The food value varies with the
conditions under which the foods are grown and is not always even
approximately the same.
The fresh young legumes may be classed with the succulent vegetables.
The matured, dried legumes are to be classed both as starchy and proteid
foods. They are very easily raised and consequently cheap. They are the
cheapest source of protein that we have. Peas and beans are very
important foods in Europe. In this country we consume enormous
quantities of beans. In Mexico they use a great deal of frijoles, the
poor people having this bean at nearly every meal. In China they make
the soy beans into various dishes. The lentil is much used in Europe and
is gaining favor here, as it should, for it is splendid food, with a
flavor of its own. Peanuts, which are really not nuts, but leguminous
plants growing their seeds under the ground, are used extensively as
food for man and beast.
These foods are much alike in composition, the soy bean being
exceptionally rich in protein.
These foods have the undeserved reputation of being indigestible and of
producing flatulence. They are a little more difficult to digest than
some other foods, but they cause no trouble if they are taken in simple
combinations and in moderation, provided they have been properly
prepared.
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