots of calories, but we're not storing it as fat anymore.
I make it very clear that cooking and soaking helps to reduce the lectins in troublesome foods like beans and grains.
I'll never forget a Podcast I did with Dr Joseph Mercola when my bestseller, 'The Plant Paradox' had just come out. He was wild about the book, and apoligized that he had never heard of me before the book. He asked what I had been doing for so many years. I replied that I was merely following the Buddha's advice to 'chop wood and carry water.'
