Beans have been in the human diet for thousands of years… they’ve been known to be a healthy source of plant-based protein… so how come are beans not typically accepted on the Paleo Diet?
There are two things to consider if you’d like to include beans in your diet…
#1 The breed of the bean you are eating…
#2 How you prepare them…
What Beans are Paleo Friendly?
It is a common misconception that the Paleo Diet is about eating like a caveman where you only eat things you can hunt, fish, gather or pluck…
While that is a good description, that is not what makes the Paleo Diet work…
A better way to think of it is to eat foods that were around before domestic appliances were invented…
Food was different back then… very different… and this difference is what makes the Paleo Diet work…
There is a difference between modern day bean and heirloom beans…
Heirloom beans are breeds of beans that can be traced back to at least 50+ years… they are more difficult to grow and they have a lower yield…
Modern day beans are a new breed of beans that have been bred to give a higher yield, meaning you get more beans per acre… from a business standpoint, it would make sense to want to get more beans out of the seeds that you plant… but what changed in the bean seed that makes it have a higher yield?
This is a new breed… people would sometimes ask me if there is research that shows that heirloom beans are better than modern day beans… my answer is the flip of that question… do you have research to show that modern day beans are better than heirloom and most importantly, are they safe?
Well, there isn’t research on this topic because heirloom beans are wild beans… they are natural… you can’t patent them… there is no reason why someone would spend money on researching this, but you can try them and see the difference for yourself…
When you do, you will start to see what we mean when we talk about real food VS fake food…
Heirloom beans are real food… modern day beans are fake food…
Why do Beans Make You Sick?
Anything other than heirloom beans should not be on a Paleo Diet (or any human diet for that matter)…
There is yet another thing to keep in mind if you’d like to include beans in your diet… this is the more common reason why most people would say beans are not Paleo friendly… that is beans contain anti-nutrients such as lectins and phytic acid… but that is not something to be scared of…
Lectins and phytic acid are the plant’s natural protective mechanism… lectins are hard to digest proteins, and phytic acid binds to minerals which then inhibits digestion… this is why some will say that beans can make you sick…
… but if you are aware that beans have lectins and phytic acid, then you would simply do what our ancestors did to remove these anti-nutrients… when it comes to legumes, grains and seeds, our ancestors knew to soak, sprout and in some cases ferment…
Soaking and sprouting is how you remove things like phytic acid… cooking or fermenting is how you break down hard to digest proteins like lectins… beans were traditionally soaked overnight and cooked slowly for hours to break down food…
Many people think of this as an inconvenience, which is the greatest draw (and trap) from modern day food… canned beans would definitely not be heirloom, soaked or cooked properly… that is why you don’t eat them on a Paleo diet… but if you want to eat beans, then you must learn the ways of our ancestors…
Our ancestors ate food that was easy to digest because it was heirloom, and well prepared… that’s why when you do a Paleo Diet the right way, you too will feel more energy and find it easier to lose weight…
