Down South in Mexico on the festival known as the Days of the Dead - at the beginning of November- they serve particularly wholesome foods. These include, as key constitutuents, corn and beans. Together corn and beans form a complete protein food, which in simple terms means that the essential amino acids which are low in corn, are high in beans and those high in corn are low in beans, that is, the amino acids in beans and corn supplement each other.

This combination, sometimes called succotash, is known and used in many cultures. I saw it throughout my childhood in Africa, where corn was also called, maize and mielies. In addition, when planted together, the beans (legumes) put back into the soil the nitrogen which the corn takes out.

I can hear it now, but beans make me gas! Well, we have products on the market for that. Down South they add some chopped epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides - Mexican basil or Mexican oregano) to their bean dishes as a digestive aid to reduce gas and bloating.

The Iroquois traditionally add pumkin or squash to their succotash at festival time. They call corn, beans and squash, the "Three Sisters" because of their combined nutritive value.

GERM (2.5%) which contains
protein 8%,
Vit B1(Thiamine) 64%, Vit B2 (Riboflavin) 26%,
Vit B3 (Niacin) 2%, Vit B5 (Pantothenic Acid) 7%,
Vit B6 (Pyridoxine) 21% and Vit E.

BRAN (14%) which contains
protein 19%, Vit B1 33%,
Vit B2 42%, Vit B3 -, Vit B5 50%, Vit B6 73%.

ENDOSPERM (83%) which contains
protein 70-75%,
Vit B1 3%, Vit B2 32%, Vit B3 12%,
Vit B5 43%, Vit B6 6%.

Although the whole grain is edible, the bran and germ are often removed during milling to improve storage qualities. In enriched grains and cereals, some nutrients are added back. Some breads are now also made from sprouted grains. Become a label reader and phone the 800 number if you want more information. Know what you are buying and be certain that is what you really want.

The early African legumes included the morama bean (Tylosema eculentum) which tastes like cashew nuts, when roasted and has 30-39% protein. Many of the local "wild" African plant foods are very high in protein and there are some projects to now, attempt to "domesticate" them. However, to date only a few, such as the cowpea, the guar bean and the lablab bean have made it to the internation scene, unless one counts lentils, which are among the earliest crops cultivated by man. On the Indian continent lentil dishes are often called dahl.

When one hears of the wonders of beans and soybeans, in particular, one is seldom told that they may often contain antinutrients ("minuses"). For example, soybeans contain a tryptophan inhibitor, hence the beans should be cooked, or sprouted or otherwise processed to make the greatest nutritional use of them. In general, sprouting converts the legume starches into simple sugars. Usually, only a small percentage of starches are not easily digested, for example, in grains about 7%, however, about 20% in baked beans can be left undigested. This is then is fermented by the microflora of the colon, leading to GAS.

In general, legumes are high in protein, lentils - 25%, cowpeas - 23-35% and common beans (Phaseolus) - 22%. Their amino acid profile is usually high in lysine (grains are low in lysine), but low in methione and cystine. Peanuts are in high protein - 25% and have a fairly balanced amino acid profile. This led, earlier in this century, to many peanut (ground nut, monkey nut) growing schemes in unsuitable climates of the world and many people died from the results of projects that should only have brought good.

Many legumes are high in Vitamine B1 (thiamine), folic acid, Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and iron. In addition, particularly, soybeans contain fairly large quantities of plant estrogens (phytoestrogens), called bioflavonoids. These entities, which we are only starting to understand, are of help to menopausal and post-menopausal women.

So as my grandmother would have said, "Eat your veggies and makes certain these include, legumes!"