Despite their importance in our diet, beans often make us feel bloated and give us gas. Here’s how to make them “user friendly” when we eat
Things Required:
6 tablespoonfuls of black beans or chick-peas A colander or strainer
3 pots
Cold water
Directions:
Place one-third of the beans in one of the pots and cover them with a cup of water. Let them stand for an hour. Then, using a strainer or colander, change the water. Place the beans in the refrigerator for four to six hours (or overnight if that is more convenient). Drain off the water and cover the beans with two cups of fresh water.
In a second pot, take another third of the beans, cover them with a cup of water. Bring them to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Then change the water and let them stand, covered, for an hour. Drain off the water and cover the beans with two cups of fresh water.
In a third pot, cover the last third of the beans with two cups of water. Heat all three pots, bringing the water to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer until the beans are soft. Note how much time it takes for each pot of beans to soften.
Add salt and pepper and minced garlic or onion, lemon juice, dill or parsley. Eat each batch of beans at a different meal and observe how your body reacts.
This Is What Happens:
The pre-soaked black beans (either number 1 and number 2) each take about 1½ hours to soften. The beans that haven’t been soaked (number 3) take much longer to cook. But even more important, the unsoaked beans make us feel bloated and uncomfortable and give us gas.
Science Behind It:
Either the long-term soaking (number 1) or the quick-soaking (number 2) reduces the cooking time by half because it returns moisture to the beans and softens them. (The shorter cooking time also saves minerals, vitamins and protein that are destroyed during the longer heating.)
Soaking also breaks down the complex sugars of the beans, their oligosaccharides, which our digestive enzymes cannot digest. When we change the soaking water, we discard these sugars. Otherwise, they ferment in our intestines and produce those bloating and unpleasant gases, mostly carbon dioxide.
