Beans are wonderful and high in protein, which is great when you don't eat a lot of animal products. It's well known, however, that eating beans will make you bloated and gassy, and let's face it, that's no fun. Not only is it uncomfortable, it makes people less inclined to hang out with you when you're the person who's always farting.
Beans create gas because they contain sugars that our bodies can't break down and are too big to be absorbed in the small intestine. When they get to the large intestine, the bacteria that live there eat it up, creating gas in the process.
Fortunately, mother nature thinks of everything, and there is a 100% natural solution to dealing with the problem.
When you're cooking your beans (make sure you soak dry beans over night, or it will take forever for them to cook), add a 2 inch square of kombu (also spelled konbu). It's a seaweed that you can buy in dried form from natural food stores, Asian markets, or in the Asian food section of your grocery store (if it has one). It doesn't do a whole lot to the flavor of the beans, but it does break down the sugars into smaller, digestible chunks, leaving nothing for the bacteria to munch on. When you're through cooking, just remove the kombu, and you're good to go.
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Wow... that's amazing. I always wondered about how beans get so gassy. I have read that if you use canned beans, or if you soak dried beans, it helps a lot to drain and rinse them before cooking. I've tried this, and it does help, but it doesn't work perfectly. Wonder where I can get some kombu around here.
ReplyDeleteMy all-around preference, though, is to use fresh-picked beans and peas, instead of dried. This is way less gassy than starting with dried beans.
I wish I had a good way to get fresh beans. Someday, I'll have enough garden space...
ReplyDeleteYou can get Kombu at Whole Foods, although, it was almost 4 times as expensive as what I got at my grocery store's Asian foods section. You should be able to get it anywhere you would get Nori for rolling sushi.