Sugar Snap Peas/Green Beans

Goldenbast

Hi! I have another question (will likely have a ton heh) I know bean and bean type are no-nos because they can't be eaten raw...but what about sugar snap peas? You can eat those raw..but they are in the bean family..so I am a bit confuzzled...I was hoping they could be eaten because they are one of the few veggies that I can actually eat raw and enjoy....same question for Green Beans as well.

monkeydharma

From livingpaleo.com:

Legumes have a similar story to grains; they weren’t consumed by the paleo hunter-gatherer because they needed to be cooked in order to be edible. Legumes also have similar traits to grains in their make-up; they contain phytates which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause inflammation. They also contain lectins and play with healthy hormonal functions.
Types of legumes to avoid on the paleo diet include lentils, all beans (such as kidney beans, pinto beans and broad beans), peanuts (peanuts are a legume not a nut), soy beans and chickpeas.

The deal with green beans (also called string beans or snap peas) is that they are the immature form of legume (meaning that they haven't ripened yet) and the phytates and sugars inherent in the mature bean haven't developed yet. Mature legumes have to be soaked (leached of phytates) and cooked in order to be edible; green beans can be eaten raw. *

SUGAR snap peas are just a variety (green beans crossbred with snow peas) that are more tender raw and contain a higher amount of sugar.

Usage: I use green beans in my cooking, but don't use sugar snaps. My wife will have sugar snap peas on occasion as a snack at work: her co-workers (she's an ICU RN) like to tempt her with various junk foods, and the slight sweetness of the sugar snaps helps her stay on-diet without feeling like she's missing too much.

Hope this helps,
Norm

*this, btw, is a good marker on whether a food is truly 'paleo'. Hunter/gatherers may have used fire to sear various foods for better palatability, but basically: if it couldn't be eaten raw - IT WASN'T FOOD. It's true of vegetables, fruit, meat (steak tartare, sushi, etc.) and some roots (carrots, turnips, radishes, jicama, etc.). It's a great rule of thumb.

amycal

I just read something yesterday on one of the many paleo things I see that these are not as bad because there is nutritional value in the pod which helps off set the antrinutrients in the seed.

MaryIM

From livingpaleo.com:

Legumes have a similar story to grains; they weren’t consumed by the paleo hunter-gatherer because they needed to be cooked in order to be edible. Legumes also have similar traits to grains in their make-up; they contain phytates which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause inflammation. They also contain lectins and play with healthy hormonal functions.
Types of legumes to avoid on the paleo diet include lentils, all beans (such as kidney beans, pinto beans and broad beans), peanuts (peanuts are a legume not a nut), soy beans and chickpeas.

The deal with green beans (also called string beans or snap peas) is that they are the immature form of legume (meaning that they haven't ripened yet) and the phytates and sugars inherent in the mature bean haven't developed yet. Mature legumes have to be soaked (leached of phytates) and cooked in order to be edible; green beans can be eaten raw. *

SUGAR snap peas are just a variety (green beans crossbred with snow peas) that are more tender raw and contain a higher amount of sugar.

Usage: I use green beans in my cooking, but don't use sugar snaps. My wife will have sugar snap peas on occasion as a snack at work: her co-workers (she's an ICU RN) like to tempt her with various junk foods, and the slight sweetness of the sugar snaps helps her stay on-diet without feeling like she's missing too much.

Hope this helps,
Norm

*this, btw, is a good marker on whether a food is truly 'paleo'. Hunter/gatherers may have used fire to sear various foods for better palatability, but basically: if it couldn't be eaten raw - IT WASN'T FOOD. It's true of vegetables, fruit, meat (steak tartare, sushi, etc.) and some roots (carrots, turnips, radishes, jicama, etc.). It's a great rule of thumb.

That was fascinating! Thanks for sharing!