Fava bean, which is available in high- and low-tannin varieties, is not an approved pet food ingredient and was not included in the “assumed to be safe” category based on its ability to cause favism and hemolytic anemia in susceptible humans.Fava bean diets were formulated either with or without Candida utilis fermentation processing to reduce antinutritional factors.Glucose tolerance, body weight, cardiovascular function, and blood parameters were investigated in beagles fed the NP or HP diets or a randomized, crossover, 2 × 2 Latin square design of the fava bean diets: unfermented high-tannin (UF-HT), fermented high-tannin (FM-HT), unfermented low-tannin (UF-LT), and fermented low-tannin (FM-LT).HP increased blood bicarbonate, calcium, phosphorus, urea, cholesterol, and albumin:globulin ratio while decreasing bilirubin, liver enzymes, and total protein.Of note, left ventricular end-systolic volume and cardiac output were increased in NP compared with HP-fed dogs, but were normal and had no significant differences among the fava bean diets.Moreover, blood chemistry parameters and cardiovascular function were impacted by protein content which merits further investigation with longer term feeding trials.Fava bean (Vicia faba L.) has been regarded as a healthy, sustainable alternative for partially replacing animal protein sources in human diets (1).DCM is recognized as the second most common type of genetically linked cardiac disease in the dog and is most prevalent in large or giant breeds (5).Dobermans, Boxers, Great Danes, Newfoundlands, Irish Wolfhounds, English Cocker Spaniels, and Portuguese Water Dogs are the breeds with the highest prevalence of DCM (6–9).Moreover, Golden Retrievers and American Cocker Spaniels have recently emerged as being predisposed to taurine deficiency (10, 11).DCM is described as a primary myocardial disorder causing systolic dysfunction with secondary ventricular dilation, regular or decreased wall thickness, and increased cardiac mass due to myocyte enlargement (12).Therefore, as reviewed by Mansilla et al. (13), because calcium is a key component of cardiac contraction, in cases of taurine absence due to reduced synthesis or low intake of taurine and/or its precursors, the cardiac muscle tissue is unable to properly contract and presumably develops DCM.Fava beans have numerous antinutritional factors such as condensed tannins, trypsin inhibitor activity, lectins, and pyrimidine glucosides (24).The pyrimidine glucosides (vicine and convicine) lead to favism which is a blood disorder caused when fava beans are eaten by humans with genetic mutations of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), leading to decreased G6PD activity and reduced ability of red blood cells (RBCs) to produce ATP and regenerate glutathione (25).This then makes the red blood cell susceptible to oxidative damage, leading to rapid RBC death and acute anemia when uncooked fava beans are consumed.However, because of this concern, fava beans cannot be placed in the “generally assumed to be safe” category by AAFCO and thus is not currently used in pet food until proven otherwise.Fermentation also has been positively associated with enhanced nutritional quality of pulses by reducing their levels of anti-nutritional factors (27–29).For example, fermentation of fava bean with Lactobacillus plantarum reduced the content of the antinutritional factors vicine and convicine by more than 90% while increasing the amount of free amino acids and enhancing protein digestibility (30).This current study explored the use of fermentation with the yeast Candida utilis to both reduce antinutritional factors and increase taurine content.The objective of this study was to determine if short-term (7-day) feeding of beagles with a moderate protein diet that has 30% inclusion of fava bean flour would show altered glucose tolerance, body weight, cardiovascular function, and blood parameters when contrasted to commercial diets with normal vs. high protein.We hypothesized that pulse-based diets would impair cardiovascular health due to the low taurine, cysteine, or methionine levels and high fiber content.Moreover, fermentation of fava bean flour with C.
