On Sun, 21 Feb 1999 09:44:06 -0500, you wrote:

>         [log in to unmask] asked a question about string beans:
>         
>         > Do you mean that no one ever has eaten them raw or that no one has ever
>         > warned us against eating them raw?
>         
>         "String beans" are the green immature seed pods (say, 4"-8" long) of certain
>         bean plants.  It's a vegetable in my book.  Once mature, and dry, you can
>         shell out the white (most common---although they come in many, many, colors)
>         seed.  So, when I go in the grocery and ask for "string beans" I get the
>         pods.  Conversely, when I go in the seed store and ask for "string beans," I
>         get the hard dry bean itself.
         
When I was growing up we had a garden which included  beans.  If picked
while green, they are green beans.  If they contain a string which must be
removed they are string beans.    This string is inedible and if not pulled
off really destroys the pleasure of eating string beans.  Some varieties do
not have the string.   If they are allowed to mature and become dried they
are called beans but must be removed from the dry shell (formerly a green
pod).  As you said they are the immature green pods containing beans.    


>         This hard dry seed---like many seeds---is amply equipped by Mother Nature to
>         defeat simplistic digestion.  Quite honestly, when I commented that "no one"
>         eats them raw, I meant no one I've ever met.  

The reason I picked up on that is because I read a book which stated that
dried beans should be cooked before eating because they contain lectins
which are toxic.  I was in a steak house which had a buffet.  On their
buffet they had dried beans which had been soaked and allowed to sprout.
People were eating these things raw.  I mentioned to the management that
raw beans could be toxic and they removed them from the buffet.  But a few
months later they were back. Now the steak house has moved away so I never
go there any more.  I don't know whether they are toxic but if you check
the Web for lectins you can find out a lot.

         
>         If you're cooking string-bean beans, you first soak out some of the
>         anti-enzyme factors and *DISCARD* the water.  I have to say that with double
>         emphasis because I keep encountering people who figure ways to 'save' the
>         nutrients (truly anti-nutrients) for some other purpose.  Let me say that a
>         bit clearer: DISCARD ALL SOAK WATER!
>         
>         It wouldn't surprise me to find that many who have failed on all-raw diets
>         later found where they were regularly consuming anti-nutrients that messed
>         things up.  Is this entirely separate from those who may have got poor results
>         from eating poor quality food?  I don't know, but I have a strong suspicion
>         that low-quality in any particular food item doesn't just mean a lack of
>         nutrients---it also means more abundant toxicity.

>         Regards,
>         Rex Harrill
         
I am sure you are right.  It is better to eat raw foods that are fit to eat
while raw, if they taste good and agree with you

Ora