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A scientist says fava beans can improve mood and reveals 3 ways to eat them

A scientist says fava beans can improve mood and reveals 3 ways to eat them

Nadia Mohd-Radzman, a research fellow in food security at the University of Cambridge, is on a mission to get people to eat more broad beans.

Not only are they a great source of protein, fiber and nutrients, but they’re also linked to easing depression symptoms, she told Business Insider.

She eats them every week and has revealed her three favorite recipes.

Fava beans, also called broad beans, contain levodopa or L-dopa, a chemical that can be converted into the happiness hormone dopamine.

It is already used as a first-line treatment for Parkinson’s disease, which causes the death of dopamine-producing brain cells, resulting in tremors, problems with motor skills and difficulty walking.

And there’s new evidence that L-dopa may relieve anhedonia, an inability to feel joy or pleasure that many people with depression experience, Mohd-Radzman said. According to a 2023 study published in the journal Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience, anhedonia affects up to 70% of people with depression, and it’s strongly linked to inflammation.

A 2022 study published in Nature Molecular Psychiatry found that in a small group of people with depression who had high inflammatory biomarkers, anhedonia decreased when they took L-dopa tablets. The effect was only seen in people who had both inflammation and depression.

Mohd-Radzman is about to launch a similar trial to see if eating fava beans can also reduce anhedonia. She hopes to complete and publish the study within two years.

Although the high L-dopa content is probably the main reason fava beans could help people with depression, Mohd-Radzman says there are other unexplored possibilities. For example, they contain valuable fiber that supports a healthy gut microbiome.

“And because we have a gut-brain axis, it could also have a positive impact on mental health,” she said.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, one in five Americans suffered from a mental illness in 2020, and according to researchers at Columbia Business School and Yale, mental health costs the U.S. economy more than $280 billion annually. Fava beans could be a low-cost and easily accessible treatment, which is why Mohd-Radzman is raising awareness.

“For me, it’s about spreading awareness that there is something out there that could improve mental health,” she said.

Here are her three favorite ways to prepare broad beans.

Fried fava beans

Every week, Mohd-Radzman makes a stir-fry with lots of fava beans. She first blanches the beans in boiling water for a few minutes and then squeezes them out of the pods once they’ve cooled.

Then she simply sautés them with some tofu for extra protein, garlic and onions for flavor, and either mushrooms or carrots.

If you use young, softer broad beans, you can cut them into smaller pieces and add them directly to the pan without any prior preparation, she said.

“That’s it. Very easy, very simple,” she said.

Prepare a dip from the beans

If you add oil and a little seasoning, you can mash the blanched fava beans and make a dip out of them too, Mohd-Radzman said.

Rather, she uses something very simple like salt, pepper and olive oil.

Pair it with pita bread or spread it on toast like you would mashed avocado, she said.

Snack on them

Fava beans are high in protein and ready to eat in minutes, making them a great snack.

When Mohd-Radzman prepares the beans for a recipe, she likes to snack on the soft beans.

You can sprinkle some salt or soy sauce on top, squeeze the beans out of their pods and eat them like edamame beans, she said.

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