Apr 27 2009
Beans – No Longer the Magical Fruit
Magical fruit, musical fruit, whatever you want to call it – beans have a bad reputation for producing both auditory and olfactory offense. Guilty as charged, the seemingly innocuous legume has been the source of many bouts of embarrassment, anguish, and undoubtedly the source material for some of the best movie quotes of all time. “I fart in your general direction” will immediately ring a bell for Monty Python fans.
What is the source for such noxious miasma? Beans pass very slowly through our digestive tracts while we try to break down the complex carbohydrates contained in them – known as oligosaccharides. The problem is that we do not have the particular enzymes in our digestive tracts needed to break down these sugars, so they just sit there fermenting in our gut, thus producing the unwanted side effects.
Fortunately, proper soaking significantly reduces oligosaccharide content, as well as total sugars and starch. In particular, soaking with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) causes remarkable reduction in these sugars and starches.
Although some people claim that soaking beans in a baking soda solution damages their nutritive properties, a study found that a 0.5% sodium bicarbonate solution reduced only antinutritional factors, while protein digestibility was actually increased. (It should be noted that lentils and split peas do not need to be soaked.) Also, most people experience much less flatulence with lentils and split peas than other varieties of legumes, which is a huge bonus since they lead the pack in the carb:fiber ratio.
To soak beans, first rinse them, then place them in a large pot and add water at a 4 to 1 ratio (water to beans). Allow the beans to soak anywhere between 12 to 24 hours at room temperature for the best results. After soaking, drain and rinse the beans, pouring all of those nasty anti-nutrients down the drain.
Some people advocate a ‘quick’ way to soak beans, by bringing them to a boil for two minutes, then cover and
stand for two hours. However, the effectiveness of this method is unknown, and frankly, how much easier can it get than to dump them in a pot with water and baking soda overnight? The table below presents the correct proportions of dry beans, water, and baking soda for the soak.
Dry Beans Water Baking Soda
1/2 cup 2 cups 1/2 tsp
1 cup 4 cups 1 tsp
1.5 cups 6 cups 1.5 tsp
2 cups 8 cups 2 tsp
