Dear Mark: Are Peas and Green Beans Healthy?
For today’s Dear Mark post, I’m going to hold off on doing a big roundup and instead focus on a single question that keeps appearing in my inbox: the suitability of green beans and peas in a Primal Blueprint eating plan. I regret not getting to it sooner, for I can imagine the Vibram-clad pausing in produce aisles across the world, looming over the bright green beans and agonizing over the antinutrient content of the admittedly tasty legumes, dipping their callused hands heavy with barbell stink into the display case full of sweet peas, letting the tiny green pearls cascade through their fingers like Maximus Decimus Meridius caressing the stalks of wheat in Gladiator and thinking of casseroles from days long past. Well, wonder no more. Today we dig in.
Are peas and green beans Primal?
Sue
Peas and green beans are, botanically speaking, legumes. And since I generally recommend against the consumption of legumes, it seems to follow that the consumption of peas and green beans is “not Primal.” But hold on. Peas and green beans eaten fresh – not dried – are young seeds picked when unripe. The type of legumes we’re wary of are dried beans – beans that are allowed to dry on the vine until they rattle in their pods. Green beans and fresh peas are picked before they dry. In fact, green beans and peas have been bred to be digestible, palatable, and easily cooked before maturation. No lab-coated genetic modification, just good old fashioned selective breeding – the stuff we’ve been doing for tens of thousands of years.
When you pop them into an online database, the nutritional profile of legumes is pretty decent. They’ve got more protein than grains, fewer antinutrients (and zero gluten!), and a decent amount of minerals. I’ve always advised against making legumes a significant part of your diet, mostly because far tastier and more nutrient dense foods exist out there, but I’ve never said they’re evil, either. I’d much rather you load up on soaked, well-prepared beans than hearthealthywholegrains.
Now, as for why I personally avoid legumes? They don’t agree with my digestive tract. Through years of intensive and occasional culinary dalliance with the legume, I’ve determined that when I eat them in just about any quantity – more than a few bites – I suffer the distinctively rumbling protestations of my gut. And I tend to listen to my gut. He’s pretty astute, and he imparts a lot of wisdom.
But why do I occasionally eat green beans and (less often) fresh (not dried) peas? Because they taste good, make an easy dish to prepare, and make my gut happy. I can, and often do, eat a side dish of green beans (and sometimes peas, though not as frequently) sauteed in butter and tossed with a half cup of bone broth that simultaneously steams the beans and reduces down with the butter to form a viscous sauce that coats the tongue. Add some fresh ground pepper and a half pinch of chunky unrefined sea salt and I’ve got myself a “side dish” that can almost make me forget about the “main dish.” Eating this never makes my stomach rumble (unless it’s out of anticipatory hunger) and it never negatively affects my digestion. By all (of my) subjective measures, green beans and peas are fairly benign.
By most objective measures I was able to dig up, green beans and peas are also quite benign:
- The green pea lectin (pisum sativum agglutinin) is “much less toxic” than others, according to renowned legume opponent Dr. Loren Cordain’s research.
- Phytate content of green beans and green peas, which isn’t that high to begin with, was greatly reduced by simple cooking (PDF): green beans dropped from 150 mg phytate per 100 g portion to 52 mg phytate; green peas dropped from 384 mg phytate to 158 mg phytate. Most of the phytic acid was retained in the cooking water, though, so if you’re trying to avoid phytates, discard the water.
- I couldn’t find solid figures for phytohaemagglutinin (the primary bean lectin) content of green beans, but we do know that uncooked kidney beans are extremely dense with the stuff. We also know that eating uncooked kidney beans will make a person acutely ill from phytohaemagglutinin toxicity, but that eating uncooked green beans will not. I think it’s safe to assume that green beans are therefore pretty low in the lectin, and in any case, cooking at a temperature of 100 degrees C deactivates most of it (enough to make soaked kidney beans safe to eat).
- Carbohydrate content of both green beans and fresh peas are lower than the dried varieties.
I often say that all food exists on a spectrum of suitability, with the classic example being dairy. Raw, grass-fed, fermented is best, followed by grass-fed, fermented, followed by grass-fed, followed by organic, fermented, followed by fermented, and so on. To malign an entire category of food with impunity and without regard for the subtleties that exist between individual foods within that category is foolish. Wheat is not rice (or oats), bologna is not leg of lamb, the honey-roasted peanut is not the raw macadamia nut, iceberg is not chard, corn oil is not red palm oil, and the green bean is not the kidney bean.
Now I’d like your take on the subject. How do you handle young legume upstarts? Do you yell at them to get off your lawn, or do you welcome them into your home and hearth for dinner? Let me know in the comment section!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
I grow my own in the summer, and it is a treat from the garden!
The best use of frozen green beans I know off is frying them with eggs (I am guessing they can be first fried with bacon or butter). It makes a big breakfast or a decent super-easy supper.
I hate green beans, so I never miss them.
This didn’t even cross my mind when I devoured a plate of turkey with green beans and mashed kabocha squash on Thanksgiving. Glad it didn’t too, it feels so much better when you stop over-analyzing everything
I’m learning to listen to my body and trust myself and not CW. Before primal I always made chili with out beans because my body really did not like them. Now I’m just fine tuning my ear for subtle signs of what my body likes and dislikes.
Green beans, skipping breakfast when I’m not hungry, dairy are fine. Wheat, rice, legumes, eating late at night; not fine!
Where does that leave edamame (immature soybeans) on the suitability scale?
