Can you eat Dried Beans? Trying to figure out what else vegans eat.. Veggies, Fruits.

[rawr]

after the cleanse I plan on starting a strict strict raw food diet, just eating raw fruits, veggies, nuts and berries and seeds. I'm trying to figure out what else raw foods encompass and I thought of beans. Are beans considered vegan or raw? Can you eat them dry? If you cook them do the health benefits go away?

I'm learning so much about eating raw foods now and how my life will be after the cleanse. Can someone explain more about raw foods diet or veganism?

[peanutterb]

here are some websites to look at for raw and vegan, mostly vegan, they're stuff i had saved on my bookmarks. you'll find tonnes of thing if you do a google search

http://www.soyouwanna.com/SITE/SYWS/vegan/vegan.html
http://www.nutrispeak.com/veganfoodguide.htm
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/index.html
http://www.goveg.com/index.aspx
http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/
http://vegweb.com/
http://www.rawbc.org/
http://www.coolvegan.com/

[rawr]

wow thank you. but offhand do you know if you can eat dried beans? the way beans are found in the earth can you eat them that way? or do they have to be cooked

[peanutterb]

in raw foods they are soaked to make them easier to chew and digest

[rawr]

ahh im still confused about beans. im reading that they are hard to digest which makes me think we're not supposed to eat them. no beans for me ever! anything that has sugars that can't be digested just sounds bad to me. any thoughts?

[sopheetsa]

rawr
I have a "raw" friend who's a chef-- and she makes a pretty mean "raw" hummous-- by SOAKING the chick peas. Like peanutterb says, soaking beans-- (like soaking nuts--check out the thread: http://therawfoodsite.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105) is an excellent way to prepare them-- and it releases toxins as well as some of the "gassiness" in the beans that cause bloating. it also activates some enzymes which makes them easier to digest! my mom always soaks them also before cooking. ;) Don't despair, and don't believe everything you read. Try it out for yourself and see how you feel. As "hard" as beans may be to digest they may work quite nicely for you! :)