2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[Pulsegleaner]

As I have mentioned before, lablabs (hyacinth beans) are another biggie. Unless you confine yourself to a very few (usually white seeded and non violet plant) types, you can only eat mature seeds if you leave them first in running water for a while to leach out the toxins. Otherwise, it's immature pods only. There, I suppose is sort of a double danger, since you not only have to know to do that to mature seeds, but also have to know when a pod is too mature to be safe anymore (I have picked pods out of piles in Indian grocery stores that were old enough to have mature seeds many times. I suppose the native buyers just KNOW from experience how to select young ones from old ones.*)

And there is also the matter of common vetch (Vicia sativa) which people DID eat back in the past, and which I am not sure there is ANY way to detoxify. Mature seed isn't even really safe for CATTLE to consume. Hence the MAJOR scandal many years ago where packers in India were caught taking orange cotyledon vetch seed, hulling it, splitting it, oiling it and selling it to Australia as split red lentils.)

* I have sometimes wondered why the vegetable growers who grow the lablab pods for the Indian vegetable market don't hedge their bets and only grow white seeded types for that as well (the pod types sold are generally green anyway, so it isn't a color thing.) I can only assume that after centuries most areas which eat lablab pods are wedded to their old black seeded types and see no reason to change them.

 

[flowerbug]

@Zeedman To add, from what I read when looking up today, what it was called, I found that even the pollen can make you sick, or just being around the plants, so it is doubtful you have the issue. I just remembered reading something about it 40 years ago and have just never wanted to grow them since.

I didn't know that raw Phaseolus could make you ill. I've often wondered out people figured out ages ago, how to make some very toxic foods safe to eat. Seems there would have been a lot of deaths from trial and error. Amazing to me.

i dunno about that being a huge issue with the kidney beans, i mean have you ever eaten any of the dried seeds raw? also the toxins vary with variety. what a red kidney bean might have a white one may be quite different.

them being outstanding as a green vegetable they must not be too bad for many people because the little bits of seeds inside the pods don't seem to give an accumulative dose that affects many people or it would be known and talked about or prevented or there would be warnings put on every seed packet so the bean addicts don't overly poison themselves (and the bean pod manufacturers would have mounted an extensive campaign to tell us how good the beans really are for our health and ...)...

hmm...

 

[meadow]

For example, we in the U.S. cook the toxicity out of limas & dry beans perhaps less because we know of the toxins, than because we have always done so.

From my observation in forums, many people in the US (and elsewhere) are unaware that kidney beans must be boiled for a certain amount of time to neutralize the toxins. Slow-cookers are insufficient by themselves. Perhaps some of the old wisdom has been lost as the use of canned beans became more common.

@meadow I can send you some Jack's Runner Pole Bean, all white seeds, if you like. Seed from 2010, not stored correctly, if you want to try it.

Thank you for the offer! The 20' growth habit is way too much for me at this time. Also, I'm finding in my research of runner beans (and fava beans) that I may not want them as a regular part of my diet. I'm very intrigued by Piekny Jas though, and still checking into some things. I may have to find an alternative bean for my Pizza Beans! Maybe even Haricot Tarbais (which I adore). They won't have that nice 'potatoey' texture though. hmm.

By the way, apparently favism is a thing in Hong Kong too.

 

[meadow]

what a red kidney bean might have a white one may be quite different.

White kidney beans (cannellini) have about one third the amount.

 

[Zeedman]

I didn't know that raw Phaseolus could make you ill. I've often wondered out people figured out ages ago, how to make some very toxic foods safe to eat. Seems there would have been a lot of deaths from trial and error. Amazing to me.

Unfortunately, for every toxic plant that we know today, one or more people in the past probably discovered that toxicity the hard way. They undoubtedly paid a heavy price, while learning to overcome the toxicity in many our food plants. The vegetables we take for granted were inherited from generations of ancestors who literally gave their lives to pass that legacy on to us; we owe all of them a silent 'thank you' as we harvest our bounty.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Practically everything we eat can be toxic in certain amounts. I'm using toxic to not just mean it can kill you but it can make you sick. A big key is dosage. If you are allergic or sensitive to certain things it may not take a lot, for others you might have to eat a lot of it to get a reaction. Some things may kill you, others may break you out or give you diarrhea. The body, especially the liver, is pretty good about removing certain toxins. Other toxins can build up over time. The cabbage family is an example. They contain a certain toxin that can affect the thyroid. It won't bother most people unless you get ridiculous about how much you eat but it can bother some people. I read a story (which I tend to believe) about a woman that had serious thyroid problems because all she had to eat was Bok Choi. She ate a lot every day for a few weeks. I don't know if it was cooked or raw. I don't know if she had a thyroid problem to start with.

I don't have any great words of wisdom for anybody. I do believe there is some truth in a lot of these stories about certain things being toxic, Some of them maybe not much truth but a little. Some to certain people more than others. Some of them you can't physically eat enough to get a toxic dose. I don't dismiss these stories out of hand but I don't blindly believe all of them either. Moderation is probably a good thing.

 

[Jack Holloway]

Good points about toxicity of foods. Here is one I discovered the hard way. Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs. My vet didn't even know that. My dog was a bit under the weather, so I was giving him macadamia nuts as a treat. He liked them. He got worse and worse. Finally I realized the only thing different was those nuts. I googled it and sure enough. They are toxic to dogs.

 

[meadow]

Yes, @Ridgerunner this exactly for me as well.

I try to minimize the load of toxins that my liver has to deal with. It's a personal choice -- not by any means recommending it for anyone else. I view it as being supportive to my overall health. Whereas some are speaking of toxicity as immediate severe illness or death, I'm thinking in terms of a larger, long-term picture.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Agreed. I never knew there was a dangerous amount for onions and garlic until the day when I was cutting up a whole bunch of Korean mountain garlic tops to sauté (having already put the bulbs away) and my fingers literally started burning! Of course, now it's even more of an issue, as my ageing digestive system has developed a bit of a problem with raw alliums in large amounts anyway. And, of course, now that I know how dangerous alliums are to dogs and cats (they can seriously mess up their little livers). I am a LOT more cautious about letting the get get a piece of any meat we roast (I trim ALL the outside off and only let him have a little of the center, as far away from the marinade as possible.)

Speaking burning things, not only can I not really stand EATING hot peppers, I have to be extremely careful when I am using them not to touch my face, as my skin there is REALLY sensitive to capsaicin (it's sensitive to alcohol as well ,which is why I won't use a alcohol based wipe to clean my face, and why I don't use aftershave*)

I try and keep my hands off my face after eating washed rind ("stinky") cheese as well, but that is because the bacteria can get into any small cuts or burst pimples I might have (or the inside of my eyelids) and start an infection.

 

[Boilergardener]

I enjoy making Ham n beans, chili, ham hock n beans, bacon n beans etc. I have had great luck with Early Warwick, Brightstone, and now recently tried san stephano borlotto de aveti and it was good. My family had always traditionally used Great northerns and such, or other store bought, but i have liked the cranberry / horticulture types.

Does anyone have a favorite bean for a "ham and beans" kind of soup/stew? Im always looking for new suggestions on beans and recipes! I am fairly new to the Network and welcome all suggestions.