utilis would enhance diet quality and, consequently, health of dogs.Low-tannin (Snowdrop) and HT (Florent) fava bean varieties, genotypes grown in Saskatchewan (2), were dehulled and ground into flour using a 400-μm screen.Seeded plates were incubated at 30°C for 72 h. Two loops of colonies were transferred using a flame-sterilized platinum needle to a 250-ml sterile conical flask containing 100 ml of YPD liquid medium (Yeast Peptone Dextrose—A1374501; ThermoFisher, Waltham, MA).The medium containing the yeast was then incubated on a horizontal shaker (30°C) at 120 rpm for an additional 12 to 15 h. Twenty-kilogram batches of each fava bean variety were mixed with the yeast broth, ammonia, and sterile water to form a soft dough, then fermented in an adapted cement mixer with temperature maintained at 30°C.The fermented fava bean flour was subsequently dried in an oven (60°C) for 48 h at the WCVM before transport to the University of Saskatchewan Canadian Feed Research Centre (North Battleford, Canada) for grinding of the fermented flours, followed by mixing of all test diets (both fermented and unfermented fava bean flours), extruding, and vacuum coating with fat to produce the final dry kibble format of the diets to be used in the feeding trials.Eight neutered beagles, four males and four females, at ideal body weight (8.8 ± 1.9 kg) and a mean age of 2.6 ± 1.0 years, were obtained from King Fisher International (Toronto, ON, Canada) or Marshall Bioresources (North York, NY, USA) and housed at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (Saskatoon, SK, Canada).All dogs were acclimated to procedures with rewards before the start of experiments to minimize stress, thus no anesthetics or sedatives were used in this study.Low- or high-tannin fava bean flours were used at 30% inclusion, in either fermented or unfermented formats with diet formulations indicated in Supplementary Table 1.Diets were formulated in accordance with the nutrient guidelines for adult dog maintenance set by AAFCO to be nutritionally balanced before being extruded under identical process conditions (35).All six diets were randomly sub-sampled and sent for proximate analysis (Central Testing, Winnipeg, MB, Canada) (Supplementary Table 3).The analyzed content of crude fiber, non-fiber carbohydrates, metabolizable energy, vicine, and convicine of UF-LT, UF-HT, FM-LT, and FM-HT diets are 1.1, 0.5, 0.5, and 0.5%; 60.7, 62.1, 61.6, and 61.8%; 3.7, 3.8, 3.8, and 3.8 kcal/g; 1.8, 1.8, 0.4, and 0.6 mg/g; and 0.5, 0.6, 0.1, and 0.2 mg/g, respectively.The analyzed content of crude fiber, non-fiber carbohydrates, and metabolizable energy of NP and HP diets are 0.8 and 1.1%, 53.0 and 29.8%, and 4.0 and 4.1 kcal/g, respectively.In contrast, NP and HP diets have different ingredients at unknown inclusion levels (specific formulation not available on label), making direct comparisons difficult.All dogs generally consumed all food portioned in each meal within 5–10 min, with no palatability issues noted (Morris, Reis & Weber, unpublished).Before laboratory testing, feces were dried in a forced air oven at 55°C for 72 h and ground in a cutting mill with a 1-mm sieve.Diets and feces were analyzed (Central Testing, Winnipeg, MB) according to AOAC standards (36) for dry matter by oven-drying the sample, non-fiber carbohydrates, crude protein applying the Kjeldahl method, and acid-hydrolyzed fat.Before glucose feeding, the fasted dogs were aseptically catheterized using a peripheral intravenous catheter equipped with an extension tube inserted into the cephalic vein.Subsequently, after each blood sample was obtained, the catheter was flushed with a sterile citrate solution to prevent clotting.The trapezoidal method was used to determine the incremental area under the curve (AUC) for the glucose response (38).Complete blood cell count [red (RBC) and white (WBC) blood cell counts] and chemistry panel [cholesterol; total (TB), direct (DB), and indirect bilirubin (IB); alkaline phosphatase (ALP); alanine aminotransferase (ALT); creatine kinase (CK); gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGP); glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH); total protein, albumin (A), globulin (G), and A:G] were analyzed at Prairie Diagnostic Services (Saskatoon, SK).Endpoints of flow-mediated dilation were used as an indicator of vascular health and included brachial artery diameter during baseline, during inflation of a blood pressure cuff placed distal to the brachial artery, and at the time of peak dilation (30 s) after cuff release, as previously determined by our research group in dogs (43, 44).Flow-mediated dilation and echocardiography were measured using a SonoSite Edge II ultrasound (Fujifilm SonoSite, Bothell, WA) with detection using a P10x transducer (8–4 Hz) to detect cardiac endpoints and the L38xi (10–5 Hz) transducer for vascular imaging.Two-dimensional guided M-mode echocardiography was used to obtain a right parasternal short-axis view of the heart at the level of the papillary muscles (46).Before performing all analyses, the data were explored for normality and outliers using the PROC UNIVARIATE model in SAS and the Shapiro–Wilk test.No significant effect (P > 0.05) of dietary protein content (NP vs.
