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The Silent Danger of Undercooked Beans

2 July, 2014 by Giselle Rochford 39 Comments

Hey Friends! How’s it goin?

Happy belated Canada Day to my Canadian Friends! It felt really weird to have a day off on a Tuesday, but I’m not complaining 😀

Today’s post is gonna be about the next big holiday. And no I’m not talking about July 4th. Tomorrow, July 3rd, is National Eat Your Beans Day and I decided to use today’s post to talk about, well, beans.

Click to learn about the Dangers of Undercooked Beans and tips on how to avoid them via @ExSloth| ExSloth.comThe Truth about Beans

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine got a mild case of food poisoning from slightly undercooked kidney beans. My first thought was WHAT? Beans can get you sick? I thought the worse they did was make you toot!

After that slightly hysterical response, I went into research mode.

Side note: packages of dried beans that I’ve seen do NOT make note of the potential toxicity of beans. What the hell?

But moving on:

Beans: Dangers of Undercooked Beans | ExSloth.com

Anatomy of a Bean

Beans are a good source of high-fat protein usually found in red meats and are also filled with heart healthy nutrients like soluble fiber, complex carbohydrates, folate and iron.They also contain something called oligosaccharides which normal human digestive tracts cannot properly digest, hence the tooting flatulence.

However, a little known fact is that some beans also contain a potentially harmful toxin called Lectins.

What are Lectins?

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that can be found in varying concentrations in foods such as beans, grains, seeds, nuts and potatoes. They are thought to exist in plants as a protective mechanism, as animals who aren’t used to consuming certain types of lectins experience pain or death if they eat them.

Pretty effective if you ask me.

Undercooked BeansWhy are Lectins Harmful?

Some effects of Lectins in humans include nutritional deficiencies and allergic reactions. However, the most common adverse effects occur when Lectins interact with cells in the gut and cause gastrointestinal distress.

Lectins bind to the protein receptors in the intestinal lining, causing damage. Then the lectins can pass through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, Lectins basically have a free-for-all with any carbohydrate containing protein or tissue in the body.

Not exactly sure what that means exactly?

Here are some Examples

Well, insulin is a peptide hormone, which is a protein. So Lectins can bind with insulin, causing it to destabilize and potentially result in diabetes.

Leptin – the satiety hormone – is also a protein. Letptin is made by fat cells and regulates the amount of fat stored in the body. Imagine if the Lectins in beans and grains was able to destabilize leptins? Yep, obesity.

Of course, these are extreme cases, but they’re always a possibility.

So what can you do?

1. Know the Symptoms

If you have consumed undercooked beans, symptoms may include:

  • Gas
  • Abdominal Pain
  • Diarrhea
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

Recovery can be rapid and spontaneous, but if symptoms persist, go see your doctor or to the emergency room. It’s definitely better to be safe rather than sorry in this situation.

2. Cook your Beans Properly

The Lectins found in beans can be destroyed by properly cooking the beans. Give yourself enough time to cook beans thoroughly because you won’t be doing yourself any favours by rushing the process and getting sick.

Most beans should be soaked overnight and then cooked for at least an hour. There are some exceptions of course, but be sure to find out the specific soaking and cooking times for the beans you’ll be making to reduce the chance of getting ill.

Check out this article to figure out the cooking times for beans.

3. Use Canned Beans

I don’t cook dried beans myself because I’m lazy (attack of my inner Sloth, clearly). But now, I’m glad that I don’t, cuz I’m also lazy enough to take short cuts with the cooking time.

Canned beans however, are precooked, so you don’t have to worry about those pesky Lectins. I would advise that you wash your canned beans thoroughly before using them to get rid of excess salt.

Other things to note about Beans and Lectins

  • They don’t smell or taste ‘bad’ even when the toxin is still present
  • Cooking beans in a slow cooker may not destroy the toxins because of the lower temperature.
  • Undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans
  • Kidney beans are the most potentially harmful
  • The lectin isolate ricin, is used as a biological warfare agent

I don’t plan to stop eating beans – I’ve actually eaten them numerous times since discovering this information – but it’s always important to be armed with information so you can come to your own decision.

