Vegetarian Health Institute - Discover How to Thrive on a Plant Based Diet and Stop Being Vulnerable to Deficiencies

The secret to enjoying beans – without flatulence

If beans give you flatulence, it’s because they have complex sugars that are hard to break down. But here’s great news…

There are three ways to break down these sugars *before* making your bean recipe…

1) Soak beans overnight in a large bowl or pot, then pour off soaking water. Add fresh water and cook as usual. Soaking overnight begins bean germination and promotes enzyme release. The germination process breaks down the complex bean sugars.

2) Several hours before making your recipe, submerge beans in plenty of water and bring them to a boil for two minutes. Next, remove from heat and let the beans soak for 2-6 hours. Then pour off the “soak water” and cook as usual with fresh water.

3) Sprout the beans before cooking them. We detail this approach in Lesson 20 of The Vegan Mastery Program.

What other plant foods are good sources of protein?


1)    Soy products — such as tofu, tempeh, and soy burgers (detailed in Lesson 26)
2)    Nuts and nut butters — especially almond butter and tahini
3)    Seeds — especially sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds
4)    High protein grains — such as quinoa, amaranth, and spelt
5)    High protein vegetables — such as spinach, broccoli, and kale

Tofu, tempeh, and soy milk are good staple foods. However, some new vegans and vegetarians eat soy products to an excess. Or they gobble down commercial soy-based “meats” — such as “Fakin Bacon” and soy dogs.

These are full of preservatives, bad fats, and other unhealthy ingredients. So read the ingredient labels before you buy!

It’s better to eat a well balanced diet including protein from a variety of sources.

Nuts, nut butters, and seeds are important protein foods for people on raw food diets.

However, one big difference between beans and raw proteins (nuts, seeds, and nut butters) is that beans are low in fat. Nuts and seeds are not.

So if nuts, seeds, and nut butters are staples in your diet, you need to take greater measures to maintain a healthy LOW-FAT diet.

One solution is to eliminate (or dramatically reduce) oil from your diet. Another is to soak nuts and seeds before eating them. This germinates them, increasing their protein content, and reducing their fat content by volume.

We cover this fully in the Lesson 20, “How to Skyrocket the Nutrition in Nuts, Seeds, Grains, and Beans”.

Quinoa, amaranth, and millet are the grains we introduce to you in Lesson 1 of The Vegan Mastery Program. These are all high in protein and low in fat, as are spelt and buckwheat.

What about high protein vegetables like spinach, broccoli, and kale?

On a per calorie basis, cooked spinach has the same amount of protein as veggie burgers: 13 grams of protein per 100 calories.. That’s a lot!

However, on a per serving basis, you’d need to eat over 12 cups of raw spinach — or 2.3 cups of cooked spinach — to get the same amount of protein you' get from one veggie burger.


“I’ve not only been blown away by the lessons, but by the recipes as well! My husband has cancer and your information has been invaluable in helping me tweak his diet to support his recovery. I also love the way you handle the Q&A calls, Trevor. You keep on task in a kind and gentle manner.

There’s so much bad information on the Internet. I know your information is accurate and cutting edge, because I read a lot of high quality research. I bought a gift subscription for my personal trainer and she is as thrilled with the program as I am.”

– Mary Montanye, Bellvue, CO

As a Mastery Program student, you’ll get access to the rest of our Protein lesson, plus a 1-hour Q&A call with Vesanto Melina, author of books like Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, and The Raw Food Revolution. And this is just one of the 50 weekly lessons you’ll receive!

The mouth-watering recipes in our Protein lesson include:

  • Tuscan White Bean Soup
  • Curried Lentils and Rice
  • Black Bean Quinoa Burgers
  • Hearty Cabbage Casserole
  • Heirloom Bean & Vegetable Soup
  • Bean & Vegetable Soup
  • Faux Salmon (almond-based)
  • Sun Garden Burgers
  • Blanched Spinach with Toasted Sesame Dressing
  • Broccoli with White Balsamic Vinaigrette
  • Kale with Orange-Tahini Dressing

Why remain vulnerable to vitamin or mineral deficiencies when you can find out exactly how to eat and absorb enough calcium, iron, Omega 3s, and Vitamins A, B12, and D?

Just one oversight or deficiency -- if ignored for too long -- can leave you vulnerable to disease, and potentially thousands in doctor or dental bills. Why take that gamble when you can thrive on a vegan or vegetarian diet now and for the rest of your life?

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