Are there any beans in the raw diet?

by christa sidener
(ventura, ca)

Q I am not familiar with the raw diet plans but am very interested in starting on this type of diet.

Since beans are cooked they must be out? Although I saw a recipe for raw rice can that be done with beans as well?

Thank you for your time. Christa

A Beans/legumes can be included in a raw diet, but must be soaked and sprouted first. I know there are several recipes on the site that use raw beans/legumes. Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida serves a number of sprouted legume dishes at their buffet tables.

Here on the sprouting page you can see some of the legumes that are sprouted and some of the nutritional benefits.

Be aware that even after soaking and sprouting beans/legumes can give some people digestive issues, but many people are OK with them if they are soaked and sprouted long enough. Lentils tend to be fairly easy to digest for most people if taken in moderate servings.

Starting out with small quantities of beans/legumes is a good idea and perhaps not eating them day after day. They should never be eaten with fruit as that is very poor food combining.

If you are not familiar with food combining and how it can effect digestion it might be a good idea to purchase a Food Combining Chart to help you with your menu planning until you get the hang of it.

Just a side note, the raw rice recipe is not actually rice, but cauliflower put through a food processor or hand grater to look like rice. It’s quite tasty and a favorite late fall/winter/early spring recipe of mine.