If this sparked a need for you to find out more, check out these articles:

  • Spill the Beans: Are they Healthy or Not
  • Lectin
  • Beans! Beans! The Poisonous Fruit!
  • What’s wrong with beans and legumes?
  • Eating undercooked beans

What about you?

Did you know about the Lectins in beans?

Do  you use dried beans or canned?

Know any other healthy foods with hidden dangers?

Share in the comments below!

 

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This post was added to the following linkups:did-you-know-nutrition-link-up-button-200-wide

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Comments

  1. Carla says

    2 July, 2014 at 1:38 pm

    Great article! We don’t eat beans so this is really a non-issue for us. I will eat them on occasion if offered but that’s maybe once or twice a year. For the most part I try to avoid them.
    Carla recently posted…Running Forward & July #Giveaway

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      2 July, 2014 at 1:56 pm

      Thanks Carla 🙂
      Honestly, I like beans too much now to give them up but I’m definitely gonna be more aware of how I cook them from now on!

      Reply
  2. Karey @ Nutty About Health says

    3 July, 2014 at 9:49 am

    Great post & some great info! Yes, I knew about the lectins in beans because I eat a primarily Paleo/Primal style diet, but beans never really agreed w/me all that much anyway. The only one I occasionally miss are garbanzo beans, but if I really want them, I’ll eat them. 😉
    Thanks for the tips!
    Karey @ Nutty About Health recently posted…Did You Know… That Liver is a Superfood?

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      3 July, 2014 at 4:00 pm

      Garbanzo beans are one of my favourites too! I really love black beans though, which is so surprising since I wouldn’t even look at the stuff just a couple years ago haha
      Maybe I’ll be saying the same about liver in a few years?…Doubtful LOL

      Reply
      • Brian says

        22 February, 2015 at 12:04 am

        Gabranzo beans are not beans, they are peas. They do not pose the same issue.

        Reply
        • Brian says

          22 February, 2015 at 12:04 am

          *Garbonzo.

          Reply
          • Janet Norris says

            1 June, 2019 at 9:49 pm

            I I cooked black turtle beans but didn;t discard the liquid half way through, and we both had terrible stomach pains. So is really important to rinse and re rinse in the cooking process.

            Reply
  3. Amanda @ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut says

    3 July, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    So so happy you linked up to Did You Know this week! I honestly never knew undercooked beans were so harmful! Luckily I use canned beans! Like you said, you can still eat beans, but it’s just good to have all of the facts.

    Great post, friend!
    Amanda @ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut recently posted…Did You Know #6 [ Nutrition, Fitness + Health Link-Up ]

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      4 July, 2014 at 11:01 am

      Thanks for hosting Amanda!

      Reply
  4. Sarah Fuller says

    5 July, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    Got sick one time off of Pinto Beans. No off taste, color, etc.. But wham, hours after eating I was so sick.
    Sarah Fuller recently posted…5 Sea Shell Decorations to Remind You of the Beach Year Round

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      8 July, 2014 at 1:34 pm

      That’s insane! It makes it so much harder to be vigilant if the only sign of undercooked beans is when you get sick!
      Do you still eat beans? If you do, how to you make sure it doesn’t happen again?

      Reply
  5. Emily @ Zen & Spice says

    5 July, 2014 at 10:40 pm

    Found you via SITS! 🙂 This is really interesting. I tend to avoid beans because of the GI problems I get. But I have noticed the more cooked they are, the better my stomach can handle them!
    Emily @ Zen & Spice recently posted…Eating Meditation: How To Savor

    Reply
  6. Bev says

    6 July, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    Wow, that is crazy! I had no idea. I generally eat canned beans because it seems like so much work to cook them from scratch, but if I ever do I will certainly remember this. Stopping by from SITSSharefest.
    Bev recently posted…Happy 4th of July from Linkouture!

