Bean, Bean, The Magical Fruit - The More You Eat - - -

You know the song, and a lot of people avoid eating beans because of unpleasant after effects.  If only we had gas free beans, right?

This effects men and women alike but I could only find a pic of a guy, so please don't think I am picking on them.

There is a way you can prepare your pot of beans that will help with this problem.  I had not known about it until about 15 years ago.  Pity since it is so easy. Let me explain.

Raffinose is a complex sugar that is the main cause of flatulence in beans. In their purest form, beans contain large amounts of this sugar which helps create a fart, and though it affects some people more than others, the result of consuming this sugar is fermentation in the digestive system and eventually, mad crazy nasty gas. Nasty sounding but just the way it is.

To prepare beans that are gas free, first you must not buy canned beans. Canned beans are cooked in the can, trapping all of the offending sugar in the can for you to consume, and suffer through later. To avoid eating these sugars, you must take advantage of the fact that sugar is water soluble. Soak it out.

For best anti-flatulence results, it's best to put your beans in a pot and cover them with water overnight, letting them soak with the top on. However, if you're impatient, like I am, you can do a quicker soak. Just put the beans in a pot and add water to completely cover them, with an additional two inches of water on top.  Let them soak for an hour, then bring them to a boil.  Make sure you still have plenty of water.  You may have to add some to compensate for the swelling beans.  Allow the beans to boil for about 2 - 5 minutes.  Turn them off and drain, and rinse the beans.  When you see that frothy foam going down the drain, you know that you are ridding yourself of some of those side effects. 

Now, fill the pot with water and cook the beans as you always would.

Voila - you have reduced gas beans.