“Why do you have to soak beans for a day?” It sure does seem like a pain when you’re hungry to be working on tomorrow’s dinner, after all, but the fact is that soaking beans for a day makes healthier beans and they actually cook more quickly. Beans have a substance called phytic acid which…
Category Archives: Beans
Green beans & phytic acid
Beans as a class have high levels of phytic acid which can inhibit your mineral absorption. However, the highest levels are found in the mature bean, dried for us that we hydrate later and cook. What about green beans? These are immature beans in a pod and we generally eat the whole pod. We eat…
Edamame & phytates
We have seen that soy has high levels of has high level of phytates (soy phytates). Soy milk is high in phytic acid as well. What about the immature form of the bean, edamame? Edamame is often enjoyed as a snack. You can purchase the pods and pop out the beans to eat as a…
Tofu & phytates
Soy in general has high levels of phytic acid (soy phytic acid). Soy milk is high in phytic acid as well and tofu is no exception. In a 1985 study of phytic acid in soy, researchers examined the remaining phytic acid after different stages of soy preparation. Typically we see some reduction in phytic acid…
Phytic acid in soy milk
When you turn over a tub of tofu or a carton of soy milk and marvel at the amount of magnesium in that bean curd, beware that precious little of it will make it into your brain cells. Likewise, little of the native calcium, zinc, or iron will nourish your body. Soy is high in…
Soaking beans
Beans will cook more quickly if they are soaked and you will better digest them. However, the devil's in the details: How long do you soak beans? Do you add something to the water? What is a proper water temperature? Food science actually has answers to these questions and I examine them in great detail…
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Amanda Rose, Ph.D., is a political scientist and author of "Rebuild from Depression," on the link between nutrient deficiencies and depression. Her own zinc deficiency led to a keen interest in phytic acid, a component in grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds that inhibits our digestion of zinc and other minerals. A thorough examination of kitchen remedies for phytic acid is in the Phytic Acid White Paper. -
