Only Beans

A glimpse into the impacts of only eating beans for 30 days

In June I set out on a mission- to only eat beans for an entire month.

Background
I would like to tell you this was a calculated plan, but rather it was a plan that came into fruition on May 29th when texting with a friend. I asked him- how do I get the world eating more beans? He told me that there needs to be a hook- something like only eating beans for a month. While I believe that was meant as a joke, I told him it was brilliant.

My mission: Get people engaged in such a humble super food.

How had I not thought of this! Sharing the insights on beans, their rich sources in iron, folate, magnesium, and a leading source of soluble fiber- who cares? But someone willing to eat purely legumes for 30 days, now that is something worth considering.

Prior to June, my knowledge of social media was low. Afterall, I’m a bean girl. My life consists of cooking beans from dry- in vegetable broths made out of my compost. However, I realized if we are to reclaim the wonderful legume- the nutrient packed, planet backed, super food that I love - there was only 1 route. TikTok.

And that, my friends, is how Only Beans was born.

Reality
Since only beans had not been planned, and food waste is my greatest fear- this made for a very exciting final weekend of May. There I sat with 2lbs of lychee and a block of cheese on a dopamine rush of a lifetime. A “last meal” that I would pay the price for in my sugar/ fat crash to follow.

June 1st:
The journey begins. On June 1st I purely ate a dal I had made. No topping. Just chili ginger dal. Worst part is, for breakfast I ate it cold, straight out of a jar, with a tiny spoon (of course). I proceeded to dance class unphased, but by my (decaf) coffee date that afternoon I realized my lychee binge may not have served me so well. I was crashing.
I came home. Ate a bunch more dal. And went to sleep.

June 2nd:
My fat cravings were insatiable- but they led to my favorite bean snack.

My hummus without the blending inspired bean salad
-bean of choice
-garlic vinegar
-tahini
-za’atar
-sumac
-salt

This salad became my lifeline throughout month of beans. It completed my amino acid profile with the tahini (sesame).

By June 3rd, I already found myself deeply craving crunch. I ate an entire can of crispy chickpeas I had made at lunch, and threw back 3 packs of crispy edamame snacks at the movies that evening.

To be honest, the first three days were a struggle. While I adore beans, and generally eat beans daily- Only Beans was a bigger beast than I expected. My friends began to reach out with concern- food is my passion, and restricting food is something I’m firmly against, but I was on a mission. I needed to spread the bean gospel.

On day 4, like a phoenix, I rose from the ashes with the development of a lentil pancake- a development inspired by the popular Tuscan dish Cecina (a chickpea flour based polenta/ bread crossover). My creative aquafaba was pulsing through my veins. I was ready to take on this challenge.

Rather than fixating on what I wasn’t able to eat due to my arbitrary self-enforced rules, I instead began to see what was possible in the world of beans.

I realized that to get people engaged, while staying in my restrictive box- I had to be creative, bean cereal with bean milk made its debut on day 9, and while I can’t say I ever want chickpea milk again, it was my new beginning. Bean nachos, bean queso, bean cream, lentil waffles, mung bean scallion pancake. The month flew by.

By June 21st, I found myself dancing for 6 hours on only beans, feeling down right sensational.

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If you’ve made it this far, you are probably wondering where is the good stuff- When is she going tell us about her gas, or crazy poops? Or at least that is the information I’ve been led to believe you crave based on the countless comments TikTok.

I hope it is clear by now that I am earnest. I would love to tell you stories of my bowels, for maybe that would gain some reader traction, but in reality there was no change. My body is a well oiled soluble fiber machine.

So what did change?

I became moodier. It became more stressful to make social plans, as I knew I had to bring beans with me, and I found myself obsessing over beans far more than I would like to admit. But who is to say if that was the fault of the beans or my aggravation due to restrictions growing.

Physically: My skin cleared up a bit after my lychee cheese binge. I needed to drink more water- a lot more- since I was no longer getting it from fruits and vegetables. And lastly, my HIIT classes felt just that much harder when only on legumes, but that might have also been because I was sleeping less at that time (the bean obsession was real).

In Summary:

I only ate beans for 30 days, and I live to tell the tale.

Will I do it again? Probably not.

Do I encourage anyone else to only eat beans? Certainly not.

Do I hope I inspired at least 1 or 2 of you to incorporate more beans into your diet? Absolutely.

Thank you as always for being a bean supporter. I am grateful for each and everyone of you.

XoXo,
Bean Supporter