On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 22:20:28 +0900, Tom Bridgeland <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:


>..Yes a lot of legumes are edible raw, especially in the very young
>stage, or such as peas that have been bred for human consumption. But
>most legumes, including many that we usually eat cooked like soybeans,
>are poisonous, mildly or very seriously. ..

I think eating legumes always was a trade-off between two things:
1.Good yealds of robust plants, insensible to pests.
and
2.Friendly plants with little effect on humans.

In the old days people ate a lot of legumes (10000 years of peas and
lentils for example) without an ill effect. They had the right plant
s and
knew how to process (soak sprout roast them).
In the wild there always have been *some* varieties which were fine eating.

But now I'm sure mevery effort is made to have the plants (legumes, but
wheats as well) as pest-resistant as possible.
Everybody thinks of this as a good property.
But think about it - how is pest resistance achieved?
They increase the antinutrients. These are mainly the lectins we speak
about. Genetic engeneering efforts a beeing made to put new even more toxic
lectins into usual crop plants.
At a cost.
More gut problems , more sensitivities, more allergies.
Did you see which items are the worst in the lectin issue?
Kidney beans -wheat. Plants very much breeded on in the last 30 years (and
most in the last few years, remember monsanto).

Other legumes, althoug very nourishing go quite friendly.
Like Chickpeas.
The blood group diet (er4yt) tests give so
me hint.
I think what we experience now is a direct attack from the crop industry.
Nobody cares about - because there isn't a list or limit of antinutrients
allowed or lectin contents in a new crop.

What you can do - if you plan to eat legumes - is to stick to less
engineered (older) varieties or to such items which are eaten uncooked or
little coocked usually (like green peas).

regards

A.S.