last night I was very ill, with what I thought was food poisoning and spent 4 hours in the bathroom performing an excorcism on my stomach contents via any available route, The cause turned out to be Raw Runner Beans !
I ate in total 15 whole Raw Runner Beans in their pod casings, remnants shown above, and then proceeded to feel extremely ill, this morning I feel drained but a lot better. Symptoms left over include tiny little flat dark red spots around my eyes. including as you can see quite a big red veiny mark on eyeball, so as you can see a real poisoning :
Props go to
rawfoodinfo.com which is where i pulled the quotes from the web in relation to this.
other green beans have similar issues, but I never experienced a reaction personally like I did with the Raw Runner beans, I swear previously I have eaten the odd raw runner bean, and not felt ill at all, I think maybe the quantity was the issues but i would say the packet from tescos was duly labeled with the words “do not eat raw”, although way way to small to have registered on a visual scan, it needs to be much much larger, it was in the second to smallest typeface on the packet. Some people may perhaps be immune to symptoms from this but I doubt it, as the chemicals involved are similar to cyanide, if youve safely eaten in the past the odd green runner bean direct from a plant and felt fine, and think im over reacting here, its probably just because you ate one pod etc, ie a healthy person can tolerate a small amount probably with limited effects, and other varietys may contain less of the chemical etc, but certainly 15 whole Raw runner green beans definately was, quite a severe poisoning, I guess out in the wilds ancestors would have informed you of this danger and passed the knowledge down, But in modern times this “Runner beans must be cooked” info should definately be more widely known and promoted, and hopefully this post will serve as a warning to to others.
Always cook your Runner beans properly and always cook other green beans also as this removes any danger by altering the chemicals in them, unless your sure your raw variety contains less of the poisonous chemicals.
allot of info here :
Raw beans are poisonous because they contain prussic (hydrocyanic) acid, which is rendered not dangerous only by cooking. It was only in 1957 that prussic acid protein was discovered in green beans. A few hours after eating raw beans or bean seeds, some individuals become sick from low blood pressure, vomiting, stomach ache, circulation problems, convulsions, or heart palpitations. These poison symptoms are possible with all beans. The susceptibility to these reactions to beans is heriditary.
Because they contain protein – Phasin?, raw beans can result in nausea and vomiting in sensitive people, which can be disrupted by heat.
Green beans nourish the blood and strengthen the nerves and bones. They help reduce high blood pressure and improve the function of insulin. However, they cannot replace medical treatments for diabetes. They are prophylactic/preventive. Correct preparation: Always eat green beans cooked or steamed — as a side dish or a salad. Careful: raw beans are poisonous.
Plant poisonings are the most common cause of calls to the poison control center. Poisonous plants include arnica, Aronstab, henbane, raw green beans, holly, dieffenbachia, yew, monkshood, foxglove (digitalis), laburnum, autumn crocus, cactus with poisonous spines, lupine, cockchafer, narcissus, oleander, castor, poppy, hemlock, thornapple, deadly nightshade, Christmas star, meadow hogweed, bryony, green and unripe potatoes, green pieces of grown potato tubers lying on the ground, and also green, unripe tomatoes and many other flowers and berries.
I think all plants might have a little cyanide as part of normal metabolism, but this is usually not a problem due to the small amounts involved. Most beans have a little, but the older, darker type of lima or butter beans have quite a bit. The modern white varieties have very little. When it exists in raw beans, cyanide is mostly bound to other chemicals as a cyanogen, which can release the cyanide when reacted with an enzyme also present in the plant. If the plant is injured or frozen, cell structures burst that normally keep the cyanide separate from the cyanogen and CN can be relased. In some plants, at some dosages, this can harm livestock or humans eating the material.
This doesn’t happen as often as you might think though because we soak, cook and dry foods like casava and beans so the CN is driven off into the air. Also, cooking can inactivate the enzyme so the realtivly indigestible cyanogens pass from us without releasing the cyanide. Most green beans would be OK to eat raw, but I would be careful about raw lima and butter beans of the old dark heirloom varieties, especially if wilted for a while before being eaten.
August 30th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I liked reading your blog…keep up the good work.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
can you get an upset tum when you eat ruuner bean seeds?.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Hi,
thanks for the great quality of your blog, every time i come here, i’m amazed.
black hattitude.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:46 am
not sure dried or fresh ? The seeds/beans I would have thought they contain some similar chemicals ? certainly when you eat them inside the raw runner beans as a whole I would assume so, unless the the upset tummy chemicals, are only contained within the bean pod casing which I doubt.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Yes, my wife and i both drank a glass of runner bean juice (testing a new juicer!!) and we were both really sick a few hours later, almost at the same time and for the same length of time (lasted a few hours). We thought it was some chicken i cooked the night before but reading the above, it had to be the beans!
December 9th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Had the exact same thing happen to me last night! I have always eaten raw runner beans but these ones were slightly older. They were from Tesco too!
December 10th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Yes I was very ill through eating about 7 raw runner bean seeds !
was sick about 2hrs later.
They had been gleaned from the old [dried] beans that I had been clearing up. They tasted very nice though !
February 20th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I have eaten half a pack of ready-sliced raw runner beans and not felty any ill-effects (I may have gone to the loo a lot, but I do anyway). I had most of the remainder the following day – again no effect. I do suffer from HIGH blood pressure so maybe it countered that. However no vomiting, nausea or serious stomach upset.
