LauraGB Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Oh, good grief. Likely TMI, but here I go: I have been a vegetarian for almost 6 years. Lately, about 1-3 times a month, I eat fish or organic chicken that I prepare, so not a total vegetarian anymore, I guess. Every time I have ingested beans, I bloat to indescribable proportions (I mean, I look like I'm 6 months pregnant for days and feel about the same :glare:). I've tried canned and rinsed, organic canned and rinsed, home made (water rinsed between). Sometimes it's okay; I'm not sure if it's the bean type - I usually eat black, pinto, red or cannellini. I've tried pairing them with rice, with corn, and with any/all kinds of vegetables. I'm getting annoyed. I like beans. Is it possible I just can't process them well? Can you? Or am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Oh, good grief. Likely TMI, but here I go: I have been a vegetarian for almost 6 years. Lately, about 1-3 times a month, I eat fish or organic chicken that I prepare, so not a total vegetarian anymore, I guess. Every time I have ingested beans, I bloat to indescribable proportions (I mean, I look like I'm 6 months pregnant for days and feel about the same :glare:). I've tried canned and rinsed, organic canned and rinsed, home made (water rinsed between). Sometimes it's okay; I'm not sure if it's the bean type - I usually eat black, pinto, red or cannellini. I've tried pairing them with rice, with corn, and with any/all kinds of vegetables. I'm getting annoyed. I like beans. Is it possible I just can't process them well? Can you? Or am I missing something? Have you tried using Bean-O? It's an enzyme formula or something for improving the digestion of beans. You should be able to find it at a heath food store or maybe even at your grocery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 do you soak them overnight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Well, I am a vegetarian and I eat a LOT of beans. I have some every day. Not because I loooove beans, just they are convenient and cheap. heck, I would prob eat them a lot even if I wasn't a veg. I have never had a single 'issue' with beans. Ok, sometimes someone else has served me beans that I know aren't cooked enough and then I get bloated. But any other time there is no issue at all. The same with my husband. What I am trying to say is that if it is possible that I have NO problems, then it is very possible you can have lots of problems. My mother swears by 'bean-o' and literally won't leave home without it. She also likes beans (but not a veg) and as she has got older, she has problems digesting them. How much fiber do you eat? Do you eat a lot of veggies? Lots of roughage? If you are bloating that means that the bacteria have lots of sugar to eat. Maybe if you ate more fiber in general and drank a lot more water, there would be less fermenting going on in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 I've heard of Beano, but have never really looked into it. Curious now to know exactly what enzyme it is... If you are bloating that means that the bacteria have lots of sugar to eat. Interesting. I normally don't eat a lot of sugar (just honey or maple syrup, and not terribly often with those), but lately I've had some serious sugar cravings, and I've indulged way more than usual. I wonder how many of my previous issues coincided with sugar cravings. Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 do you soak them overnight? Most of the time. Sometimes I do the quick soak, but usually it's over night. Then a rinse. Then the boil. Then I rinse them again after they are done cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I have the same issue with beans. I eat them rarely for that very reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicHSmom Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I'm not sure if it's the bean type - I usually eat black, pinto, red or cannellini. ? My DH has a harder time digesting black beans than any other bean. Perhaps one is harder for you, too. If you are bloating that means that the bacteria have lots of sugar to eat. Maybe this is part of his problem. He has a major sweet tooth, which I contribute to by baking goodies and buying ice cream. Hmm, makes me wonder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiseOwlKnits Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 A friend swears by adding some lemon juice to her beans while soaking to avoid bloating. You can't taste the lemon juice in the beans once they're cooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I have digestive problems, but have to eat a lot of beans along with my meats in order to keep my iron count up. Eating vegetarian, no matter how large the amount of beans and green veggies, I get very anemic and I don't digest grains at all well, so counting on iron from oats or something is not an option. I have gone to home canning mine. I am negatively affected by the high fructose corn syrup that is in many brands. I also soak mine before I can them and I use lemon juice and whey. They are soaked for 24 hours and I skim the "bubbles" off the surface periodically as they soak. The bubbles are phytase...a component of legumes