Mondo Knows Facts
Beans contain sugars people cannot digest
Oligosaccharides such as raffinose pass to the gut where bacteria ferment them
Dried beans store energy as raffinose and stachyose, short sugars that human enzymes cannot break apart because the necessary alpha-galactosidase is missing. They travel intact to the large intestine, where bacteria ferment them and release gas. Long soaking and thorough cooking reduce the load but do not remove it entirely.
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Tags: beans, legumes, sugars
Beans contain sugars people cannot digest: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Oligosaccharides such as raffinose pass to the gut where bacteria ferment them. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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