Are beans or legumes Paleo I get this question all the time. Chris Kresser wrote an interesting article on it that you can check out here!. Here’s the sum up his arguments.
Paleo communities preach against legumes (outside of whether our ancestors ate them or not) because:
1) Lectins
While lectins are found in legumes and can be toxic in really high doses, their potency becomes diminished with cooking and the amounts really aren’t that high in legumes anyway. There are also 53 other Paleo Friendly fruits, vegetables and spices that have lectins. They don’t seem to pose as big of problem as we originally thought.
2) Phytic Acid
Phytic acid binds to minerals and messes with absorption of nutrients. It’s important to note that it doesn’t leach nutrients from your body, just messes with absorption. It specifically interferes with some enzymes used to digest the minerals for absorption. The fact of the matter is there are plenty more Paleo Friendly foods that have phytic acid in them as well:
?Food? Phytic acid (mg/100 grams)?
Lentils 270?1,500
Legumes (average) 500?2,900
Almonds 350?9,420
Walnuts 200?6,700
Pecans 180?4,520
Sesame seeds 140?5,360
Dark chocolate 1,680?1,790
Swiss chard 3,530
Spinach 3,670
Of course this isn’t an invitation to stop eating these foods, just merely an illustration.
The consensus is this….
Beans and legumes if prepared correctly and tolerated well will not be too terrible for you in moderation a couple of times a week. I wouldn’t make it a common occurrence though. There’s also a fairly high carbohydrate content which could cause issues if you are carb sensitive. Moreover it’s what’s called a FODMAP which could cause gut inflammation if you are sensitive to them. Two things I would continue to stay away from are peanuts and soy though. There is a lot of research out showing negative issues with those two legumes.
Moral of the story, if you love beans eat them every once in awhile. You’ll be ok.
3-13-2014 WOD
Strength:
Sumo Deadlift
Met Con:
Advanced/Intermediate
800 meter run
2 minute rest
4 rounds
Beginner
3 rounds
Score is time for each round. Goal is to keep all repeats within 3 seconds of each other.
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