i'm a little skeptical but article very positive.

fava sprouts are supposed to work
http://home.cogeco.ca/~allan/beans.html

http://www.mombu.com/medicine/medici...s-1428470.html

We've ordered the juice from Intl Gourmet and will report on how it works. In the meantime, we read about the sprouts but from our experience with the pods we grew, were dubious. Consistency is very difficult to achieve, and so much affects the ldopa content, how long they cook, how long they cool before you eat them, etc. We don't have chemistry set in our kitchen and a lot of this is way above my head!

I like that the article quantifies things and that is very helpful. When the fava beans were cooked right, or eaten at the right time, or whatever it was we did that made them "work", my husband said he felt very content, at peace, and "lovey". Very, very melllow, too. It was strange.

Thanks for posting this, it connects to an experience we had yesterday with an energy drink I'll post about separately.

Fava Beans sprout faster that most seeds. I soak them overnight and rinse them a couple of times and sometimes they sprout in about 34 hours...they are truly amazing. You would think when they are so large that they would take alot longer.

Aunt Bean do you sprout the DRIED fava beans? when I tried they took a LONG time and got slimy- will try again.

When you mentioned the "hidden tops" for making your tincture did you include stems and leaves as well and are those "hidden tops" at the base of the stem where the beans sprout from the stem? Also,I was wondering why dehydrate the fava before making tincture. Wouldn't essential volatile oils be lost?

I made a tincture yesterday and added a bit of cherry tree bark to enhance circulation. My sister is an herbalist and suggested organic vodka for the tincture. I wonder about using terrestis tribulus to assist uptake - it is used aryuvedic medicine together with mucuna..

Thanks for posting!

Kind regards,
MD

Dear Soccertese,

Are you enjoying the Intl Gourmet juice? I really like it though am experimenting with juicing my own - having difficulty finding favas locally now and am grateful IG makes it available. The fava supplementation seems to balance and integrate sinemet very nicely-I am still successfully reducing sinemet med to 1 25/100 pill 2 times per day from 3x/day before fava.

MD

i'm not taking any fava product. that said, i have ordered sproutable fava beans and will try sprouts.

Yes, I do sprout dried favas- it usually takes them about 40 hrs to start sproutiing..they are amazing. They have more l-dopa than a bean pod. I usually dry echiinacea root before making tincture..it takes the water content out & makes the tincture more potent perhaps?? When I made fava top tincture..dried it too. Haven't tried tincturing any other part of the plant yet, but may with the fall crop. I haven't tried stems and the tops I use are a tiny ball of unopenned leaves & flowers that each stem gets one of. The plant sends up several stems and they all get one "top". Hope that is more clear. Good luck with your adventure wiith them! It has been a wonderful thing for me . Aunt Bean

how does one discern between "sproutable" fava beans and non sproutable?
thx and kind regards,
MD

some dry beans are already blanched and "killed". ordered from Jaffe Bros, they were pretty sure they would sprout but never ordered anything from them before. will let you know the results. these were also the round type, the kind you would grow for a cover crop. edible but much smaller than flat beans.

Is anyone eating fava beans without taking sinemet? Mucuna has had no effect on me and it seems everyone here who takes it is on sinemet. I am resisting meds but beginning to find life way too challenging. I'm thinking of trying sprouted favas as they seem to be most effective.

Trixiedee