Funny thing about beans: whenever I finish eating them – be it in a butter bean salad or a chickpea curry – I feel an overwhelming sense of calm. If I can liken it to anything, it’s the “stoned” feeling you sometimes get after a really good yoga class, slightly heavy and a little dopey.
Eager to understand why this was happening – and certain it wasn’t in my head – I reached out to functional medicine practitioner, nutritionist and author of The Everyday High Fibre Plan, Farzanah Nasser. After our conversation, I’m now trying to include them in as many meals as possible.
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A fellow bean (and legume) lover, Nasser is pleasingly receptive to my “magic bean” theory. “Beans are rich in fibre, slow-releasing carbohydrates, magnesium and plant compounds that support both gut and nervous system health,” she explains. “Because they help stabilise blood sugar, they can promote a calmer, more sustained energy state, rather than the highs and crashes that come with more refined meals.”
Rifling through Reddit, I found a community of like-minded bean-lovers, some of whom say the effect of beans on their nervous system can feel “almost euphoric”. Besides the beneficial effect of fibre on blood sugar regulation, is there something else fuelling the zen effect?
Tryptophan, an amino acid found in soybeans, edamame, kidney, pinto and lima beans, can play a role in creating feelings of calm throughout the body. A precursor to both melatonin (the sleep hormone) and serotonin (the happy hormone), tryptophan is also found in foods like milk, cheese, peanuts and turkey – the last of which is said to be the reason Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts induce feelings of sleepiness. (The cynical part of my brain thinks maybe that’s to do with the sheer volume of food we eat on those days, but two things can be true!)
The downshift I experience when eating beans is just one of the benefits. They also play an important role in mood management. “Beans feed the beneficial gut microbes, which produce compounds that support mood via a system known as the gut-brain axis,” Nasser explains.
A two-way system that links the central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) with the gut (often referred to as the second brain), the gut-brain axis refers to the conversation between the two. The foods we eat and the state of our gut microbiome communicate with our brains, influencing mood and cognitive function, while our brains can control gut function, like how well we digest food, along with immune function. It’s a complex, fascinating dialogue.
Not everyone is as enthusiastic about beans as I am. While highly beneficial when it comes to introducing plant diversity into your diet, their high fibre content can make them difficult to digest. This is usually down to a type of carbohydrate called oligosaccharides.
“As our gut microbes eat these fibre-rich foods, they naturally produce gases as a by-product. If you’re not used to eating fibre-filled meals, this may cause some discomfort, gas and bloating,” Nasser says. However, this is usually a temporary side-effect. “As your fibre intake increases, your gut microbiome adapts, and the beneficial bacteria grow in number and become more efficient at breaking down fibre. Over time, this leads to less bloating and better tolerance.”
In the interim, Nasser has some expert tips for making beans a more palatable option for sensitive stomachs:
- Start slowly, adding as few as two to three beans at a time, to give your gut time to adjust.
- Always rinse precooked beans well. This removes up to 40 per cent of gas-causing oligosaccharides.
- Add kombu (an edible, dried seaweed) to your bean recipe. Kombu contains an enzyme that helps break down gas caused by this type of carbohydrate.
- Soak beans for 12 to 24 hours before cooking with a little vinegar.
- To cut down on gas significantly, pressure cook beans.
- Cook beans with herbs and spices like bay leaf, cumin, fennel, ginger, turmeric or asafoetida (an Indian and Middle Eastern herb that’s extracted from ferula, part of the celery family.
The current advice for British adults is to aim for at least 30g of fibre a day. A 100g serving of beans contains between 6g and 8g of fibre, ticking off 20-26 per cent of your daily fibre intake in one fell swoop.
Rather than resigning yourself to bean chilli every night (although, I would consider that a quite lovely predicament to be in), Nasser suggests hiding beans in other recipes. Two favourites from her new book include the Mediterranean Salad, a roasted vegetable medley with chickpeas scattered throughout, and the Tomato & Butterbean Soup, a super simple soup recipe with blended-up beans for invisible extra fibre.
Beans aren’t the only way to hit your fibre goal; grains, seeds, nuts, fruits and vegetables all contain important nutrients and various amounts of fibre. They are a palatable, easy-to-hide alternative to no fibre at all, though.
