RELATED: If You Notice This on a Potato, Don’t Eat It, Experts Warn. Beans are an essential part of some of the best slow cooker recipes, including chilis, dips, soups, and stews. However, the FDA warns that you can’t just toss dry beans into the slow cooker without properly soaking and boiling them first. In the FDA’s Bad Bug Book, the agency warns people to never use slow cookers to cook beans. “Don’t use slow cookers (the kinds of pots that you plug in and that cook food at low temperatures for several hours) to cook these beans or dishes that contain them,” the FDA warns. The danger lies in that slow cookers don’t get hot enough to destroy lectins, toxins in beans that resist being broken down in the human digestive system, according to Harvard’s School of Public Health. Registered dietitian Jeanette Kimszal, RDN, NLC, says temperatures in the slow cooker generally don’t exceed 185 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not not enough to kill the toxin. Not only will the temperature not get rid of the dangerous substance, according to Kimszal, but heat as high as 176 degrees Fahrenheit may also trigger a five-fold increase in the toxicity of certain beans. RELATED: Never Wash These 4 Foods Before Cooking Them, CDC Warns. Any bean can contain enough lectins to make you sick, but the FDA says that red kidney beans have the highest concentration of lectins, which makes them the most dangerous to eat without proper preparation. If you consume lectins in their natural state, you’re bound to experience negative side effects, the experts at Harvard’s School of Public Health warn. They say that this can occur after eating just a few undercooked beans. Kimszal warns that symptoms of lectin poisoning generally appear in just a few hours of consumption. According to the FDA, the most common symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Nutritional therapy practitioner Makenna Hennell adds that lectins can also penetrate the gut lining, leading to autoimmune conditions and causing bloating and systemic inflammation. While some cases of lectin poisoning have required hospitalization, most people recover within three to four hours, the FDA says. In order to avoid getting sick, you need to properly prepare dry beans or purchase canned beans that have already been detoxed. Physician and researcher Terry Simpson, MD, warns that soaking beans alone is not enough to kill lectins—you also need to boil them.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The FDA cited a U.K.-based study that suggests beans should be soaked in water for at least five hours before removing the water and boiling the beans in a fresh pot of water for at least 30 minutes. Once this process is complete, you can safely add the beans to your favorite slow cooker recipe. RELATED: The One Question You Should Always Ask Your Server Before Ordering, CDC Says.
