Effects

• Beans inhibit trypsin, a digestive enzyme produced when the pancreas secretes trypsinogin into the intestines, an important part of the digestive process. Unfortunately, beans inhibit that process, creating intestinal gas and limiting our ability to absorb nutrients
  
  

Solutions

• How you cook beans makes a difference. The Jefferson Institute says, "Heat, applied during processing or home cooking is needed to break down the trypsin inhibitor and make the beans fully digestible." But that's not the beginning. Before cooking dry beans, they need a good soak. If you forgot to soak them overnight, you can bring them to a boil and simmer for an hour, turn off the burner and let them sit for an hour or two before cooking. Then pour off the liquid. While you might imagine that pouring off that water, or even the juice from canned beans, washes nutrients down the drain, pouring is still recommended to cut down on trypsin inhibitors, increasing the nutrients in the long run. Chewing your food begins the digestive process. Count chews and see if you can make it to 30 and you'll cut down on intestinal gas. Foods with high fiber require everything the digestive system has to offer and the process begins in the mouth. The more time food spends in your mouth, the more time those important juices and your teeth have to work on breaking food down.
  
  

Supplements

• Probiotics can help. Bacteria set up residence in the intestines and gas is a sign of undigested material being devoured by bacteria. Probiotics, according to Go Ask Alice, "actually help you to digest and eliminate your food, while crowding out the unhealthy gut-dwelling bacteria that cause gas, constipation and bloating." While supplements can be purchased at the health food store, Go Ask Alice also says, "probiotics are found in many types of fermented foods, like yogurt, sauerkraut, tempeh and miso."
  
  

Healthy

• Beans are low in fat, high in fiber, and an excellent source of protein. While they lack one essential amino acid, grains can easily be consumed with beans--cornbread or rice--providing the missing ingredient. Beans are even high in iron. If you prepare them without adding too much fat, beans are a healthy choice.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Experience in the kitchen has shown that adding kombu seaweed to a pot of beans--along with pouring off the soaking water, chewing longer and eating foods with probiotics--eliminates the intestinal gas problem. Try cooking them in a slow cooker and you'll sing praises to beans, beans, the musical fruit.