MS-Diet Support Group DIRECT-MS

BEST BET DIET BOOK Guidelines

Legumes and the Best Bet Diet

by Trish Appelbe

What are legumes?

Legumes are the fruits or seeds of anything that comes in a pod. There are a few difficulties in correctly identifying the biological family of a given food and in some cases, research is revealing necessary changes. We will keep this page as accurate as we can. Please help us if you have comments or corrections.

What foods come under this category then?

Beans - green beans, butter beans, broad beans, all dried beans (soy beans, kidney, haricot etc) All lentils. Peas - green peas, split peas, chic peas, dried peas etc. Peanuts and Carob are out too - they are both legumes. Guar Gum is a legume.Try and obtain Xanthan gum if you need a stabiliser for your gluten free baking. Small amounts of Guar Gum are acceptable if unobtainable. Gram flour used in Poppadoms (a Middle Eastern bread) is derived from Chic Peas which are a legume. Cocoa is not a legume. Thanks to Linda for the list and the link: Legume:Acacia; Acacia Gum; Alfalfa; Arabic; Black-eyed pea; Carob; Carob (St. John's Bread); Cassia; Chick Pea; Field Pea; Green Bean; Green Pea; Jack bean; Karaya Gum; Kidney bean; Lentil; Licorice; Lima bean; Locust Bean Gum; Mungo Bean; Navy Bean; Peanut; Peanut oil; Pinto Bean; Soybean; Soybean oil/flour/lecithin; Split Pea; String Bean; Talca Gum; Tamarind; Tonka bean; Tragancanth Gum; Urd Flour. Stercula: Cocoa, Cola Bean, Chocolate (Cocoa) http://cgi.cadvision.com/~allergy/botanical.htm#Legume

Why are legumes not allowed on the Best Bet Diet?

Along with other forbidden foods, legumes contain proteins which can potentially mimic self-proteins in the body and lead to damage to the Central Nervous System, via the autoimmune response. By avoiding the forbidden foods: dairy, eggs, gluten (wheat, barley, oats rye and spelt) and legumes, we are helping to heal a leaky gut (gut permeability) and ideally prevent intact food proteins from entering circulation. In addition, a type of protein known as lectins are found in grains and legumes which increase gut permeability. (Summarised from Multiple Sclerosis - Best Bet Treatment by Ashton F. Embry.) This means scanning ingredients in pre-packaged foods, to make sure they do not contain forbidden ingredients. Some gluten free bread and pizza mixes contain soy. Soy sauce is out. Try worcestershire sauce or a tiny bit of sesame oil as a replacement. Be especially careful with supplements. Many contain soy - especially some Vitamin E and CoQ10 capsules. Make sure your supplements are wheat/gluten, dairy, and soy free. An Elisa test will tell you if you should avoid yeast too, which is in a few supplements, although you can get the yeast free version.

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