Taming the Wild Bean: Easing Digestion

Taming the Wild Bean: Easing Digestion - How Foods Fight Cancer

If beans give you a bit of indigestion or gas, here are some tips that will
solve this problem:

1. Start with modest servings. Also, some people notice that smaller
beans are easier to digest, so try black beans, black-eyed peas, and
lentils first, and then work your way up to pinto and fava beans.

2. Make sure the beans are thoroughly cooked. Adding a strip of kombu,
a sea vegetable, to the beans during cooking can also be helpful.

3. Drain and gently rinse canned beans. This also decreases the amount
of salt in some brands.

4. Before cooking, soak dried beans for 8 to 12 hours in cold water, or
2 to 4 hours in warm water (bring to a boil, remove from the heat,
cover, and let rest at room temperature). After soaking dried beans,
drain and cook them in enough fresh water to keep them covered by
several inches. Beans can take a very long time to cook (up to several
hours), and the length of time necessary to reach tenderness depends
on several factors: (1) water hardness, (2) size of the bean, (3) age
of the bean, (4) and cooking method (for example, pressure cooking
cuts the time significantly, by about two-thirds or more).

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