Late in his career, Dr. Edward Howell, who isolated and identified the first enzyme in the '20's, he published the book "Enzyme Nutrition". In this work, he explained the "musical fruit" source of dried beans. Thomas Edison called these mysterious chemicals, the "tiny fingers of God". Enzymes are known for their ability to magnify chemical activity, and they are the primary source of our bodies ability to digest and absorb our foods. The mouth, stomach and pancreas all contribute enzymes internally measured for the volume and nature of our meal.With normal speed of peristalsis, our foods are disassembled into the microscopic nutrients vital for maintaining health.
Howsoever, when foods are not completely broken down, they create gas, Beans are known for this potential, but the reason for this incomplete digestion is found in all seeds, pulses (peas), legumes (beans), nuts, cereals and grains. Found withing the cells of these seeds are not only enzymes that aid digestion, but "anti-enzymes" that block the actions of both the plant based internal enzymes, but our own digestive enzymes. This is addressed by soaking all these foods prior to consumption or cooking. Bay leaf is traditionally added to the soaking water to improve this function.
How long should you soak your seeds? This is a simple question, with limited information available on line or in print. The blockage of enzyme breakdown is a feature of reproductive germination of the seeds. Nature wants warmth and rain to initiate germination. The length of soaking would be computed by finding the regions of original occurrence of these plants, and the temperature averages during early spring in those regions. If a bean has been sitting for many seasons, has been highly dehydrated, they will obviously need a longer and or warmer soaking conditions. Overnight is a normal fresh dried bean soaking time line, with older legumes needing additional time. Pulses like split peas, lentils, dahl need less time than most beans, seeds, cereals and grains even less soaking time. After soaking, drain and rinse, and then cook in hopefully filtered water. Enjoy.
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