Here’s Mark’s stance on soy: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/10-things-to-know-about-tofu/
Big thunk on the forehead, accompanied by a “DOH!”
For some reason I have never considered green beans to be legumes — the fact that all beans are legumes never actually connected in my brain. Perhaps it’s because they are low in calories and taste good.
I shall happily continue eating green beans — especially trying the sauté’ in butter and add some bone broth recipe. I shall continue to eat snow peas as well. I have never liked green peas.
My son was allergic to eggs and nuts for a long time so I had to find food for him to eat on the paleo diet. I did include the peas and beans in his diet and homemade hummus and peanut butter. However, now that he is healed we gave the hummus and peanut butter a kick in the butt.
I have a lot of paleo recipes since I had to be creative for 3 years of his life. You can see a collection of them on my website.
Alas, I am allergic to green beans so none for me! Like Mark mentioned they are legumes, which can cause allergic reactions for some. Strangely, I am not allergic to peanuts, which are in the same family, but I don’t eat them anyway.
Fresh peas every once and a while are OK… not my favorite though!
Good blog. I’ve been wondering about green beans for a while now!
I like a snack of edmame now and then. Doesn’t seem to affect me adversely.
Love beans! And peas too, they add some variety to the menu. I consider them beneficial for myself and they give me a satiating feeling.
green beans wrapped in bacon with coconut oil or butter are outstanding. try them
I will!
Well, since we’ve gone mostly primal, my 5 kids eat bowls of peas or green beans instead of bread, biscuits or potatoes with their meals. A good trade off, I think. And since these two items are their favorite “vegetables”, collectively, we’re sticking with them.
Thanks Mark. I knew that fresh legumes were fine but appreciate the full report.
In the forum, newbies often ask about green beans and peas. Some uniformed member always says green beans = legumes = no primal. I hope this post will reduce that some.
I frequently eat both green and traditionally soaked legumes, and do fine.
So incredibly bummed to learn that my split pea soup – which seemed like it would be primal – isn’t. Wahh!
Fresh pea soup is much better – just cook in some chicken broth, puree with a stick blender. I add a dollop of yogurt or heavy cream sometimes before pureeing. Really good, fresh flavor. You can also use frozen peas for this. Add some chopped green herbs if you like – mint is particularly good.
My whole family loves them. I cook them up with a few slices of bacon or a little lard and they are delicious.
Yay! I enjoy green beans, but have been hesitant to try pea protein. It seems that I’m sensitive to whey & egg proteins, so pea it is! (any comments on pea protein, btw?)
Thanks for clarifying that, Mark. Why do dried bean/peas have more carbohydrates than the fresh variety?
For a quick-ish vegetable side, I prefer carrots or broccoli over green beans, but I probably eat them 1-3 times a week. My favorite way to eat them is oven roasted (http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/10/roasted-green-bean-fries/). Oh so salty and crispy.
I tend to think that if you can eat something raw without it upsetting your digestive system then it’s probably OK to eat generally.
Thanks Mark! I always get this question from my mom and now I have an answer
Green beans never particularly bothered my digestion, so I still ate them. Delicious sauteed in butter and garlic!
I was raised on fresh pinto beans, as well as fresh purple hull peas, and cream peas among others. Of course, not being able to have the cornbread with them makes them not as attractive!
Green beans and peas are in … maybe a couple of times a month as there are so many other combinations. I tend to include them because they go with something else in the dish.
I take the raw principle – can the food be eaten raw? Yes, in these cases, and home grown green beans and peas are just so nice. The raw principle doesn’t mean I can’t cook them, just that if I can eat them raw, the chances are they’re going to be good to eat.
I have a very occasional dish of legumes just to see … I say, “I have”, but it’s been two in about 3 months – once green lentils and recently puy lentils. Neither affected me negatively from observation and I thoroughly enjoyed the food I made with them.
Greener de beaners…yum! With butter or bacon grease…yes please. Peas OK now and then. Fresh young pea pods…yum!yum! Need I say more!
The farm where I work grows both Blue Lake green beans and sugar snap peas. When these are young and tender and at their peak, they seem alot more like a vegetable than a legume. You are mostly eating the pod, and the “seed” is still very tiny. As they mature, the seed gets alot more starchy, tougher and “legume-like”, and not nearly as tasty….
Oooh Mark I have been dreaming of a Spectrum of suitibility! Will you make one? It could be your next book, or an app. You could give food points, or stars or grades, or groks or something. Pleeeeeeease?
This is great to hear. I love to throw peas and snow peas into dishes or have green beans on the side, and there are also a few garden-variety beans that can be eaten fresh (such as burgundy beans, which I guess are a cousin of the green bean)… and boy, there’s not much that’s better than wandering through the garden and snacking on fresh, tender veggies
Fresh peas and beans knock the socks off of “dry shell” beans. Just looking a few up, it looks like beans vary widely in the amount of phytates/lectins they carry… so I guess it’s just sticking to peas or green beans — and/or know the edibility of what you want to grow or eat!
I made a delicious green bean recipe for Thanksgiving dinner. Parboil the beans, drain. Toss with olive oil and sherry vinegar, crumble bacon and goat cheese on top. i added dried cranberries for the holiday.
Great post Mark. I have been wondering about green beans for quite some time now because we eat them once or twice a week. I love the way you prepare them and will have to try that next time.
Wow.. I too have been agonizing over green beans and peas. Has been hard avoiding black beans, kidney beans, pintos, and yes, black-eyed peas. Glad to know I can eat something from the “bean” family. Thanks!