Beans are rich in protein, fiber and iron. Most importantly, they contain chemicals that improve the mood and emotions of those who consume them.
Beans are rich in protein, fiber and iron. Most importantly, they contain chemicals that improve the mood and emotions of those who consume them. The improvement, in fact, is not temporary, but ongoing.
According to Cambridge University botanist and researcher Nadia Mohd-Radzman, beans are an overlooked legume, but one with significant benefits.
Beans are cheap, easy to find and have well-known benefits, he notes.
He focuses on a specific substance found in beans, levodopa or L-dopa, which is actually used in the clinical treatment of people with Parkinson’s disease, and beans contain high levels of this substance.
“Importantly, L-dopa has been shown to be very effective in treating a condition known as anhedonia, which is essentially the inability to experience or experience pleasure. And that’s why I think beans are important,” she says, noting that more and more young people in the UK are dealing with mental health issues today, and helping them eat a proper, healthy diet will be crucial to tackling this problem.
“Beans will be our first line of attack,” he emphasizes.
Now, as for people who can’t eat beans because of a deficiency of the G6PD enzyme (“Cyamism” or “Favism”), he notes, “it’s clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.”
It should be taken into account that the absence of this specific enzyme results in hemolysis when the body comes into contact with specific substances (sucking bag, moth) or drugs (aspirin).
“One solution is to find varieties of beans with lower levels of chemicals that cause nausea in sensitive people. However, the real solution is to create genetically modified varieties with Crispr technology that do not contain traces of crisp-causing chemicals – and we are starting to work on that.”