Beans

Beans

Beans are high in phytic acid and lectins. Lathyrism is a disease attributed to poor people who in difficult environmental circumstances planted and consumed the extremely hardy bean lathyrus sativus (a type of sweet pea). The toxic substance that caused lathyrism is likely the toxic amino acid beta-N-oxalylamino-L-alanine. Its symptoms include walking difficulties, leg weakness and eventually complete paralysis. Other beans also contain quite a few plant toxins such as soy beans. Lima beans consumed in Nigeria as a staple involve a “painstaking processes” to make them safe to eat. 1c

To completely eliminate phytates, beans need to be soaked overnight in warm water, geminated for several days, and then soured. Most people will not be able to go through the lengths to remove all of the phytic acid in beans. Soaking beans overnight and then cooking them eliminates a good portion of phytic acid in smaller beans like lentils. Simply soaking beans overnight may be good enough for most people. Just boiling beans that are unsoaked will not remove a significant amount of phytic acid.

As with grains, different beans have different concentrations of plant toxins, and require different types of preparation methods. The exact details for indigenous cultures’ preparation of commonly used beans are unobtainable by me at this time. But we can look at a few examples. In Latin America, beans are often fermented after the cooking process to make a sour porridge called chugo. In India lentils are typically consumed split. That means the outer layer, the husk, (equivalent to the bran in grains) is removed. Lentils without the bran are probably the safest beans to eat. Lentils can be soured into tasty cakes with rice called dosas. Take the same food combining precautions with beans as you would with grains. Eat beans with cheese, beans with vitamin D-containing-foods, and beans with vitamin C-rich vegetables and berries.

Bean Suggestions

Basic

  • Soak beans overnight and cook with kombu (sea vegetable) to soften them and aid digestion.
  • Beans should be very soft and easy to digest when cooked.
  • Choose smaller sized beans over larger ones.

Advanced

  • Prepare soured beans in dishes like dosas.

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