The Wonderful World of BEANS--Part 2

To sum up Thursday's Tasters Table in a word: Wow. Or maybe: Yum. Or Amazing. Inspirational. Life Changing. Okay, well that's two words... but seriously, it was fabulous! A special thanks goes out to Robin and the Provident Living Committee for putting that together. Who would have ever thought that beans could produce such a tasty array of food?? We had fudge (my personal favorite), brownies, chocolate chip cookies, an amazingly delicious dip, soup, a spice cake... have I forgotten anything?... all made from beans! I left the evening a converted believer in the power of beans. And of course, I woke up the next morning a truly converted believer in the REAL power of beans! :) That being said... a word to the wise: Start Slow. 

As part of the evening, we discussed some of the Pros and Cons to the world of beans.

The Pros are so numerous: Beans aid in weight loss (enough said! Where do I sign up?!) because they fill you up; reduce the risk of certain cancers (pancreas, colon, breast, prostate, and intestinal); lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol (they have no cholesterol in them); lower the risk of heart disease; they are an excellent source of low-fat protein; they make a whole protein if eaten with grains, dairy, nuts or meat in same day; they lower your blood pressure by relaxing the arteries and veins; and finally they are high in B Vitamins, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Wow.

The Cons? Gas. This one stinkin' (no pun intended) con is often a big enough deterrent to keep us from enjoying all the benefits beans have to offer. I will be the first to admit, as I mentioned before, I woke up the next morning after our activity with quite the rumbly tummy. Beans are rarely a part of my daily caloric intake, so my body did not respond positively to the sudden overload. But I'm determined to change that. And so, some of the ways we discussed to thwart the harsh effects beans can have on our digestive systems are:

1) Start slow in your conversion process. Don't just change your whole diet overnight. Allow your body some time to adjust to the effects beans will have on it, and hopefully soon your body will be able to keep up with all the beans you want! :)

2) Eat canned beans, or soak beans and pour off the water (add fresh water to cook), or pressure cook the beans.

and 3) Add Bean-O to the top of your shopping list. It is apparently quite effective. You can get it as a pill (take one before eating), or a liquid (and a drop... or a few... to your first bite). 

Or I guess there's a fourth option too...

Well, I am devoting this month to beans. For those of you who weren't able to join us, I will be trying out the recipes we received throughout the month and will post the finished results (along with the recipe) so that you can all enjoy them as well.