5-31 IAN Bean Bi-product

Breaking news about breaking wind.

Idaho Pea and Lentil Commission researcher, Todd Scholz hit me with a revelation. We were discussing the state of chickpeas as a rotation crop for wheat and then we got into pulse crops, peas, beans and lentils, and then out of nowhere... “There is one bad element that is perceived to come along with eating beans and I think you know what I am talking about. I happen to have a girlfriend who makes great chili but Chile used to tear my stomach up, she soaks beans overnight and that seems to relieve the gas problem. Have you heard about that? With peas and lentils we do not recommend soaking but there is also some people say that you add some form of chemical to the soaking water and it prevents flatulence. My mother always told me it is about how often you eat beans. If it’s just every once in a while you have the problem. If you eat them quite often and they become a regular part of your diet the problem goes away. It’s a very interesting subject and we want to do some research on it. May I suggest that if you do that research, you do it outdoors. ( Laughter) Yeah we probably will.