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      8 July, 2014 at 1:39 pm

      Thanks for stopping by Bev!
      I’m a canned bean eater as well but you’re right, this is definitely good info to have 🙂

      Reply
  7. Rich E says

    26 June, 2015 at 10:42 am

    Thanks for the article. I just had a nasty little bout of food poisoning from canned garbanzo beans. Not sure if they’re beans or peas, and I know you mentioned that canned beans should be safer, but nonetheless they got to me.

    I drained them a little but kept some liquid from the can and then poured them into a small pot. I cooked them to near boil and then ate them with some pasta. Well, the next morning I felt weakness and a bit feverish and then that night my fever rose significantly followed by diarrhea. The fever then broke and I feel fine now. I definitely suspected the beans so searched for people who have experienced the same from garbanzo beans. True, they were canned, but perhaps even canned beans require some better preparation?

    Reply
  8. Ren says

    10 July, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    Interesting. I eat beans everyday with dinner, sometimes they make up the entire dish! I don’t think I could live without my pinto beans. I always cook them until soggy, because I hate hard beans. I’m glad to know I’m doing the right thing. (However, I also have insulin resistance! I’ll remember to ask my doc about beans next visit).

    In many cultures, they eat beans everyday for breakfast (like egypt, for example). I don’t know many bean-heavy foreigners that are overweight or unhealthy. I wonder how they do it? Maybe they are not as sensitive to lectins as others are?

    Reply
  9. Mike says

    25 September, 2015 at 11:51 am

    “Side note: packages of dried beans that I’ve seen do NOT make note of the potential toxicity of beans. What the hell?”

    It’s only quite recently that crazy-people have developed a fetish for eating beans raw or undercooked. It’ll take a while before the labeling catches up, just like it took a while before soda bottlers started putting warning on their bottles not point the things right in your face while you open them…

    Reply
  10. Ashley Stevens says

    7 June, 2016 at 11:26 am

    I like your writing style! The format here is to-the-point and easy to read. I’m going to copy this for my next post. 😉

    I’ve read that you can bypass soaking overnight by letting beans sit in boiled water for 30 minutes. Introducing heat is sure to get things circulating at a much faster rate, but I’m not sure how this cheat would affect lectins. Hmmm…

    Reply
    • Ale says

      13 July, 2016 at 10:15 pm

      I was out of protein powder so I put a cup of raw black beans in the vita-mix for morning smoothie . Bacramuma in the bathroom after lunch for over an hour. Terrible diarrhea and cramping. Never do this I hurt my wife.

      Reply
  11. bill soito says

    12 September, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    i have a friend that eats beans every day morning noon and night and that’s all he eats .often not cooked all the way (hard) I tell him it cant be good for him…is he at risk of getting sick?…

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      12 September, 2016 at 8:52 pm

      I’m not a physician so I can’t say for sure. But I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with eating beans everyday – if they are fully cooked. Eating undercooked beans can definitely end in disaster.

      Reply
  12. Nick says

    17 May, 2017 at 7:41 am

    I get sick from pre-packaged beans all the time. The companies that sell them half the time sell them under-cooked and once they add salt to them for taste, it doesn’t matter how much you cook them; they will never get soft. I am about to stop buying pre-cooked beans in any product because the people handling the manufacturing are a bunch of idiots. I write this right now as I am suffering a stomach ache from this exact issue. Damn them for selling under-cooked beans and making me sick!!!

    Reply
  13. Ashley says

    31 August, 2017 at 8:02 am

    Ugh, I wish I had known this yesterday. I’m a vegetarian so beans are necessary protein in my diet and this week I decided to buy raw beans and cook them. I think I skimped the cook time just a bit (10-15 minutes) and the next morning I woke up with awful diarrhea. So there I go searching to see if undercooked beans could make you sick and here I am 🙁 Thanks for this info but boooo to the beans! Now I have a whole casserole waiting to make me sick.

