most digestable bean

a Whole Foods Market Customer
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12 Comments

Panfusine October 24, 2012
from what I learnt from my grandmom/mom, Mung is traditionally the most digestible, cooks in a snap, followed by masoor (the traditional lentils, the Indian / brown lentils cook up much faster and mush up more compared to the Puy & Beluga variety) & Urad, Black eyed peas and Adzuki take a little longer. and kidney beans are at the other end of the spectrum.
 
Panfusine October 24, 2012
& yes.. somewhere around the adzuki spectrum are the Tuvar (matpe) beans.. Its curious, the pressure cookers in Indian homes have a weight that releases steam when the pressure inside builds up to a point.. Many Indians often advice cooking times in terms of 'Whistles'..1 for mung, 2 for whole mung, 4 for tuvar, adzuki, BEP & chana (split dehusked garbanzo) and about 8-10 for the tough ones like kidney beans.
 
susan G. October 23, 2012
Lentils are often given as the 'most digestible legume.
Soy beans, cooked just as 'beans,' are probably the least digestible. I once knew a man who thought that chewing the uncooked beans would give him all their nutrition. What it did was give him horrible and offensive gas and drive everyone away from his vicinity!
...Personal observation -- use a pressure cooker to cook beans, and cook them thoroughly. You'll come closest to digestibility that way, but add the kombu to the soak water too.
 
ChefOno October 23, 2012

Your friend was lucky he didn't have a worse reaction. There are a number of beans that are toxic when raw -- soy, lima, kidney to name what I can remember.

 
Panfusine October 24, 2012
pressure cooker are a godsend!
 
ChefOno October 23, 2012

One problem: Enzymes denature well before the boiling point. Alpha-galactosidase is inactivated by temperatures above 60C (140F). That's why Beano is distributed in tablet form rather than added to food. You'd have to add the seaweed while soaking the beans for it to be effective.

 
Sam1148 October 23, 2012
Thanks Sfmiller! I had never heard about that...I've learned my 'new thing' for the day.
I have Kombu on hand for making Dashi..and will be trying it in beans very soon.

 
Sam1148 October 23, 2012
Interesting about the Kelp. I might try that, I wonder if a pinch of MSG would have the same effect, as that's the main thing in Kombu.
 

Voted the Best Reply!

sfmiller October 23, 2012
It's not the glutamate in Kombu that does it. It's alpha-galactosidase, an enzyme that breaks down complex carbohydrates in beans, grains, and other vegetables and is also present in microorganisms in the human gut. The same enzyme is the active ingredient in Beano.

Think of it as pre-digesting the beans while you cook them!
 
ChefJune October 23, 2012
I'm not sure which is the MOST digestible bean, but surely one of the most Difficult to digest is the red kidney bean. It's super-thick skin makes it really hard on the digestive system. In fact, I've spoken with and read several doctors and dietitians who recommend NOT eating them at all!

We eat a lot of beans at our house... The new favorite is a small heirloon red bean called Rio Zape. I've only found it a Rancho Gordo Beans, and it's well worth the time and effort it takes to order them and wait for their arrival!
 
Panfusine October 23, 2012
Or ajwain (bishops weed)
 
cookingProf October 22, 2012
The digestion of any bean can be improved if you add a piece of Kombu (sea kelp) to the pot while cooking.
 
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