Good evening everybody pepes
Beans, beans, beans
What is there in a bean? - as Shakespeare would have said if he hailed from 2000 miles further South East It seems from the time of Pythagorus that beans have got their evil reputation
The Greek philosopher, who pioneered the theory of fire/water/air/earth from which all science spun for 2000 years, Empedocles implored
Whether these Greek men of words and ideas had a grasp of favism we cannot be sure. They may have simply been averse to the production of flatulence (most unbecoming during debates). It may refer to sex (beans being suggested to represent sexual indulgence by Jonathan Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy. Second Edition. London: Oxford, 2001) - or all three! A less intellectual view might be that all (manly) Greek philosophers chose to 'have-a-go' at (perceived to be wimpy) vegetarians, as they'd seen that evolution was having a go at the 'veggies' too with a couple of bean-diseases.
Glucose-6-dehydrogenase deficiency (favism.... fava is the Greek word for broad bean)
is an X-linked recessive disorder. This means that it is carried on the X chromosome and you need two copies of the deficiency to express the disease. In men ~(XY) they will express it as there is no 'other' X to express normality at this locus. In some women who have an inactivated X, they will express it.
Phytohaemagluttinin is the stuff in the skin of red kidney beans which is nasty. If you cook it at 80 degrees you can multiply the lectin which causes the damage (diarrhoea, abdo pain and vomiting) - however 10minutes of boiling decreases the lectin component by 200 fold.
Go boil your beans my lovelies
Dr B
Beans, beans, beans
What is there in a bean? - as Shakespeare would have said if he hailed from 2000 miles further South East It seems from the time of Pythagorus that beans have got their evil reputation
The Greek philosopher, who pioneered the theory of fire/water/air/earth from which all science spun for 2000 years, Empedocles implored
wretches, utter wretches, keep your hands from beansCallimachus (Poet of Ancient Greece) also warned thus
Keep your hands from beans, a painful food: As Pythagoras enjoined, I too urge
Whether these Greek men of words and ideas had a grasp of favism we cannot be sure. They may have simply been averse to the production of flatulence (most unbecoming during debates). It may refer to sex (beans being suggested to represent sexual indulgence by Jonathan Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy. Second Edition. London: Oxford, 2001) - or all three! A less intellectual view might be that all (manly) Greek philosophers chose to 'have-a-go' at (perceived to be wimpy) vegetarians, as they'd seen that evolution was having a go at the 'veggies' too with a couple of bean-diseases.
Glucose-6-dehydrogenase deficiency (favism.... fava is the Greek word for broad bean)
is an X-linked recessive disorder. This means that it is carried on the X chromosome and you need two copies of the deficiency to express the disease. In men ~(XY) they will express it as there is no 'other' X to express normality at this locus. In some women who have an inactivated X, they will express it.
Favism may be formally defined as a haemolytic response to the consumption of broad beans. All individuals with favism show G6PD deficiency. However, not all individuals with G6PD deficiency show favism - wikipediaA haemolytic response means that ones red blood cells lyse (that is, break up) and thus jaundice can result (due to the accumulation of red cell break down products including the haem molecule - leading to bilirubin build up and a yellow discolouration of the skin results) Kernicterus ( a serious sequel of jaundice in the newborn) also is seen. This said - most people with the enzyme deficiency remain asymptomatic, though it can rear its head when they prepare to go home to visit their parents in the Mediterranean as they take their malarial prophylaxis (primaquine and chloroquine can precipitate a haemolytic episode)
Phytohaemagluttinin is the stuff in the skin of red kidney beans which is nasty. If you cook it at 80 degrees you can multiply the lectin which causes the damage (diarrhoea, abdo pain and vomiting) - however 10minutes of boiling decreases the lectin component by 200 fold.
Go boil your beans my lovelies
Dr B
Last modified: Thursday, 23 April 2009, 08:13 PM