    Reply
  14. Henderson says

    19 February, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    Thank you for the clear and informative article. I was wondering about the lectin danger from eating beans. I didn’t know that canned beans are pre-cooked and thus present no issues with lectin.

    There is one thing I would like to contribute. Another thing to look out for when purchasing canned beans is if the lining is BPA-free. BPA has been show to leach trace amounts of estrogen like chemicals which wreck havoc on the endocrine (metabolic & hormonal) system. In fact, most canned goods and aluminum soda drinks are lined with BPA. Thanks for all the great info.

    Reply
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  21. Charles Trantham says

    28 June, 2019 at 2:15 pm

    Wow! Thanks for the article. I just had a nasty little bout of food poisoning from canned garbanzo beans. Not sure if they’re beans or peas, and I know you mentioned that canned beans should be safer, but nonetheless they got to me.

    I drained them a little but kept some liquid from the can and then poured them into a small pot. I cooked them to near boil and then ate them with some pasta. Well, the next morning I felt weakness and a bit feverish and then that night my fever rose significantly followed by diarrhea. The fever then broke and I feel fine now. I definitely suspected the beans so searched for people who have experienced the same from garbanzo beans. True, they were canned, but perhaps even canned beans require some better preparation? See here

    Reply
  22. Charles Trantham says

    28 June, 2019 at 2:18 pm

    Wow! Thank you for the article. We just had a nasty little bout of food poisoning from canned garbanzo beans. Not sure if they’re beans or peas, and we know you mentioned that canned beans should be safer, but nonetheless they got to me.

    We drained them a little but kept some liquid from the can and then poured them into a small pot. we cooked them to near boil and then ate them with some pasta. Well, the next morning We felt weakness and a bit feverish and then that night my fever rose significantly followed by diarrhea. The fever then broke and I feel fine now. I definitely suspected the beans so searched for people who have experienced the same from garbanzo beans. True, they were canned, but perhaps even canned beans require some better preparation? See here

    Reply
  23. Connie @ Naturesblendshop says

    21 December, 2022 at 9:01 pm

    Thanks for clearing up some of my confusion about bean toxicity. Now I know that cooked beans are are totally non-toxic.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 7/13/14 Sunday Funday - The Skinny-Life says:
    13 July, 2014 at 8:01 am

    […] The Silent Danger of Undercooked Beans via Diary of an Ex Sloth – The truth about beans. I had no idea until I read this. […]

    Reply
  2. The Skinny: July 2014 - Real Into says:
    26 July, 2014 at 4:21 am

    […] I’m not a fan of beans but maybe you are. But did you know that there are dangers to undercooked beans? […]

    Reply
  3. Did You Know #7 [ Nutrition, Fitness + Health Link-Up ] - [ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut ] says:
    1 August, 2014 at 5:03 am

    […] The Silent Dangers of Undercooked Beans by Giselle from Diary of an Ex Sloth […]

    Reply
  4. How to Replace White Flour when Baking - Diary of an ExSloth says:
    8 February, 2016 at 11:13 pm

    […] read about it since I haven’t always been a big lover of beans. Plus, there’s the whole ‘danger of undercooked beans’ thing. But both times I’ve tried using beans in place of flour, have resulted in some […]

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  5. {02.2016} Legumes, Love, Lobs, and Lil Smokies – Billings Biddie says:
    3 March, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    […] naturally occurring toxins in the beans.  Who knew?! Read more in this very dramatic blog about the silent danger of undercooked beans. Okay, dramatics aside, it was more gastrointestinal distress than puking-for-24-hours-straight […]

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  6. Beans: Potentially Hazardous AND Potentially Beneficial – Ruth's Corner of the Universe says:
    3 August, 2016 at 10:55 am

    […] be surprised to read about these lectins and/or my stupidity of eating under-cooked beans.  Like Giselle from Diary of an ExSloth, what worries me the most is that the possibility of food poisoning is nowhere on bean packaging.  […]

    Reply

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