This essay sheds light on what are lectins, demystifies the dangers and health effects of consuming foods that are high in lectins, elucidates how to minimize your lectin intake when eating lectin-rich foods, and reveals the lectin-rich foods that you should avoid eating. Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are a type of antinutrient. "Lectins are deemed to be diverse family of carbohydrate-binding proteins found in all plants and animals. Some plant lectins are even considered toxic. For instance, in the case of the poison ricin, a lectin from the castor oil plant, they can be lethal" (Leech, 2019). There are a cornucopia of disparate types of lectins. The different types of lectins are not limited to "plant lectins and animal lectins". Other types of lectins encompass "bacterial lectins, fungal lectins, and algal lectins". The classifications of plant lectins encompass "merolectins, hololectins, superlectins, and chimerolectins". Lectins can also serve as a type of insecticide. "The binding of lectins to glycosylated proteins at the midgut of insect larvae interfere with the nutrient uptake and the efficiency of diet utilization, resulting in a drop in mass gain. In this sense, lectins are insecticides that promote mortality or delay development of insects". The inhibition of the absorption of nutrients in the gut epithelium can culminate in insects being deprived of their lives. It can be deduced that consuming lectin-rich foods cannot only be deleterious to human beings, but can also be inimical to insects and animals. Lectins are pervasive in a myriad of disparate types of foods. Lectins are pervasive in whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and unfermented soy products. The intake of lectin-rich foods can induce acute digestive distress. "For example, raw kidney beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, a toxic lectin. The main symptoms of kidney bean poisoning are severe abdominal pain, and vomiting". It can be poisonous to ingest phytohaemagglutinin which is embedded in raw kidney beans. People should abstain from consuming kidney beans. The consumption of lectin-rich foods can adversely impinge on "gastrointestinal tract health". The consumption of lectin-rich foods can elicit a multitude of adverse gastrointestinal health issues. The digestive enzymes of the vessel are unable to dismantle lectins. This is because "lectins are highly resistant to your body's digestive enzymes". Lectins are able to "easily pass through your stomach unchanged". Lectins are able to bind to carbohydrates in the vessel and '"interrupt messaging between cells or otherwise cause toxic or inflammatory reactions'. 'Since lectins are resistant to human digestion, it is believed that they interfere with the proper absorption of vitamins, minerals and some key proteins'" (Colino, 2017). Lectins are noxious antinutrients that adversely impinge on the vessel's ability to absorb nutrients into the gastrointestinal tract. The consumption of lectin-rich foods can trigger adverse autoimmune reactions in the vessel. "Lectins tend to be clingy in the gastrointestinal tract and can attach to the intestinal wall" (Colino, 2017). If the lining of your intestines is permeable, then "lectins to slip into the bloodstream, which can trigger an inflammatory response and/or the production of antibodies to lectin" (Colino, 2017). The intake of lectin-rich foods cannot only induce gastrointestinal distress, but can also ravage the gut wall. The decimation of the gut wall contributes to the development of "easily permeable gut lining". Furthermore, the ingestion of lectin-rich foods can also induce nausea and vomiting. The consumption of lectin-rich foods renders a person at a higher probability to contract leaky gut syndrome. Contracting leaky gut syndrome renders a person at a higher probability to contract an autoimmune disease, such as "lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Studies in medical journals, such as the Lancet, the British Medical Journal and the International Journal of Gastroenterology have suggested that leaky gut causes autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and many other diverse health issues, including allergies, autism, depression, eczema, psoriasis, metabolic syndrome, and possibly many more diseases that are now being seen as autoimmune conditions for the first time". Contracting leaky gut syndrome renders a person at a higher probability to contract an inimical inflammatory disease. "A leaky gut is a common hallmark of inflammatory disease". "Elevated levels of zonulin, a sign of leaky gut, have been implicated in many chronic inflammatory diseases, including type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer". "Zonulin is a protein that modulates the permeability of narrow junctions between the cells of the digestive tract wall and is considered an important biomarker used to assess impaired gut barrier function".