Gut health has been making headlines quite a lot in recent days because it seems that many people and professionals are now admitting that gut health could be the single most important part of your health. While having healthy lungs and a healthy heart (and by extension, arteries) is crucial, your gut health determines basically everything else. Poor gut health equals an equally poor state of your mental health, your immune system gets compromised, your skin looks its worse, and you just can get a break from different illnesses.
Because of all the focus placed on gut health, health experts are now looking at alternative treatments. Supplements are at the top of these alternative remedies. The supplements on the market today focus on different areas of the body.
One of the brand names behind most of the supplements that enhance gut health and overall good health is Gundry MD; one of their supplements designed for the intestines is Lectin Shield.
But before we look at the specifics of Lectin Shield, let’s first look at the manufacturer.
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Who is Gundry MD?
Gundry MD, also Steve Gundry MD is a renowned cardiac surgeon, a medical innovator (He has 9 medical/ cardiac surgery devices in his name), and an author.
In his years in the medical field, Gundry MD has worked as the head of Cardiothoracic Surgery and a professor, but throughout his career, he’s learned something important – the fact that we need to embrace no medical approaches when dealing with medical conditions. With an overweight patient at pains to lose weight and regain good health, the good doctor noticed that this particular patient could reverse most of the symptoms of the disease, symptoms known to be irreversible in the medical world. The interesting bit is that the recorded change resulted from the patient’s dietary. These findings drove the doctor deep into research, which is where both Gundry MD and the Gundry MD supplements were borne.
What is Lectin Shield?
Lectin shield is a natural supplement by Gundry MD. This supplement represents a blend of 9, highly dynamic ingredients which are said to provide protection from lectin overload. On top of the digestive issues resulting from lectin-overload, the overload is also said to increase the risk of inflammatory diseases.
Gundry MD claims to resolve the lectin-overload issue with Lectin Shield which, if taken twice daily as recommended, bears immense benefits. Gundry MD notes that some of the expected benefits of the supplement include:
- Healthy circulation
- Improvement in circulation, as well as a reduction in gassiness or bloating
- Improved immune function and regularity
- Lower food cravings and this could result in weight loss
- An extra layer of protection for the joints, skin, thyroid, all culminating into an overall sense of wellness.
They claim that you will experience all these benefits within days of using the supplement.
Now before you throw all the hard question our way, let’s first look at lectins, what they are and what they do. Reason? Despite Lectin Shield being a product developed by a highly trained and a highly experienced surgeon who is quite respected in their field, we have to know what we are buying into and whether that product really works or not.
So, let’s explore…
What is Lectin?
Lectins refer to the proteins that bind to certain carbohydrates, the large high-sugar molecules, but without involving your immune system in all this. Though highly functional, high levels of lectin in your digestive system will cause digestive system issue that will present as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. However, you could reduce the effects of lectins in the food you eat by cooking your food properly.
Beans, potatoes, grains, and nuts have high lectin concentrations. While the first discovery of lectins as in plants, lectins are now known to be widely distributed in nature.
But before we look at the specifics of how the lectin molecules cause health issues, we’ll first note down the fact that there are different types of lectins, all belonging to different families (lectin families). Being in different groups/ families, the lectin molecules perform different roles/ functions in the body. For instance, lectins from animals are important in the facilitation of cell-to-cell contact/ signaling. This function is particularly common on cell surfaces.
With these and the many other benefits of lectins, these molecules could play a huge role in everything from glycoprotein synthesis to overall immune function.
In an article published by Harvard, lectins are regarded as anti-nutrients responsible for a number of health conditions from obesity to autoimmune diseases to chronic inflammation among other conditions.
What’s the problem in/ around lectins?
Lectins not only bind to carbohydrate molecules, but it also used as defense mechanisms by plants. The latter means that there are digestive issues around lectin in humans. The biggest issues, however, is that lectin molecules often resist breakdown in your gut, and they are stable in the highly acidic stomach environment. So, they could cause quite a bit of havoc in your stomach.
The other negative side effect of lectin is that it contains phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin that could cause the clumping of red blood cells. Obviously, this is a side effect you don’t want to deal with.
