Start With Beans

If beans were ever going to have their day in the sun, it would be now.

Why Beans?

Why do we feel so lousy? You know what I’m talking about. From detoxes to supplements you can spend $1000’s to help the liver get rid of the toxins. It works for some but not everyone benefits. Neither detoxes or supplements are needed because humans are equipped with an amazing system completely for free which includes the liver. The liver is the main detoxification organ in our body. It clears out all of the fat soluble waste.

According to the CDC:

the liver performs hundreds of functions including, storing nutrients; removing waste products and worn out cells from the blood; filtering and processing chemicals in food, alcohol and medications; and producing bile, a solution that digests fats and eliminates waste products.

Lesser known is what happens to the waste, which includes excess hormones, after it leaves the liver. These toxins leave the liver in the digestive fluid bile that the liver makes. Most of us, including myself, thought the fat soluble waste continued down the digestive tract through the intestines to the colon to be excreted into the toilet. Only 5% of toxins go into the toilet. What happens to the rest? 95% of the waste gets recycled back into your bloodstream at the terminal part of the small intestine (the ileum) just before the large intestine because this is where the body absorbs fat. Yikes! With the standard American diet this is not good news. Why? Because many people do not eat soluble fiber. Instead of getting rid of the waste we are recycling it back into our system. And at the same time we are also producing new liquid bile in the liver and the cycle continues. If only 5% is excreted and 95% is recycled at some point our bodies cannot take it anymore. We need to find something to bind with the bile molecule that will not allow it to be reabsorbed.

Enter the humble bean. 

Beans are the heroes in this story. The soluble fiber in beans binds to the bile molecule and does not allow it to be reabsorbed. These are two key things that must happen to ensure we are getting rid of our fat soluble waste. Legumes and beans such as kidney, pinto, black, navy, lentils and others like it that can be soaked and made from scratch or bought in a can or jar are all good sources. Beans are also incredibly affordable making this cure accessible to all.

Why Now?

There is no time like the present. If you have any pain and inflammation in your stomach or along the gastrointestinal tract this may be a great option for you. The number of children and adults who are obese is increasing at an alarming rate. Adding soluble fiber through beans to your diet may help with stabilizing your blood glucose levels and could reduce the risk of diabetes. If you are experiencing cystic acne and want to clear out the overproduction of hormones. This may also be for you. Before you change your diet in any way and/or if you have gastrointestinal pain you should see your doctor.

Are You Ready?

You may not like beans. If you don’t like beans you will need to decide if the pain anywhere in your gastrointestinal tract or the cystic acne you have not been able to clear up naturally outweighs your tastebuds. I did not always like beans but now I love beans; the taste and what they do for my body. You can still eat white meat from chicken and turkey, eggs, fish, and lean cuts of the following: beef, buffalo, pork, and venison provided your stomach is not inflamed. If it is you will need to cut out food that causes inflammation. You may be busier in your life, you may be stressed by work or something else and the excess hormones come. To calm this process down, eat beans but in very small amounts more frequently. This will help to clear the excess hormones out. As you continue you will build up to larger portions of beans 3 times per day.  

How is your mindset? Here's the thing, my health path is too long and cumbersome for this first post but please know I had a medication that assisted in changing the makeup of my stomach cells to my detriment. This along with the stress of my job and unhealthy amount of hours I spent at my job were not good for my health. My gastro health, my achilles heal beginning 15 years ago, took another turn for the worse in the fall of 2021 and I searched for additional options. When I heard the Expanded Podcast about Karen Hurd’s bean protocol I was not ok, physically. I was in so much pain at each meal. I couldn’t wait to get started with beans. My menu of what I could eat was so small and it was depressing. I tell you this because sometimes even though you think you are ready or are doing the right thing there can be setbacks either with the food you are eating or with your mindset. You can do this.

Can you commit to your body?

Speaking of mindset. Eating beans is not a quick fix. I hope you are ready to commit to the long game. It is 100% worth it. It will be integrated into your way of life. Your cells have a life cycle called mitosis. The DNA of the cell is replicated and a new cell is created at the end of its life. Different cells have different life cycles. For example, the endocrine system cell mitosis is three months. This is the system of glands that produce your hormones. Every 90 days endocrine cells will turn over. Stomach cell mitosis is every three days! Yes. For those of you with gastrointestinal issues, you will feel relief after three days. How amazing. The bean protocol informs you how to eat (The foods mostly breakdown in your mouth before getting to the stomach, thus giving your tender tummy relief.) Therefore, if you change what you are eating and give your cells a break you will regenerate new undamaged cells in three days and begin to feel better. Lessening the inflammation and pain, and other symptoms you have been carrying with you. 

Depending on what you are healing, gastrointestinal pain, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or any inflammatory issue in the digestive tract you will begin feeling better after three days and every three months that the endocrine mitosis takes place you will be on your healing journey. This way of eating you will feel better pretty quickly and people will ask you what you are doing. Once you are eating like this for a while and you have treated your body to the beans for at least one endocrine life cycle you most likely will continue because feeling healthy after feeling sick, well, there is not a better feeling in the world. Those of you who have experienced any of these inflammatory issues will know what I am talking about. 

Mark the 3-month date in your phone and when you get there you will blow past it. I did. I knew scientifically what was happening in my body. I felt great, my skin was glowing, my hair felt luscious and I was overall joyous. Side note, you also lose weight. 

With much appreciation for Karen Hurd and her hypothesis on enterohepatic recirculation or the recycling of bile. She is dubbed the bean queen. More information is available to help those address the pain within their gastrointestinal tract among many other areas if you go to her website. She has multiple courses to fix what ails you. Her approach to educating the lay person on exactly what is going on is exceptional.

So what do I do now?

It's one of the most accessible ways to eat. There are no supplements, no special products. You need beans and in the beginning you will need to eat them at opposing times to when you have healthy fats. If you have difficulty veering from your current diet or eating in new ways, you may need help sticking to it. You may need a coach to help you through or recipes that taste delicious or are quick to fix midweek. My weekly newsletters will cheer you on, provide you with tips and recipes I have used myself. I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. Please see your doctor before any big change in your diet. I have used my research and educational skills to create my best eating life. I have healed my stomach so that I no longer have the pain I used to have. I have also modified the bean protocol so that it works for my life. You can do the same. 

Remember, start with beans!

Photo by Betty Subrizi on Unsplash