which can be very difficult for some people to digest. I then can them with just a little sea salt. I can eat them in large quantities this way. Otherwise, I have bloating problems and some gut pain. If you are preparing dry beans, try the 24 hour soak with lemon juice, whey (skim it off of yogurt - it's the "watery" separation that occurs when it sits - use plain and greek yogurt in particular works well), and sea salt. The ascorbic acid in the lemon juice helps prepare the fiber, the whey helps predigest the beans quite well, and the salt water cause the phytase to separate and rise. I do know of one person with major Chron's disease that would normally not be able to eat legumes. But, he can if he makes greek yogurt (cultured for 24 hours to make sure all of the lactose is used up) and mixes his serving of beans in with the yogurt (lacto-fermentation), allows to "ferment" 24 hours, and then rinses and boils. Sometimes he takes the leftovers and mixes it with some more yogurt, twinge of lemon juice, and a nice amount of garlic and eats it as bean paste dip for his favorite veggies. Some people just do not enough of the enzymes needed to digest the beans and if they are canned with HCFS, this is particularly true. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 No, no, when I say sugar I don't mean sugar from candy. Mmmmm...candy. I mean, well...the beans themselves are sugars, broccoli is full of sugars, bread is sugar, yogurt is sugar. Complex carbohydrates is more like it. Alton Brown explains it all (and the beano) http://youtu.be/wlkULK6fN_4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malory Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Have you heard of sprouting beans? I notice a lot less problem with gas when cooking sprouted beans. They also take less time to cook. Just make sure you don't sprout too long or they'll no longer taste like beans. Here's a website with some info: http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/blackbean.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I am not such a huge bean fan (except garbanzo) but I heard someone recommend 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda in the cooking water. Perhaps try a small amount so you don't have to be so miserable in case it doesn't work. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 If you're cooking Mexican, you could try making it with epazote. It helps with gassy-ness. It's also brilliant in tortilla soup. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I LOVE beans and don't tend to have problems with them - rarely, anyway. Dh, a strict vegetarian, bloats up with them badly. Makes it very hard to make food for him, especially when he doesn't like vegies much either! I would try eating the smaller beans- lentils, maybe aduki- and soaking them really well for up to 24 hours. Then cook them really well. See if that does the same thing to you. I think the bigger the bean, the harder it tends to be to digest. DH can occasionally eat some well cooked lentils, though he will still have some reaction- he can eat them once but not again within a few days. But his intestines are very easily disturbed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 an author shared that she couldn't tolerate beans, and therefore didn't use any bean flours in her baking. The reaction you're having to beans is the same reaction I had every single day before I quit eating gluten. So I would say yes, it's very possible you're not tolerating them well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Oh, good grief. Likely TMI, but here I go: I have been a vegetarian for almost 6 years. Lately, about 1-3 times a month, I eat fish or organic chicken that I prepare, so not a total vegetarian anymore, I guess. Every time I have ingested beans, I bloat to indescribable proportions (I mean, I look like I'm 6 months pregnant for days and feel about the same :glare:). I've tried canned and rinsed, organic canned and rinsed, home made (water rinsed between). Sometimes it's okay; I'm not sure if it's the bean type - I usually eat black, pinto, red or cannellini. I've tried pairing them with rice, with corn, and with any/all kinds of vegetables. I'm getting annoyed. I like beans. Is it possible I just can't process them well? Can you? Or am I missing something? I have the same issues with any legume (which is a huge bummer because I like beans OK, but I LOVE lentils and hummus :(). Beano works for the first meal, but then nothing works for leftovers. Learned that the hard way :glare: I've given up. I do so much better when I'm pretty much just eating meat and veggies. I really need to get back to that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I can't do beans at all. It really causes intestinal cramps for me and bloating. One time of severe cramping I swore off beans. Now with low carbing beans are def. out of the question. 3 of us in my family do not eat beans because we are low carber. My two other kids can have beans. I do not handle legumes either. I just do not tolerate them at all. I heard it is very common to have intolerance to beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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