HP) was observed on BCS or BW after 7 days of feeding in beagles.Body weight, food portion, and body condition score (BCS) of dogs fed diets formulated with either low or high tannin fava beans without (UF) or with (FM) fermentation, or normal (NP) vs. high (HP) protein commercial diets for 7 days each*.Blood glucose responses to the oral glucose tolerance test in dogs fed either low (LT) or high (HT) tannin fava bean–based diets without (UF) or with (FM) fermentation (A), or normal vs.
high protein commercial diets (B).From weeks 2 to 5, using a randomized, crossover, 2 × 2 Latin square design, 4 diets differing in fava bean variety and fermentation were compared as follows: UF-HT, FM-HT, UF-LT, and FM-LT. Fasting and peak glucose levels, time to peak, and area under the curve (AUC) were not influenced by dietary treatments (P > 0.10).Fasting and peak blood glucose levels, time to peak, and area under the curve of dogs fed diets formulated with either low or high tannin fava beans without (UF) or with (FM) fermentation, or normal (NP) vs.
high (HP) protein commercial diets for 7 days each*.White blood cell and RBC of beagles after feeding each diet for 7 days are shown in Figure 2.From weeks 2 to 5, using a randomized, crossover, 2 × 2 Latin square design, 4 diets differing in fava bean variety and fermentation were compared as follows: UF-HT, FM-HT, UF-LT, and FM-LT *P < 0.10; **P < 0.05.Blood parameters indicative of hepatic function in beagles after feeding test diets for 7 days are shown in Table 3.Blood urea and creatinine of beagles after feeding each test diet for 7 days are shown in Figure 3.Blood urea (A) and creatinine (B) content in dogs fed either normal (NP) or high protein (HP) commercial diets.After 7 days of feeding each test diet to dogs, there was an interaction between FB and FM, where serum amylase was highest in FM-HT, lowest in FM-LT, but intermediate in UF-LT and UF-HT (P < 0.05; Figure 4).Blood amylase content in dogs fed either low (LT) or high (HT) tannin fava bean–based diets without (UN) or with (FM) fermentation.From weeks 2 to 5, using a randomized, crossover, 2 × 2 Latin square design, 8 mixed-gender, neutered beagles were fed 4 diets differing in fava bean variety and fermentation as follows: UF-HT, FM-HT, UF-LT, and FM-LT.Cardiovascular function parameters of beagles after 7 days of feeding each test diet are shown in Table 5.There was no significant effect of protein content or either FM, FB, or the interaction between FM and FB on left ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), stroke volume (SV), heart rate (HR), ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular diastolic wall thickness (DWT), left ventricular systolic wall thickness (SWT), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), flow-mediated dilation (FMD), velocity time integral for ventricular filling (VTI) (E and A wave combined), and MV (A wave) (P > 0.10).Apparent total tract digestibility in beagles fed fava bean–based diets are shown in Table 6.Apparent total tract digestibility of dogs fed diets formulated with either low or high tannin fava beans without (UF) or with (FM) fermentation for 7 days each*.Plasma amino acid concentrations in beagles after 7 days of feeding each test diet are shown in Table 7.There was no significant effect of fava bean variety on plasma taurine, cystine, and methionine levels (P > 0.05).There were no significant interactions between fava bean variety and fermentation on plasma amino acid levels (P > 0.10).The objective of this study was to determine if neutered, mixed-gender, adult beagles fed diets with 30% inclusion of fava bean flour would show altered nutrient digestibility, glucose tolerance, overall health, cardiovascular function, and plasma amino acid levels when contrasted to commercial diets with normal vs. high protein.Lack of Evidence for Toxicity From Fava Beans, Digestibility, Glucose Tolerance, and Antinutritional Factors.Specific to fava beans, however, is the additional association from vicine and convicine antinutritional factors with hemolytic anemia in susceptible humans (50).Fermentation has been used as a valuable approach to reduce anti-nutritional factors in pulses, including trypsin inhibitors, hemagglutinins, and saponins.Moreover, Candida species have the potential to synthesize and increase taurine content (32) as well as improve protein digestibility through its breakdown into amino acids by fermentative microorganisms (51).Of interest, however, is the observation that fermented fava bean diets both caused increases in plasma cysteine after 7 days of feeding, an effect that does not seem to relate to dietary levels and has no current explanation that should be explored in future studies.The main issue associated with high tannin content in the diet is related to reduced bioavailability of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract (53, 54).Despite not evaluating bioavailability in the present study, there was no effect of fava bean variety on digestibility values of any nutrient measured.Interestingly, fermentation was able to dramatically reduce both the vicine and convicine content in fava bean–based diets, regardless of variety.However, it should be noted that the four fava bean test diets in this study were fed sequentially in a crossover design.Moreover, RBC content was unchanged in dogs fed fava beans compared with the NP diet.The present study also provided other indication of fermentation of fava bean flour with C.
