Actually beans, grains & nuts are all the seeds produced by plants. Because plants don't have a means to protect themselves the way animals do, they have protective chemicals in them that are toxic if consumed raw, that's why we always soak, cook, roast or ferment them before consuming them. These chemicals are actually anti-nutrients and cause much destruction in our bodies by binding to vital vitamins and minerals.
But even still, our bodies do not produce the enzymes to digest legumes and as such we experience flatulence when the bacteria in our guts break them down.
One of the anti-nutrients in legumes is called lectin. This lectin is so bad that it damages our intestinal lining and weakens our immune system and this can even cause autoimmune conditions! Lectins can also cause cells to multiply in a cancerous fashion- it's been shown that peanuts can cause cancerous cell activity in the colon!
There are ways to remove much of the lectins in legumes by processing them but they also contain something called phytic acid that cannot be removed easily with cooking and they bind to vital minerals in the body causing things like anemia (when it binds to iron, for example). The best way to get rid of this antinutrient is by fermenting them, but at most you can only remove 30-60% this way.
I found an excellent article on this topic that goes very in depth if you want to learn more:
https://www.diagnosisdiet.com/food/grains-beans-nuts-and-seeds/
I never felt better digestion until I removed dairy, grains and legumes from my diet. I was so thankful that I was able to heal my gut by learning about how different food affects my body and removing all of the inflammatory foods!
Before all of these dietary changes I used to have such painful digestion all of the time- even fruits and vegetables were so painful to eat!
Now that my gut is mostly healed I'm able to occasionally eat chickpeas and lentils as long as I process them properly. This is why I soaked the cashews in my previous post - to make them easier to digest!
I love me some good homemade hummus once in a while but I tend not to eat any other beans because I don't like how they make me feel. (My functional medicine doctor also said that navy beans are identical to gluten and not to consume them.)
So if you want to eat these foods, be sure to learn how to properly prepare them to lessen the damage they can cause. If they still give you digestive upset then I suggest using the autoimmune protocol diet to heal your gut first and revisit again when you're feeling better.
So in the meantime, while you're healing your gut, here's a recipe I make often that has no beans!
https://www.laurafuentes.com/paleo-chili-recipe-all-meat-veggie/
It's called paleo chili!
I love to add lots and lots of vegetables, make it your own by adding chopped cabbage, mushrooms, sweet potato or anything else you like!
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