Fava Beans

Fava beans are one of the oldest crops cultivated around the world. The Chinese have eaten them for more than 5,000 years. Pythagoras warned the ancient Greeks NOT to eat them. He didn't give any reason, but it is known that some people back then believed part of the soul was expelled with the flatulence resulting from bean-eating. One of my health aides ventured the wild guess that fava beans have "speed" in them because eating the raw contents of three pods before bedtime kept me wide awake all one night and made me walk much faster next day. She thought I might be "tripping out." You can imagine what happened to HORSES after eating fava beans grown for fodder! Many a Roman chariot race may have been won with fava fodder instead of oats. And pity the poor farmer trying to plow his field with a couple of these fava-bean-inspired horses. In the past century farmers around here grew big fields of favas, dried the beans, and sold them in little paper bags. Italy named the bean, featuring it in soups and stews. Spain followed suit, but called them "avas."

A member of the pea family, this legume comes in big pods six or seven inches long. Inside are an average of six beans, or seeds, each about an inch long. They resemble giant lima beans. Young, green, immature beans contain the most levadopa -- 50 to 100 mg. per three ounces. Two tablespoons of beans -- one ounce -- makes a good daily beginning, which gradually might be increased to a daily maximum of four ounces, or half a cup. One's doctor should be consulted before trying this natural alternative or supplement for levodopa. If he doesn't say you're crazy, he will establish dosage and adjust other medication. Little research has been done on this subject. A small percentage of those who eat fava beans may experience inherited anemia or allergies, especially those persons of Mediterranean, African, or southeast Asian descent.

Despite their fame (renewed by Anthony Hopkins), two big questions remain. Do they help PD? Why did Pythagoras say, "Do not eat fava beans."