The New Complete Book of Food
concentrate in joints, a condition known as gout. If uric acid crystals collect in the urine,
the result may be kidney stones. Eating dried beans, which are rich in proteins, may raise
the concentration of purines in your body. Although controlling the amount of purines in
the diet does not significantly affect the course of gout (which is treated with allopurinol,
a drug that prevents the formation of uric acid crystals), limiting these foods is still part of
many gout regimens.Food/Drug Interactions
Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are drugs used to
treat depression. They inactivate naturally occurring enzymes in your body that metabolize
tyramine, a substance found in many fermented or aged foods. Tyramine constricts blood
vessels and increases blood pressure. If you eat a food containing tyramine while you are
taking an MAO inhibitor, you cannot effectively eliminate the tyramine from your body.
The result may be a hypertensive crisis. Some nutrition guides list dried beans as a food to
avoid while using MAO inhibitors.