Eat Beans on a Raw Food Diet ?

Beans and other legumes are usually viewed as a “good for you” food.
Kidney beans, black beans pinto beans, lima beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, black-eyed peas and other legumes are praised for being good sources of protein, low in fat and calories, and cholesterol-free.
But…all of these foods are eaten cooked, usually baked or boiled.
So then what about RAW beans? Can they be consumed when raw? Should they be?

Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit
There are many versions of this schoolyard rhyme, but here’s the one I remember…
Beans, beans, the musical fruit
The more you eat, the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel
So eat your beans with every meal!
Poetry. Sheer poetry!
In all seriousness, this silly song speaks the toot…I mean, truth.
Back when I ate a cooked vegan diet high in grains and legumes (hummus and falafel were two of my favorite snacks), I was pootin’ and tootin’ up a storm. And it definitely wasn’t music to my ears nor did it smell like roses.

But the big question is why? Why do beans and other legumes make us so gassy?
Many legumes contain oligosaccharides, a complex sugar. Because humans do not posses the enzymes necessary to break down this sugar, these large molecules are able to pass through your digestive system mostly intact.
Once the sugars reach your large intestine, they ferment in the presence of bacteria there and cause gas.
Another reason beans are associated with tummy upset is actually not because of the beans themselves. Since beans are so bland and unappealing on their own, they are typically accompanied by condiments, oils, and other foods to add flavor and texture.
For instance, chili, hummus, and falafel all contain beans, but they are also high in fat (e.g. oils, meat, and cheese). In addition, these foods are typically consumed with high carbohydrate foods like bread, corn chips, crackers, etc.
This meal of cooked fat and sugar makes for a very poor food combination that will likely cause gas and bloating.
Finally, the presence of lectins in legumes results in serious intestinal upset. But we’ll get to that in a minute…

Phytohemagglutinin, and Linamarin, and Hydrocyanic Acid! Oh My!
In addition to being difficult to digest, beans and many other legumes are also quite toxic.
For instance, kidney beans (particularly the red variety) contain phytohemagglutinin (PHA). PHA is an incredibly harmful lectin, a class of proteins that bind to certain sugars. Like all lectins, PHA is a naturally-occurring pesticide that protects the seed of the plant (i.e. the bean) from being eaten by predators.
So what does PHA do to you? It damages the lining of the intestinal tract. Your body’s response? Prolonged vomiting and diarrhea.
Yikes!
As a result, kidney beans MUST be boiled (which reduces the level of PHA they contain) to make them edible. And actually, according to Wikipedia, many other commonly consumed beans also contain this lectin, just in smaller amounts. Green beans and fava beans are two examples.
Lima beans, especially the darker varieties, are another particularly poisonous legume. They contain linamarin, a cyanogenic glucoside.
So what’s so bad about this cyanogenic whatever-you-call-it? According to Wikipedia:
Upon exposure to enzymes and gut flora in the human intestine, linamarin and its methylated relative lotaustralin can decompose to the toxic chemical hydrogen cyanide
What’s hydrogen cyanide? It’s an extremely poisonous chemical compound!
Finally, ALL legumes (like grains) contain lots of lectin. While not all lectins are as harmful as PHA, they do bind to the lining of your intestines and cause intestinal damage when consumed in high amounts.
This results in compromised absorption of any and all nutrients that pass through your intestines and can even lead to leaky gut syndrome.

Beans, Beans, They’re Yucky to Boot!
Imagine, if you will, a plate of cooked kidney beans. That’s it, just beans. No salt. No spices. Nothing but beans.
Um, eww?
There’s a reason no one sits down to a bowl of beans. Just like grains, beans are bland and unappetizing unless mixed with condiments or other flavorful foods.
And what about raw beans? Even worse, right?! Not only are they bland, but they’re tough and virtually impossible to digest when raw.
There’s a reason that the few raw foodists who do consume raw beans only do so after soaking them for several hours in water.

The Bottom Line on Beans
Raw beans are not a health food. They are hard to digest, toxic, and completely unpleasant in their whole, raw state.
The simple fact that beans and other legumes must be soaked, cooked, and covered in condiments to be enjoyed is a sure sign that they are not an optimal food for humans.

By : swayze