Note how refried beans are more digestible than some bean dishes. I've also had dishes like this in Indian cuisine. First, the beans are both soaked and cooked and then re-cooked--WITH SOME FAT. Having some fat in the food makes it easier on the digestive tract. Indian cooking uses a lot of clarified butter. (The biggest problem with modern diets everywhere is simply too much carbohydrates anyway, and carbohydrates without fat will cause a lot of digestive tract upset anyway. )
Also, in Japan they have a dish that is made of fermented soy beans. And most everyone knows tofu is curd made from soybeans. Soybeans you can soak forever and they don't get soft. But ferment them and they become very soft and digestible--and stinky and gooey.
Another food that is highly nutritious but many people can't digest is cow's milk, and a lactose is the problem. I know, being of S. Italian descent, all about this problem. At school they had 'milk programs' where they would sell subsidized cartons of milk and all the little aryans would drink their milk (some would drink 2 or 3 cartons of the stuff!) and if I drank half a carton I would just suffer all day wondering what was wrong. I didn't find out about lactose intolerance in the family until about the age of 12, but I did know certain relatives would sure let rip frequently.
Anyway, that's why civilization invented things like cheese and yoghurt. To get around the lactose intolerance problem. Cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk is even better, by the way (as Mediterraneans know).
And what is the connection between cheese and natto (fermented soybeans) you might ask. Well, in Japan, many still think of cheese as a gross out food (my favorite is limberger when I can get it) because of the texture and smell. Most all foreigners when introduced to natto think it, too, is nasty. But if you put your cross-cultural thinking cap on, you can see that the two foods are analogous and serve much the same purpose. Making a food with too many problems less problematic.
Finally, if your ancestors are Mediterranean, beware of the possible fava bean intolerance. No amount of radiation or fermentation is going to help you here if you have this problem.
Charles Jannuzi ShinOsaka! ShinOsaka degozaimasu. I get to Osaka station in 5 minutes. Have a nice weekend you all.