<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Comments from Don Kasarda, Albany, CA Almost all plants have some toxic components in them, some more than others. In general, wheat is a good food with low levels of toxic components (except for celiac patients, of course) and wheat protein is highly utilized in animal feeding studies, but most uncooked beans and peas have significant amounts of protease inhibitors in them, such as trypsin/chymotrypsin inhibitors. These inhibitors make it unwise to eat beans and peas raw. They stop the action of digestive enzymes (specifically, in this case, proteases), especially those of the pancreas, so the pancreas responds by making ever more of the enzymes. This, however, is not a desirable situation on a constant basis. So, eating a raw bean or two will probably not cause any harm--they are not going to cause systemic poisoning, but I think it is generally desirable to cook beans and peas of all sorts before they are eaten. This tends to inactivate the protease inhibitors. Sprouting certainly will produce changes in composition, but these can sometimes be harmful as well as helpful. Alfalfa sprouts will have saponins in them (I think more than in alfalfa seeds themselves, although I am not going to take the time to research this), for example. A sprinkling of sprouts on a sandwich on occasion is probably not harmful and the other good components of the sprouts may be more important than the presence of the bad components. Still, I think it probably would not be a good idea to make something like alfalfa sprouts a major part of the diet (piles of them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). A varied and balanced diet is best. The body is generally capable of dealing with the small amounts of toxic components present in all plant foods, but defenses can be overwhelmed. The preceding is not medical advice. It is somewhat educated opinion. Let the reader beware.