utilis enhancing diet quality and consequently health in dogs.It has been shown in fish that the concentration of carbohydrates in the gut are inversely related to fat digestibility (57) and this is exacerbated when large amounts of starch are present (58).The results of the current study using commercial diets also provide indications that high dietary protein can negatively affect overall health of dogs.While diarrhea was not observed with the HP commercial diet tested in the current study, excessive protein intake has been reported to increase proteinuria and overload kidneys, potentially decreasing the overall health of dogs (62), and this is consistent with the higher serum cholesterol, urea, and creatinine observed with the HP diet in the current study.Moreover, bilirubin measurements (TB, DB, and IB) were decreased in HP-fed dogs compared with NP, which agrees with a recent study showing higher bilirubin concentrations in young pigs fed a protein restricted diet compared with a control diet (64).It should be noted that while trends for changes in blood parameters can be interpreted as positive or negative, all values for all end-points measured in this study fell within clinical norms and thus all dogs were maintained in a healthy state.One of the main hypotheses of the present study was that pulse-based diets with their higher fiber would cause decreases in plasma taurine, cysteine, or methionine levels, subsequently leading to impaired cardiac contractility or enlargement of the heart consistent with DCM.However, after 7 days of feeding each fava bean–based diet, no significant adverse changes were detected in cardiac or vascular function in the current study.Future studies should explore longer feeding periods and address whether more susceptible dog breeds than beagles produce a stronger relationship between taurine and cardiac impairment.Dogs can synthesize taurine from cysteine or methionine (69), but all three of these amino acids tend to be low or limiting when plant-based protein sources such as pulses are used.Previous studies in dogs have reported that high fiber diets decrease protein digestibility and increase fecal bile acid excretion in feces (70).Because taurocholate is the major bile salt excreted by dogs, the net effect of high fiber has been reported to deplete taurine and impair digestion of protein that contains cysteine and methionine needed to replace it.In contrast, the high protein (HP) commercial diet led to higher plasma levels of cysteine and taurine, but no change in plasma methionine compared with NP diet, suggesting that 7 days was sufficient time to cause some alterations of blood levels of these amino acids.A strength of this study was that the fava bean–based diets that were made in our laboratory were tested against two popular commercial brands, giving a more realistic context to the results.Another strength was the use of a Latin square, crossover design where the same dogs were tested on each diet, reducing variability and increasing power with the small sample size of this experiment.Moreover, the results of this study using young, healthy adult beagles may not apply to older, large breed dogs with genetic susceptibility to taurine deficiency.A last limitation of the present study was the experimental design which does not allow the statistical comparison between commercial and fava bean-based diets.Moreover, the normal protein, grain-based diet appeared to cause excess sympathetic tone, a trend that if it were to continue with long-term feeding, might lead to adverse changes in cardiac health that are distinct from DCM.The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.LAR was affiliated with Prairie Swine Centre (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) where he used the facility to do his graduate research.The authors also declare that this study received funding or in-kind support from the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, Western Grains Research Foundation, Alliance Grain Traders (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) and Horizon Pet Foods (Rosthern, SK, Canada).The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.The authors would like to thank the staff at the Animal Care Unit of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and Canadian Feed Research Centre for their assistance.ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AUC, area under the curve; CK, creatine kinase; CO, cardiac output; CP, crude protein; DCM, dilated cardiomyopathy; DB, direct bilirubin; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; DWT, left ventricular diastolic wall thickness; EDV, left ventricular end-diastolic volume; EF, ejection fraction; ESV, left ventricular end-systolic volume; FM, fermented; FMD, flow-mediated dilation; G6PD, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; GGP, gamma-glutamyltransferase; GLDH, glutamate dehydrogenase; HP, high protein; HR, heart rate; HT, high-tannin fava bean variety; IB, indirect bilirubin; LT, low-tannin fava bean variety; LVID d , left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; LVID s , left ventricular end-systolic diameter; MV, maximum velocity; NP, normal protein; RBC, red blood cell; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SV, stroke volume; SWT, left ventricular systolic wall thickness; TB, total bilirubin; UF, unfermented; VTI, velocity time integral; WBC, white blood cell.1. de Boer J, Aiking H.
