On Tue, 21 Mar 2000, gordon wrote:

> Thanks Hans but so far I have been unable to confirm this. Can you point me
> to the reference in which Cordain or some other authority states that yeast
> contains lectins?

Virtually all foods contain lectins.  You'll find a reference to
yeast lectin at http://plab.ku.dk/tcbh/volume6.htm.  But the mere
presence of lectins does not make something unsuitable as a food.
If it did, there would not be much to eat.

> Loren Cordain wrote:
> "Paleodiets are characterized by their lack of cereal grains, legumes,
> dairy products, and yeast containing foods.    Both cereal grains and
> legumes contain glycoproteins called lectins which bind intestinal
> epithelial cells and change the permeability characteristics of these
> intestinal cells (4,5).

This is the point of contact between lectin theory and D'Adamo's
"blood type" theory.  Those intestinal epithelial cells have the
same ABO types as blood cells.  For this reason there appears to
be at least some basis for D'Adamo's claim that the effect of
lectins on the permeability of the intestinal lining depends on
the particular lectin and the blood type.

Anyway, from what I can determine, the lectins in brewer's yeast
do *not* agglutinate the cells of any blood type, so they should
not cause the problems that Cordain mentions above.  This is
based on D'Adamo's research, however, and I don't know how
reliable it is.  Independent research is desperately needed in
this area.

Todd Moody
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