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Lewis HowesThe TOP FOODS That Should Be BANNED - Don't Eat These Foods! | Dr. Steven Gundry
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 5:11
Gut Bacteria as the Real Drivers of Health
Lewis Howes opens by asking about Gundry's mission to end disease through the gut. Gundry says most of our cells and genes are non-human, and that gut bacteria shape who we are.
- •Gundry says 90% of our cells and 99% of our genes are non-human, bacterial and viral
- •He argues human genes are about 99% the same as a chimp's, and that bacteria mark the difference
- •He cites fecal transfers: obese-donor bacteria making skinny rats fat, and a marathon runner who gained 32 pounds after a transplant
- •He says bacteria send signals that push us toward foods they want
- 5:11 – 7:45
Addictive Foods and Bacteria Controlling Behavior
Howes shares his own sweet tooth, and Gundry explains how simple sugars and saturated fats feed obesogenic bacteria. He uses Little Shop of Horrors as an analogy and cites studies on mood.
- •Simple sugars and saturated fats feed the bacteria that drive cravings
- •Gundry compares this to the plant in Little Shop of Horrors demanding to be fed
- •He says depressed mice's bacteria made happy mice hide in a corner
- •He describes a 1930s experiment in which about two-thirds of depressed patients got happy after fecal enemas from happy people
- 7:45 – 11:59
Young Gut Bacteria, Mitochondria, and Longevity
Gundry says bacteria from young animals can make old animals young again and extend lifespan by about 30%. He says gut bacteria signal the mitochondria and describes his own results after 17 years of feeding his bacteria well.
- •Old animals given young animals' bacteria extend their lifespan by about 30%
- •Gundry calls humans a condominium for bacteria
- •He says gut bacteria send signals telling mitochondria to regenerate
- •He tells a story about a photo with Mehmet Oz and David Sinclair's reaction
- 11:59 – 17:49
The Plant Paradox: Plants' Chemical Defenses and Fruit Timing
After Howes raises the Loma Linda blue zone, Gundry explains his plant paradox. Some plants do not want to be eaten, and fruit is meant to be a seasonal food. He says year-round fruit tricks our bodies into storing fat for a winter that never comes.
- •Gundry says he was a heavy Clydesdale runner on a low-fat vegetarian diet in a blue zone
- •Plants defend themselves with chemical warfare because they cannot run
- •Fruit is meant to attract animals so seeds spread, and humans were designed to eat it once a year
- •Food makers use ripeness colors like red, orange and yellow to attract us
- •Blueberries in February make the body think summer is ending and winter is near
- 17:49 – 20:56
Lectins, Beans, and Pressure Cooking
Asked which plants to avoid, Gundry says humans switched to grains and beans only about 10,000 years ago. He describes lectins as plant defense proteins, points to the dangers of raw beans, and says pressure cooking makes them acceptable.
- •Humans lived mainly on leaves and tubers until about 10,000 years ago
- •Five raw kidney beans can kill a person, he says, and ricin is a lectin
- •Undercooked beans sent 30 or 40 Boston schoolchildren to the hospital
- •Pressure cooking beans makes them fine to eat, though his personal view is that beans mainly deliver olive oil
- 20:56 – 22:00
Gluten, Grains, and Gut Damage
Gundry explains that gluten is a lectin that breaks through the gut lining. He links it to eczema, acne, brain fog and irritable bowel.
- •Lectins act like guided missiles on the gut wall
- •Gundry connects them to eczema, acne, brain fog and irritable bowel
- •He cites readers whose eczema cleared after removing grains, beans and nightshades
- 22:00 – 25:17
Nightshades and American Plants: Peel, Deseed, Pressure Cook
Gundry says Americans' ancestors were not exposed to New World plants until about 500 years ago. He explains why tomatoes, peppers and potatoes are safer peeled and deseeded or pressure cooked.
- •500 years is speed dating in evolution for adapting to new lectins
- •Italians avoided tomatoes for 200 years and later peeled and deseeded them
- •Peppers and chiles are traditionally peeled and deseeded as well
- •Peeling, deseeding or pressure cooking makes nightshades safer
- 25:17 – 27:00
Why Peanuts Should Go
Gundry names peanuts as one of two American beans to avoid. He cites monkey and rat studies and recommends almond butter instead, while Howes reacts with dismay.
- •Peanuts are a bean, not a nut, and 94% of people carry an antibody to the peanut lectin
- •Rhesus monkeys fed peanut oil developed atherosclerosis, but not when the lectin was removed
- •Gundry says there is no lectin-free peanut butter and suggests almond butter
- •He says rats fed the stool of peanut-eating men grew cancerous cells in the colon
- 27:00 – 31:52
Big Ed and Gundry's Leap from Surgery to Prevention
Gundry explains why he performed over 10,000 heart surgeries and then left. A patient named Big Ed cleared 50% of his blockages in six months, which led Gundry to apply his Yale thesis to himself and his patients.
- •Big Ed lost 45 pounds and cleared half his blockages in six months
- •Gundry compares this to the tiny plaque reductions seen with statins
- •He lost 50 pounds, then 20 more, after putting himself on his thesis diet
- •He resigned as chairman of heart surgery because surgery was a Band-Aid
- •He set up an institute in Palm Springs to track patients' blood work
- 31:52 – 38:02
Autoimmune Disease, Gut Bugs, and a Chronic Pain Patient
Gundry uses a gang-and-cops analogy to explain how the wrong foods let harmful bacteria overrun the gut and put the immune system on alert. He tells the story of a woman whose chronic pain disappeared and then returned after eating tomatoes in guacamole.
- •As a transplant immunologist, Gundry says he applied immune knowledge to food
- •Good bacteria calm the immune system, and harmful ones leave it hyper-vigilant
- •He recommends removing lectins and starving the harmful bacteria to treat autoimmune disease
- •A 36-year-old woman with chronic pain syndrome became pain-free after changing her diet
- •She had a pain flare after eating guacamole with tomatoes at an office party
- 38:02 – 41:15
Restorative Medicine and Whole Grain Myths
Howes asks whether Gundry is a functional medicine doctor, and Gundry calls his approach restorative medicine, citing Hippocrates. He discusses removing obstacles to health, going gluten-free and the problems with whole grains.
- •Gundry says Hippocrates believed the physician's job is to remove obstacles to health
- •He sees lectins and harmful gut bacteria as the main obstacles
- •Gut bacteria that eat gluten leave when you go gluten-free, so a later slip can hit harder
- •He says the worst lectins are in the grain hull and that whole grain goodness is only about 50 years old
- 41:15 – 43:05
Cashews, Chia Seeds, and Olive Oil as the Secret
Gundry says cashews need pressure cooking and warns against chia seeds. He recommends leaves, tubers and large amounts of olive oil, citing a Spanish study.
- •Cashews can be pressure cooked, and Amazonian Indians discarded the cashew bean
- •He says two human studies show chia seeds promote inflammation
- •He says we should eat leaves, tubers like jicama and sweet potatoes, and tons of olive oil
- •He uses a liter of olive oil a week and cites a Spanish study showing better memory and less breast cancer and heart disease
- 43:05 – 45:02
Closing: Gundry's Journey and Definition of Greatness
Howes points listeners to The Plant Paradox and acknowledges Gundry's change of course. Gundry shares where to find him and defines greatness as giving something to others and hearing thanks.
- •Howes praises Gundry for reevaluating, testing on himself and helping others
- •Gundry directs listeners to gundrymd.com and his Instagram
- •Gundry defines greatness as giving something to someone who comes back to say thank you
- •He cites fixing a newborn's heart and the woman who forgot what being without pain felt like