On the merits of plant-based proteins for global food security: marrying macro and micro perspectives.Monnet E, Orton EC, Salman M, Boon J. Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs: survival and prognostic indicators.Borgarelli M, Santilli RA, Chiavegato D, D'Agnolo G, Zanatta R, Mannelli A, et al. Prognostic indicators for dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy.Werner P, Raducha MG, Prociuk U, Sleeper MM, Van Winkle TJ, Henthorn PS.Martin MWS, Stafford Johnson MJ, Celona B.
Canine dilated cardiomyopathy: a retrospective study of signalment, presentation and clinical findings in 369 cases.Bélanger MC, Ouellet M, Queney G, Moreau M. Taurine-Deficient dilated cardiomyopathy in a family of golden retrievers.Contemporary definitions and classification of the cardiomyopathies: an American heart association scientific statement from the council on clinical cardiology, heart failure and transplantation committee; quality of care and outcomes research and functional genomics and translational biology interdisciplinary working groups; and council on epidemiology and prevention.Mansilla WD, Marinangeli CPF, Ekenstedt KJ, Larsen JA, Aldrich G, Columbus DA, et al.
Special topic: the association between pulse ingredients and canine dilated cardiomyopathy: addressing the knowledge gaps before establishing causation.McCauley SR, Clark SD, Quest BW, Streeter RM, Oxford EM.Effect of taurine on sarcoplasmic reticulum function and force in skinned fast-twitch skeletal muscle fibres of the rat.Maillard reaction products in purified diets induce taurine depletion in cats which is reversed by antibiotics.Acute taurine depletion and maximal rates of hepatic conjugation and secretion of cholic acid in the dog.Coda R, Rizzello CG, Gobbetti M. Use of sourdough fermentation and pseudo-cereals and leguminous flours for the making of a functional bread enriched of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).Exploitation of the nutritional and functional characteristics of traditional Italian legumes: the potential of sourdough fermentation.Santana FC, Empis J.
Bacterial removal of quinolizidine alkaloids from Lupinus albus flours.Rizzello CG, Losito I, Facchini L, Katina K, Palmisano F, Gobbetti M, et al. Degradation of vicine, convicine and their aglycones during fermentation of faba bean flour.Hébert A, Forquin-Gomez M-P, Roux A, Aubert J, Junot C, Heilier J-F, et al. New insights into sulfur metabolism in yeasts as revealed by studies of Yarrowia lipolytica.Curso Almeida P.
Effects of Pea Starch Yeast Fermentation on Glycemic Index, Palatability, Metabolic Status and Intestinal Health of Dogs and Cats Fed a Pea-Based Diet.Techniques for evaluating digestibility of energy, amino acids, phosphorus, and calcium in feed ingredients for pigs.Plasma and whole blood taurine in normal dogs of varying size fed commercially prepared food.Plasma amino acid and whole blood taurine concentrations in cats eating commercially prepared diets.Postprandial impairment of flow-mediated dilation and elevated methylglyoxal after simple but not complex carbohydrate consumption in dogs.Lang RM, Bierig M, Devereux RB, Flachskampf FA, Foster E, Pellikka PA, et al.Recommendations for chamber quantification: a report from the American society of echocardiography's guidelines and standards committee and the chamber quantification writing group, developed in conjunction with the European association of echocardiography, a branch of the European society of cardiology.Cornell CC, Kittleson MD, Torre PD, Häggström J, Lombard CW, Pedersen HD, et al. Allometric scaling of m-mode cardiac measurements in normal adult dogs.Addisu S. Effect of dietary tannin source feeds on ruminal fermentation and production of cattle; a review.Bunglavan SJ, Dutta N.
