Great northern bean

Great northern beans can be offered once your baby is about 6 months old and ready for solids.

Whatever the name suggests, the bean most likely comes from Central America. Today most of the world's great northern beans are grown commercially on the northern plains of North America.

It is rich in protein, carbohydrates and fiber. It has folate, choline, iron, zinc and vitamin B6. Young children often get too little of these. They support healthy blood, growth, development and the brain. It also has magnesium and potassium, which support heart and muscle function.

At 6 months mash cooked beans or make a smooth paste. Because digestive discomfort is possible, begin with a small portion and increase it gradually. At 9 months give whole beans cooked soft and flattened. At 12 months whole cooked beans can be eaten by hand or with a fork.

Tip: Vitamin C boosts absorption of plant iron. Serve beans with foods high in vitamin C.

Canned beans are fine, and so are dried beans that have cooked all the way through.

Soaking and cooking break down plant compounds such as lectins, oxalates and phytates. In a balanced diet they are generally harmless for healthy people. Soaking before cooking is not required, but it shortens cooking time, lowers lectin and the gas-producing sugar raffinose, and makes the beans easier to digest. Overnight soak: put 454 g of dried beans in 2.5 liters of water. Leave them for 4 hours or more, or overnight, then drain and rinse. Hot soak: boil the beans in the same ratio of water for 2 to 3 minutes. Switch off the heat and let them sit a few hours, then drain and rinse.

Great northern beans are small and round. They are firm when raw or undercooked. These traits can raise the choking risk.

Prepare them for the baby's age: mash at 6 months, cook soft and flatten at 9 months. Stay within arm's reach during meals.

Great northern beans rarely cause allergy, although reactions to white beans have been described. More people are recognizing bean allergies, but white beans like great northern are usually well tolerated.

Some patients with allergy to other legumes, such as peanut and soy (both common allergens), have also shown bean allergy. Allergy to one legume does not mean allergy to the others, although having more than one legume allergy becomes somewhat more likely. Most people with peanut or soy allergy eat other legumes without trouble.

Anyone with a birch pollen allergy or oral allergy syndrome (pollen food allergy) may react to legumes including this bean. The reaction is generally a passing itch, tingle or sting in the mouth, not a dangerous one.

As with any new food, start with a small amount for the first meals and raise it over later meals if nothing happens.