Lastly, lectins are said to interfere with the natural absorption of minerals like zinc, phosphorus, iron, and calcium; while also disrupting the breakdown of essential nutrients. Therefore, the overall effects of lectins on the body are far-reaching.
Avoiding lectins has been shown to hold immense benefits too. These benefits include:
- Reduction of adverse gastric distress for people struggling with food sensitivities.
- Reduced prevalence and severity of peptic ulcers
- Protection of the digestive tract
It should be noted, however, that not all lectins will cause immediate adverse effects, and that some of the effects of lectins present themselves much later in life. The delay in the effects of lectins is postulated to be the cause of leaky gut syndrome and autoimmune diseases.
So, should we avoid lectins entirely?
Though that would be the most-natural reaction or solution to our problems, it’s not quite reasonable since lectins are present in most of the foods we eat. So, unless you wish to change your diet drastically, then you can only monitor what you eat and perhaps reduce your intake of lectins.
What does Lectin Shield Do?
The Lectin Shield, as the name suggests, will lower lectin levels in your body.
This product has been formulated with high-quality natural ingredients that promise to end the lectins problem. The ingredients present in Lectin Shield include:
- 100mg Okra extract
- 300mg N-Acetyl D-Glucosamine
- 100mg D-Mannose
- 100mg Bladderwrack
- 100mg Sodium Alginate
- 100mg Sialic acid/ mucin
- 50mg vegetable peptase
- 50mg Larch Arabinogalactans
- 50mg Methylsulfonylmethane
These ingredients are said to counteract many of the potential side effects of lectins,
For example, N-Acetyl D-Glucosamine is effective in the protection of the intestinal lining and the stomach. Sialic acid prevents specific viruses (there’s little evidence supporting this), and alginic acid could prevent acid reflux (acid reflux is a common side effect of lectin, but alginic acid is not as effective as the products with bicarbonate prescribed for acid reflux).
While there is limited information about these compounds, it’s clear that there isn’t much clinical evidence to show that Lectin Shield actually works.
How Does Lectin Shield Protect You from Lectins?
Will Lectin Shield get rid of all the lectin from your body? Will it help you attain some sort of lectin balance? Will it counteract some of the damage already caused by the high lectin levels in your body?
Well, we might get answers to all these questions today since there’s limited evidence about the effectiveness of the ingredients in this supplement; however, it seems that some of the ingredients in Lectin Shield protect you from digestive issues.
The saving point, however, would be the fact that Gundry MD is a legitimate company. The 90-day money-back guarantee means that the company stands by its product, meaning that you can actually trust the products they sell.
Are There Side Effects Associated with Lectin Shield?
While the ingredients in Lectin Shield are well-tolerated by most individuals, there are a few side effects experienced by some of these users. These side effects often include bloating, gassiness, and an upset stomach.
WebMD notes that Bladderwrack is potentially unsafe, especially when taken orally since it might have a high iodine concentration that could worsen or even cause thyroid issues. It’s a well-known fact that the of excessive amounts of iodine for long causes medical issues like goiter and in worst cases, thyroid cancer.
If you have shellfish allergies, you should not take Lectin Shield because of N-Acetyl D-Glucosamine.
Pricing
Lectin Shield is priced according to the number of bottles you buy. One bottle costs $49.95, three bottles will set you back $131.85, and 6 bottles cost $239.70.
Lectin Shield Buy Now Page
Orders made in the US come with free shipping and the products come with a 90-day money back guarantee.
Pros
- 90-day money back guarantee
- It enhances gut health
- It improves immune function and overall health by reducing the high risk of inflammation and autoimmune diseases
- It enhances the absorption of nutrients.
- Larch Arabinogalactans are said to enhance and strengthen the health of the gut lining.
Cons
- Potential side effects
- There’s limited evidence about the effects of the ingredients on the body
- Shellfish allergy alert from clams and the shrimp in the supplement
Conclusion
There might not be much clinical evidence to support the function of the ingredients in Lectin Shield, but going by the feedback from past users, it seems that this product might actually be worth your money.