Use of tannins as organic protectants of proteins in digestion of ruminants.Berard NC, Wang Y, Wittenberg KM, Krause DO, Coulman BE, McAllister TA, et al. Condensed tannin concentrations found in vegetative and mature forage legumes grown in western Canada.Hagerman AE, Robbins CT, Weerasuriya Y, Wilson TC, McArthur C. Tannin chemistry in relation to digestion.Çalişkantürk Karataş S, Günay D, Sayar S.
In vitro evaluation of whole faba bean and its seed coat as a potential source of functional food components.Hang I, Heilmann RM, Grützner N, Suchodolski JS, Steiner JM, Atroshi F, et al. Impact of diets with a high content of greaves-meal protein or carbohydrates on faecal characteristics, volatile fatty acids and faecal calprotectin concentrations in healthy dogs.Burkholder WJ, Lees GE, LeBlanc AK, Slater MR, Bauer JE, Kashtan CE, et al.Higher-Protein diets are associated with higher HDL Cholesterol and Lower BMI and waist circumference in US adults.Fisher KD, Scheffler TL, Kasten SC, Reinholt BM, Eyk GR van, Escobar J, et al. Energy dense, protein restricted diet increases adiposity and perturbs metabolism in young, genetically lean pigs.Lawrence YA, Dangott LJ, Rodrigues-Hoffmann A, Steiner JM, Suchodolski JS, Lidbury JA.Harrison M, Thomas G, Gilham M, Gray K, Colyer A, Allaway D.
Short-term determination and long-term evaluation of the dietary methionine requirement in adult dogs.Pezzali JG, Acuff HL, Henry W, Alexander C, Swanson KS, Aldrich CG. .
10 Impressive Health Benefits of Fava Beans
A small study in 11 people with Parkinson’s disease found that eating 1.5 cups (250 grams) of fava beans after 12 hours without medication had a comparable positive effect on blood dopamine levels and motor function as L-dopa drugs ( 6 ). .
Benefits and dangers of the broad bean
It is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and worldwide affects 400 million people, mainly of Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern descent.Lectins are proteins found in many plant foods, and research has shown that those from broad beans may alter the behaviour of cancer cells in the colon. .
Broad Beans' Peculiar Side Effects
Dark brown hair fell across his forehead, and the whites of his eyes glowed with the brilliant yellow of a highlighter marker.His skin’s dark complexion was also tinted a dull yellow, producing the sallow cast of dead grass.Physicians call yellowing of the eyes and skin jaundice, a term from the French jaune, meaning “yellow.” During my pediatrics training, I saw innumerable cases, almost all of them in newborns.No problems.” Neonatal jaundice is extremely common in healthy newborns, so that specific detail of his medical history might or might not have anything to do with the current problem.The ability to drink and stay hydrated is as important a vital sign in sick children as heart rate and blood pressure.The yellow color of his eyes and skin was produced by the buildup of bilirubin, a waste product formed from the breakdown of hemoglobin in red blood cells.It was possible that his red blood cells were being destroyed, a condition called hemolysis that results in high levels of bilirubin in the bloodstream, leading to jaundice.On the other hand, there could be a blockage in the boy’s bile ducts, through which the liver excretes bilirubin into the gastrointestinal tract, where it produces the familiar brown color of stool.I reached my hand deeply into the upper-right side of his abdomen, feeling for the liver’s edge poking out from behind his rib cage.He showed no sign of discomfort as I pushed, so it was likely the liver wasn’t inflamed and his bile ducts weren’t blocked.Knowing that certain types of jaundice are associated with dark-colored urine, I asked his parents if they had seen any unusual colors in his wet diapers since he turned yellow.Normally red with tiny blood vessels, the linings of his eyelids were the lightest shade of pink, practically bordering on white, with a yellow tint.I figured that his pallor must be due to severe anemia, the term for a low number of red blood cells in the bloodstream.Anemia would also explain his rapid heartbeat, since the heart speeds up to compensate for low levels of hemoglobin in the blood.With a sequence of quick questions, I plied the parents from multiple angles to get at the information: Had anyone in either family ever turned yellow?It is a genetic condition found in people of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent, but Reza had the dubious luck to be the first one diagnosed in his family. .
