Health Articles

Legumes (Beans) are a group of the most nourishing easily prepared and cheapest of foods yet seldom eaten in our Western world. Baked beans, chickpeas and other beans can be bought in cans but the health benefits of cooking your own are invaluable and work out a lot more economical. Most beans will give us up to four times the amount of protein that we can obtain from our grains as well as iron, magnesium, potassium, B vitamins and folic acid. Beans contain cholesterol lowering fibre and are low in fat and can help in protection against cancer due to their high anti oxidant properties especially kidney beans.

Do Beans give you flatulence? Apparently the average human passes wind 14 times a day. (I do feel sorry for the relatives of those on the higher scale) but the causes are not directly due to the beans. Most flatulence is caused by swallowed air or carbon dioxide, produced by intestinal bacteria. The 10 % that causes the more offensive odours are from methane, sulphur, hydrogen and by products of bacteria such as indoles, hydrogen sulphide or ammonia (1). As far as the beans go the culprit (Lima and Haricot beans often being the most offensive!) is the compound in legumes called oligosaccharides which are difficult for our digestive system to break down so they are passed into the intestines where they can be broken down by our natural bacteria. This is what causes the flatulence. However the oligosaccharides can be broken down much easier if we SOAK our beans or legumes prior to cooking.

SOAK DRIED BEANS & LEGUMES FOR 24 Hours in water and a little lemon juice—This is the best way to prepare beans or legumes to aid digestion and to shorten the cooking time. Keep them in a refrigerator to prevent fermentation and change the water up to 3 times. This process will not only encourage enzyme activity within the bean to help break down your food but also enhances the vitality of the food according to a ayrvedic medicine.

Tip: If you have no time to soak then add 1/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda to 1 cup of beans, cover with water and let sit about an hour before cooking. This will help break down the oligosaccharides and reduce the cooking time although may make the beans a little more mushy!

To cook dried beans and legumes : After soaking your beans, rinse well and add some fresh water so that the beans are just covered with an inch of water. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and let them simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Cook Pinto beans for an hour and half, chick peas and peas up to two and a half hours and soy beans may take up to 4 hours. Do not add any salt or spices etc until after the beans have cooked as this may harden them.

Test them by taking out a bean and if you can squidge it between your fingers it is cooked.

Storage : Most beans can be kept in an air tight container for up to a year in their dried form. Cooked beans can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days of a freezer for up to 6 months.

Aduki Beans (Phaseolus angularis) or asuki, adzuki, red oriental or even field pea. Thought to have originated in China, aduki beans are also very popular in Japan being one of Japans largest crops. These little reddish brown or purply coloured beans were introduced into the western world in the sixties due to the popularity of the Zen macrobiotic diet and they have been enjoyed ever since. Nutritionally aduki beans are one of the highest protein levels of all beans and are also one of the easiest to digest. They are also an excellent source of fibre, folic acid, B vitamins, molybdenum, manganese, copper and zinc.

Molybdenum is a trace mineral that stimulates an enzyme called sulphite oxidase. This enzyme is essential for the liver detoxification process, sulphoxidation. Some individuals with food sensitivities, inflammatory conditions or neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's may greatly benefit from molybdenum.

Contra-indications for aduki beans. Due to the purine content of aduki beans those with an excess accumulation of uric acid conditions should eat beans in moderation. Purines are naturally found in plants and animals and break down to form uric acid which is commonly associated with symptoms aggravating gout and kidney stones.

Pinto Beans are beige coloured beans and look like they have been splashed with paint hence the name ‘pinto’ which is Spanish for ‘painted’. This are an excellent source of protein and my favourite choice for home made baked beans (see recipe below).

References

Murray, Dr Michael & Pizzorno, Dr Joseph. The encyclopaedia of Healing Foods, Time Warner Books, UK, 2006 (Page 367)

RECIPE

Home Made Baked Beans

Preparation : Soak 1 cup pinto beans for 24 hours in water and a little lemon juice. Rinse and change the water twice during this period. Bring to the boil on the stove top and cook for 1 1/2 hours, until you can squash a bean between your fingers.

Ingredients

2 cups Cooked Pinto Beans

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp cumin

2 cups fresh homemade tomato sauce (See “Dinners” page on www.angelmothers.com)

Or 1 tin crushed organic tomato's

1 dtsp black strap molasses (or 1 dt sp brown sugar)

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

Method

Stir fry in a little olive oil onion and garlic until browning and then add the cumin. Stir in the tomato's and salt/pepper. Blend all these with a hand blender. Add the cooked pinto beans and stir all together. Either cook in a sauce pan on a stove top for a further 10 minutes or put in a casserole dish to bake in the oven for 20 minutes on 180 degrees. These Baked beans can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and eaten as a whole meal or for breakfast on toast.

Amina Eastham-Hillier