However, having no discovered that they should NOT be eaten raw (from the small print on a Tesco packet!) I will follow the advice from now on and not take chances. Still I’m surprised that I DIDN’T suffer ill effects after what I have read.
August 10th, 2010 at 10:37 am
A very interesting read. I have just been up for most of the night vomiting every half an hour with diarrhea after eating a bag of raw runner bean. I didn’t read the packet so do not know if it said ‘ do not eat raw’. I eat many veggies raw, and having ate the odd few when i was a child, never imagined they would do to me what they did last night……………I am now having to take a day off sick, too weak to go into work!!!
August 14th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
As someone asked, the beans actually contain more Lectin than the pods. Therefore eating the beans raw is more dangerous than eating the same weight of whole pods.
Eating shop bought beans is more dangerous than eating the ones in your garden simply because the ones in the supermarket tend to be picked for highest weight (when the pods have grown big and the beans have developed more). The ones in the garden are likely to be picked younger before the beans have developed much.
August 14th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
WOW! Im horrified! My daughter loves raw veg and even ive started eating raw runner beans, we only eat a few a day and its homegrown, i also wont touch them if the seed is fully formed and only let her have the young beans. Shes eating 2 right now with her salami sandwich her cucumber and yellow sliced peppers. We eat as best we can though from the research ove done on what we thought was healthy is not. We have suffered no ill effects but then i know moderation is the key. I dont encourage silly eating of raw veg! I may continue to eat them and as for morgan, she is very wise for 8 and i will inform her and let her decide.
August 15th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
I can agree with the above comments I ate about twelve beans and thought it was healthy. How wrong was I. never felt so ill and lost nearly 10 pounds in weight as a result. Thanks for the info. Wish I read it earlier.
August 20th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Thanks for this info! I, like others here, have just been up all night ridding my stomach of the apparently toxic beans. Mine were not from tesco, they were from a friend’s kitchen garden, and I’m not sure what kind they were but when I opened up the pods, the beans themselves were white and mostly a BRIGHT, bright purple. I remember thinking to myself, as I broke them over my salad “huh, usually brightly colored means dangerous in nature. I hope it’s okay to eat these…”
Should have listened to my gut… It certainly got it’s revenge.
August 25th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
good article, aside from your misuse of the word “allot” instead of a lot. Allot means to distrubute evenly.
Plus the broken vein in your eye probably isn’t a symptom of the poisoning directly. More likely an injury caused by heaving.
August 26th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
allot now corrected, these things are sometimes written pretty quickly.
direct or indirect is a moot point, the heaving was caused by the reaction to the poisoning thereby directly or not caused by the poisoning. Though to be honest ive never had the red speckles on my skin like that when throwing up normally, so its open for debate as to how much was caused by poisoning or heaving, but in reality the neccessity to heave was caused by the poisoning. It’s all a knock on circumstance little way of avoiding it generally, though perhaps to others who may experience such a poisoning try and take jims advice and not heave to violently, though i think you may find that difficult depending on the quantity of beans ingested.
August 28th, 2010 at 12:47 am
I have eaten raw green Scarlet Runner Beans for many years, lots of them, straight from the garden. Just recently I read that they are “poisonous”; no scientific data, just opinions. I’ve never gotten the least bit sick, and I only have one kidney. I have read everything I can find on the internet on the subject and have concluded that either there are some people who are hyper-sensitive to something in beans, or that there is some confusion between eating raw green beans (pods) and mature beans (seeds,) or that the sickness was from some other cause. I don’t know what “Tesco” is, but has anybody considered that perhaps the purchased beans were contaminated with salmonella? When I eat beans raw, the seeds have just barely formed. Once the seeds have formed (the bean pods are very tough at that point!) I let them then mature to use as a dried bean, which I cook before eating.
August 28th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
many varieties contain different concentrations of compounds, I didnt say every type of bean ! it maybe your scarlet beans contain less of the compounds in question and cooking the mature dried bean also saves you from any possible grief, the younger tender immature beans contain less of the harmfull compounds. The “no scientific data just opinions” statement you make is poppycock, you are referring to you personal experience not scientific experiment, certainly as concerns the uk sold “runner beans” i mention, if you dont beleive me find and buy them as shown in the photo above and try eating the amount I did raw and you should see some effect from them, obviously anyone trying this does so at their own risk do not attempt to blame or sue me when your doubled up over the loo. It is also possible to be someone who can tolerate these compound better than other people either through lifetime exposure or genetics. As proven by many tribes whos rituals involve training themselves to tolerate ingesting poisonous compounds in increasing quantity, for the purpose of mind altered states or tests of male virility ( see bruce parry)
August 30th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Good webpage. I’m just recovering here in Bristol, UK from a bout of severe V&D and nearly one week later my guts are still sensitive. I ate raw pods and the scarlet seeds whilst harvesting from a friends allotment. I would say I ate between 5 and 10 seeds in total. In the evening, I was vomiting for 5 hours not really knowing what I had eaten to cause such a reaction. I called the ambulance because I was hyperventilating and couldn’t get up off the floor – I’m a bit of a wimp maybe but I was alone in the house. The nurse noted I had slight low blood pressure. Anyway, today, I read an article in the Saturday Guardian newspaper about the culinary virtues of runner bean seeds which contained a warning that they should be cooked as they are poisonous – which got me searching the net and finding this site. I’m so relieved that I have found the cause – almost definitely.
I agree with Ancient’s comment that Scarlet is talking poppycock and just showing off that he or she has got some kind of resistance to the poison even though he or she’s only got one kidney. Bully for you mate. I haven’t.