The New Complete Book of Food

 The New Complete Book of Food

but, like grains, beans contain phytic acid which binds their iron into insoluble compounds

your body cannot absorb. As a result, nonheme iron is five to six times less available to the

body than heme iron, the organic form of iron in meat, fish, and poultry.

Raw soybeans contain a number of antinutrients, including enzyme inhibitors (chemi-

cals that interfere with the enzymes that make it possible for us to digest proteins); hemag-

glutinens (chemicals that make red blood cells clump together); and goitrogens (chemicals

that make it hard for the thyroid to absorb iodine, which makes the gland swell in an effort

to absorb more iodine; we call the swelling goiter). These chemicals are inactivated by cook-

ing the soybeans.

The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food

With meat or a food rich in vitamin C to increase the amount of iron you can absorb from

the soybeans. Meat makes your stomach more acid (iron is absorbed more easily in an acid

environment); vitamin C may convert the iron in soybeans from ferric iron (which is hard to

absorb) to ferrous iron (which is easier to absorb).

Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food

Low-calcium diet

Low-fiber diet

Low-protein diet

Low-purine (antigout) diet

Buying This Food

Look for: Tightly sealed packages that protect the beans from air and moisture. The beans

should be smooth-skinned, uniformly sized, evenly colored, and free of stones and debris. It

is easy to check beans sold in plastic bags, but the transparent material lets in light that may

destroy pyridoxine and pyridoxal, the natural forms of vitamin B 12.

Storing This Food

Store beans in air- and moistureproof containers in a cool, dark cabinet where they are pro-

tected from heat, light, and insects.

Preparing This Food

Wash the beans and pick them over carefully, discarding damaged beans, withered beans, or

beans that float. (The only beans light enough to float in water are those that have withered

away inside.)