Effect of supplementing fava bean (Vicia faba L.) on ulcerative colitis
Dietary supplementation with dried ground fava bean significantly corrected the impaired oxidative and inflammatory biomarker levels and modulated histological features and DNA alterations. .
Favism - an overview
Some children are very symptomatic right after birth, whereas older patients may only present with mild anemia and subtle laboratory findings.The first is the “hemolytic crisis.” When patients develop fevers or encounter other stresses, the rate of hemolysis may increase, and any inflammation can suppress erythropoiesis, leading to severe anemia.Common clinical features of hereditary spherocytosis include anemia, jaundice, reticulocytosis, splenomegaly, and microspherocytes.With hereditary elliptocytosis, most patients are symptom free, and the frequent finding of elliptocytes on the blood smear is of no clinical consequence.G6PD deficiency is the most common enzyme defect in humans and affects an estimated 600 million people worldwide.Enzymatic activity varies from normal with no clinical consequences to severe deficiency resulting in chronic hemolysis and shortened red blood cell life span, even in the absence of stressors. .
The 6 Powerful Benefits Of Fava Beans + An Incredible Recipe
Scientifically called Vicia faba, fava beans originated in Israel.Other important nutrients in the beans include thiamin, vitamins K and B6, copper, selenium, zinc, potassium, and magnesium.Fava beans increase the levels of L-dopa, a chemical that improves motor performance (2).Including fava beans in your diet can help prevent Parkinson’s altogether.In studies conducted, patients with Parkinson’s were found to be deficient in folate (4).Some studies show that fava beans can help treat depression too.This nutrient prevents birth defects in newborns and is an absolute must in a pregnant woman’s diet.Studies show most women don’t get enough dietary folate, and this is a matter of concern.A couple of the major birth defects folate can prevent are spina bifida (incomplete development of the spinal cord) and anencephaly (incomplete development of parts of the brain).Ensure you go for a trusted brand of supplements – please talk to your nutritionist or health care provider for more details on this.Warning: Some incidents have reported the cases of favism (a form of anemia) in infants after the mothers had consumed fava beans before delivery (7).The nutrient can lower blood pressure levels, which is one major cause of heart disease in the US today.B vitamins are important for energy metabolism, and folate plays a crucial role in this aspect.The beans are also a good source of iron, which is essential for our body to produce red blood cells and its energy currency, ATP (adenosine triphosphate).This means it leads to a gradual increase in blood sugar levels, offering a steady supply of energy.Manganese increases bone mass, prevents osteoporosis, and helps reduce calcium deficiency.The copper in fava beans helps maintain healthy white blood cells.These blood cells destroy pathogens and eliminate free radicals from your system.Without white blood cells, your body becomes susceptible to infection and illness, which is why copper is critical to maintain strong immunity.Studies also show how fava beans can contribute to immune health in human beings (8).The other potent nutrients include manganese, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron.You can remove the beans this way and then add them to ice cold water (to stop them from cooking).Talking about getting creative, why don’t you check out a popular fava bean recipe?Bring a large container of salted water to a boil and add the snap peas and blanch for 3 to 4 minutes.Excess intake of fava beans by the pregnant mother may cause favism in the newborn.Also, please avoid fava beans if you are already taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) for depression.Also called glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, where red blood cells break down due to infection or stress, this condition can get aggravated upon intake of fava beans.The benefits of fava beans are attributed to their rich folate, L-dopa, thiamin, copper, selenium, zinc, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins K and B6 content.This rich nutritional profile can help treat and prevent Parkinson’s (by improving motor performance), prevent birth defects (thanks to folate), and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels.The copper in fava beans aids in the formation of white blood cells, which play a key role in immune function.Yes, you can eat fava beans raw, but it is best to cook them, especially for digestion and lectin content.Fava beans are called habas in Spanish, cándòu in Chinese, and baakala in Hindi. .
