Lectin plant and comprises two protein domains. Abrin from the jequirity pea is similar: Lectins are ubiquitous in nature and many foods contain the proteins. Because some lectins can be harmful if poorly cooked or consumed in great quantities, "lectin-free" fad diets have been proposed, most based on the writing of Steven Gundry. A typical lectin-free diet excludes a range of foods, including most grains, pulses and legumes, as well as eggs, seafood and many staple fruits and vegetables. These foods do not contain harmful levels of lectins when properly cooked, and there is no health benefit to following these diets
Lectin MBL, the mannose-binding lectin, help mediate the first-line defense against invading microorganisms. Other lectins within the immune system are thought to play a role in self-nonself discrimination and they likely modulate inflammatory and autoreactive processes. Intelectins (X-type lectins) were shown to bind microbial glycans and may function in the innate immune system as well. Lectins may be involved in pattern recognition and pathogen elimination in the innate immunity of vertebrates including fishes. The function of lectins in plants (legume lectin) is still uncertain. Once thought to be necessary for rhizobia binding, this proposed function was ruled out through lectin-knockout transgene