Do Cassava Chips Have Lectins?
You may be wondering whether cassava chips contain lectins. The answer is they can. Cassava itself doesn’t contain lectins, but other ingredients could.
| Cassava | no lectins |
| Cassava chips | could contain lectins |
The only research I’ve seen is that cassava does not contain lectins.
Are Cassava Chips Lectin-Free?
Cassava chips could be lectin-free based on what the ingredients are of the chips. One piece of research tested cassava and showed no lectin activity across all blood types. That being said, there could still be other ingredients in cassava chips that could contain lectins besides cassava.
The most basic form of cassava chip typically contains just cassava, some sort of oil, and salt. If you’re looking for the best lectin-free cassava chips, you can click that link to see a list of some of the top cassava chips lowest in lectins. Here are a couple.
In research, it was tested for the cassava was tested for agglutination on human blood of types A, B, AB, and O.
Are Cassava Chips High In Lectins?
As mentioned above, the research I’ve looked at showed no lectin activity in cassava, which would, which means that cassava chips are not likely to be a high lectin food. That being said, there could be other ingredients that are used besides just the cassava, which could contain higher levels of lectins.
Are Cassava Chips Low In Lectins?
The research that I mentioned shows no lectin activity in cassava, which would suggest that cassava chips are a low lectin food.
The exception would be if there’s other ingredients mixed in. For example, it could contain it could be mixed with other legumes, although this is not very common, and it could have cinnamon, which has been found to contain lectins. Generally speaking, cassava chips are considered to be low enough in lectins that they are safe for humans to eat.
If you’re looking for the best low lectin cassava chips, click that link to see the breakdown of 4 of the top cassava chips.
Limitations In Testing For Lectins In Cassava Chips
There has not been research that I’ve seen on specific cassava chips, only on cassava itself. Additionally, lectin testing results can be based on a number of factors.
For example, the variety of the food can affect the lectin quantity. In the research mentioned above, cassava with the scientific name Manihot esculenta was used, but there can be different genetic varieties of different foods, including cassava. Another thing to consider is that a result of no lectin activity in a test does not necessarily mean there are no lectins.
Some types of lectins may not show up with certain types of testing methods, and there may be some sort of a threshold before lectin activity is seen.
Types Of Cassava Chips
The simplest form of cassava chip is often just cassava with some sort of oil and salt. Other cassava chips may mix in other foods with the cassava such as pumpkin, like in the Siete cassava chips, which are quite popular.
They also may have added cinnamon and sugar, making it taste sort of like a churro, such as in the even more popular Siete cinnamon churro cassava strips.
Cinnamon has shown lectins in testing, although many people would probably be fine to eat it in moderation.
Should You Eat Cassava Chips?
Cassava chips are considered a healthy food, and generally speaking, can be great to snack on. You may want to limit your consumption of them as with any food.
But generally speaking, I would consider them low in lectins and great for people to eat.
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Resources:
1. http://medicinalplants-kr.org/
2. https://sciendo.com/article/10.1515/sjecr-2016-0031