Steven Gundry

“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.”

“When we lessen lectin consumption, the gut wall reseals and the stimulus to store fat is removed. Lectins no longer bind to insulin receptors, and we no longer store fat aggressively. Weight loss invariably follows.”

“Plants are both friend and enemy, source of health and, in certain instances, triggers of disease.”

“I've never gone and spoken to an audience, you know, 'come and be my patient.' I've never taken an ad in a newspaper, 'come and be my patient.'”

“Women will tell you, 80 percent of the time - if you listen - what is wrong with them. And what frustrates me, as a physician who takes care of a lot of women with autoimmune diseases, is that women have to request and find a physician... who will actually take their complaints seriously and investigate.”

“The rule of thumb is, if you feel chest pains, chew on an aspirin to thin the blood rapidly.”

“I make it very clear that cooking and soaking helps to reduce the lectins in troublesome foods like beans and grains.”

“I think that successful writers somehow capture truths that resonate with readers.”

“Lectins enter our our joints, our nerve junctions, the lining of our blood vessels and our brain where they incite inflammation and autoimmune diseases.”

“I first studied the effect of plants on humans for my Yale thesis... and it was a 185-page thesis, and luckily I got honors on it.”

“I hate to write! But I love to talk, so I'm told that when people read my books, it like I'm there just talking with them.”

“Black pepper is necessary to absorb the key antioxidants in most spices and foods, including turmeric, so get a pepper grinder and fill it with Tellicherry peppercorns.”

“Take MediCal and Medicaid patients. All people have a right to quality care and they will teach you as much or more as your insurance and cash patients do.”

“Women do not get enough attention in a healthcare professional's office. We have been trained as healthcare professionals to look 'lightly' at women's complaints.”

“The more fruit I removed from an individual's diet, the healthier he or she became and the more his or her cholesterol numbers and markers for kidney function improved.”

“Lectins are plant proteins that protect the plant and its seeds from being eaten by basically hacking into the animal's immune system, causing the animal to have inflammation.”

“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.”

“I haven't met a person who takes a statin drug to lower cholesterol that I can't get off a statin once I teach them how to eat.”

“A pressure cooker will destroy all lectin except gluten.”

“Teaching people to eat doesn't make a lot of money. Nevertheless, most of us go into medicine because of a genuine desire to help people and optimize their health.”