by cooking, there have been serious cases of poisoning among people living in the tropics,
where the high-cyanide varieties of the lima beans grow. The importation of lima beans is
restricted by many countries, including the United States; beans grown and sold here are
considered safe.
The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food
Cooked, with meat, cheese, milk, or grain (pasta, rice) to complete the proteins in the beans.
The proteins in grains are deficient in the essential amino acid lysine but contain suffi-
cient methionine and cystine; the proteins in beans are exactly the opposite. Together, these
foods provide “complete” proteins with no cholesterol and very little fat.
Both iron-rich foods (meat) and foods rich in vitamin C (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes)
enhance your body’s ability to absorb the nonheme iron in the lima beans. The meat makes
your stomach more acid, which enhances the absorption of iron, and the vitamin C may
work by converting the iron in the lima beans from ferric iron (which is hard to absorb) to
ferrous iron (which is absorbed more easily).
Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food
Antiflatulence diet
Low-calcium diet
Low-carbohydrate diet
Low-fiber diet
Low-purine (antigout) diet
Buying This Food
Look for: Well-filled, tender green pods of fresh limas. The shelled beans should be plump,
with green or greenish white skin.
Avoid: Spotted or yellowing pods.
Storing This Food
Store fresh lima beans in the refrigerator.
Preparing This Food
Slice a thin strip down the side of the pod, then open the pod and remove the beans. Discard
withered beans and beans with tiny holes (they show where insects have burrowed through).
Lima Beans