Here’s the background: I’m sensitive to the aflatoxin and mycotoxins in corn and beans, not the actual corn and beans. If I eat a teaspoon of beans my hands have bleeding lesions in about 20 minutes (and they take 2 weeks to heal on
their own and are extremely painful). I can’t even eat regular potatoes chips because of the corn oil and there are only 2 brands that don’t list possible corn oil that I eat (I won’t discuss the wisdom of my potato chip habits right now, lol). Tortilla chips or corn tortillas? Forget it! Bean dip? Forget it! Organics, maybe? No way!

Strange. I grew up where corn and beans are staples and never had trouble. Oh well, the plight of the freaked-out immune system from chronic illness, right? Probably what made me reach a breaking point but maybe not so much…

Last week I ate a corn tamale brought up with some family from El Salvador freshly made. They had shucked the fresh corn, taken it straight to the mill, ground it into dough (not flour, still wet), and made the tamalitos. Since fresh corn doesn’t bother me I thought I’d give it a go. My hands itched a bit that night but not so much and no lesions. Interesting. I thought maybe they don’t have aflatoxin in the tropics OR since it wasn’t dried and in storage for
forever the amount was minute and I handled it somewhat okay. There was itching and I only had 1/2 tamal (the dc liked it because it was sooo moist) but no long-term effects.

Fast forward to this week… I was making a bag of pinto beans for the family to keep them away from canned refried beans (NOT for me, right? Can’t eat them) and happened to read that morning in NT while they were cooking about how the soaking inactivates the aflatoxin. What?? Could it be true?? Could I once again enjoy beans?? Is THAT why I always ate them without any problem growing up? Canned beans didn’t even exist in the stores – it was just a given that
everyone made them at home.

My experiment at dinner last night: Not 1, not 2, but THREE bean and cheese burritos….(drum roll, please)… NO LESIONS! Not even itchy discomfort on my hands. No yeast flare-up. Nothing. Zilch. Unbelievable.

NT index has the pages listed for aflatoxin. However, here’s a point of confusion: It says in one part that cooking does NOT get rid of the aflatoxin (and that corresponds to my experience and what I’ve read in other places) and in another part says that the cooking DOES get rid of it (p.224). I don’t like inconsistencies within a book. It goes back to being easily confused and liking everything I’m learning in order and clearly defined . Of course, now I can’t find where it says that cooking does not help with aflatoxin (maybe I inferred that from reading p.112 because that’s what my previous research/experience had ingrained in me).

Unfortunately, we never have leftover homemade tortillas (phrumph!) so instead of an unnecessary snack of a bean/cheese burrito I’ll go do another load of laundry instead.