Can dogs eat winged beans? Are you thinking about incorporating this weird little bean into your diet, and maybe your dog’s? Well, let’s ask this question first: are winged beans safe for dogs to eat?
The short answer is yes, but winged beans do require diligent preparation to be safe for dogs. Honestly, green beans are a much safer addition, or yardlong beans if you want to get a bit more adventurous in your long bean inclusions.
However, we highly recommend discussing the pitfalls of winged beans with your veterinarian before incorporating them into your dog’s diet. In the meantime, here’s everything you should know about the winged bean and dogs.
How Are Winged Beans Good For Dogs?
Winged beans get their name because they have a far more leafy exterior than most other long beans — kind of like a cross between lettuce and a green bean.
Despite their difficulty in preparation, winged beans do have desirable nutritional aspects. It’s only natural that you might want your dog to benefit from them, even if you have to work a bit harder to make them safe.
Loaded with essential amino acids and proteins, winged beans are unique. Other long bean varietals don’t have these kinds of amino acids, which aid in a dog’s muscle development and tissue repair, while contributing greatly to skin health.
Furthermore, they’re an excellent source of dietary fiber, vitamin B, and iron.
However, these benefits are only of any use to your dog when properly prepared, or else they’re highly toxic, with very little research available on long-term effects.
How Can I Safely Give Winged Beans To My Dog?
The issue with winged beans lies in their seeds. While other long beans don’t contain seeds like this, which raise health issues, winged bean seeds are toxic. However, the toxins in the seeds can be completely neutralized in the cooking process.
In order to safely serve winged beans to your dog, they must be thoroughly cooked. Under no circumstance should raw winged beans be served to your dog or left out where they can reach them.
Furthermore, they need to be soaked for two to three hours for the toxins to be thoroughly removed during the cooking process.
Now, there are case studies that suggest that the whole bean is okay for dogs to eat, and some dog parents choose to do so. But these are inconclusive and lack scientific research.
What is known is that cooking winged beans neutralizes the health threat. Playing it safe is always the best option until more concrete research becomes available.
You can certainly try out the winged bean in your dog’s diet or simply go with green beans, which are tried and true in the safety department.
We recommend a thorough conversation with your veterinarian before any such decision is made. They may have updated facts about this particular long bean.
Have you tried winged beans in your dog’s diet? Did your dog have any issues after eating them? Let us know in the comments below.
