What is the Karen Hurd Bean Diet (Bean Protocol)?

Health

Jul 30

Written By Yazzi | Intuitive Wellness Coach

If you’re wondering who Karen Hurd is and why everyone is suddenly raving about beans, tune in so I can answer the question What is the Karen Hurd Bean Diet (Bean Protocol)?

And I'll tell you about my story and how beans are saving my health. 🛑 READ my health disclaimer below.

The Bean Protocol is getting a lot of attention right now, but I wanted to share my story with the bean protocol. I’m not a doctor, so please ALWAYS consult your doctor before following the protocol.

My experience is focused on healing hormone imbalance due to having excess hormones. I am self diagnosed because all of my bloodwork tests and doctors told me that I was within “normal” ranges of health.

I had to experiment with a wide variety of healing protocols and the Bean Protocol is the only thing that worked in curing all of my symptoms.

After 10 months on the protocol, I’ve adapted the TBP approach to suit my life and health, but beans are definitely apart of it! Just not all the restrictions.

Ready? Let’s get started!

Table of Contents Show

Who Is Karen Hurd?

Her Story

First off, who is Karen Hurd? She's a former biochemist for the military, and in 1989 her 18-month-old daughter was poisoned by a high concentration of pesticides sprayed around her home. Her baby experienced seizures, warts, colds, infections, allergies, and so much more. All the doctors Karen went to couldn't explain or understand her daughter's ailments and gave her the shattering diagnosis that her daughter was dying, and there was nothing she or any doctor could do about it.

Unsatisfied with that answer, Karen took it upon herself to study the human body at her local medical library. After extensive research, she went home and made a concoction for her daughter filled with vitamins and other good stuff (like soluble fiber), and fed it to her via syringe.

This concoction was the last hope of saving her baby girl.

Within two weeks, her daughter started to improve, and by week six, she had her healthy baby girl back. And the Bean Protocol was developed!

Get the full story and updates on her daughter here

What is the Bean Protocol Diet?

The Bean diet isn't a diet; it's a protocol developed by Karen Hurd that helps the liver detox and heal from a range of ailments, including infertility, inflammation, digestive issues, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and more.

It consists of eating soup beans and or lentils 3-6x a day for a minimum of three months and much longer for people with long-term illnesses and diseases.

Why beans?

The Liver Needs Soluble Fiber

The liver is a natural detoxifier. According to WebMD "the liver works with the gallbladder, pancreas, and intestines to digest, absorb and process food. Its main job is to filter the blood from the digestive tract before passing it to the rest of the body. It also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizing drugs. As it does so, the liver secretes bile that ends up back in the intestines."

First off, our body is amazing. Just reading that sentence made me feel like a badass because our bodies naturally detoxify chemicals. And our bodies do more amazing things like transform fat into energy and recirculate the things we need like blood. But what else does the body recirculate? Bile. Yes, the bile, with all the excess chemicals, toxins, and hormones returns to the liver via the ileum, called Enterohepatic circulation.

The only way the liver can adequately remove the toxic bile from the body is through soluble fiber. The chemical composition of soluble fiber attracts and attaches to the bile's chemical composition where all the excess metals, toxins, and hormones from our body are housed.

This bond means the bile CANNOT return to the liver. Once soluble fiber and bile attach, it can go in the toilet! It leaves your body in the form of a bowel movement.

Amazing, right!? It makes sense why Karen Hurd's baby girl healed! Every time she gave her daughter that concoction filled with soluble fiber, her daughter's body removed pesticides from the body. 🤯

What Happens If We Don’t Eat Soluble Fiber

If you never eat soluble fiber, all the crap sitting in your liver recirculates repeatedly. What happens to any oil that gets reused? It becomes thicker, it ferments, and it slows downs.

Once it slows down, things in your body stop working or overwork to compensate for what doesn't work. It's a terrible catch-22.

How do you know your body isn’t functioning properly? These are some of the signs:

allergies to foods
fatigue
stress
breakouts
excess/lack of hormone production
lack or poor sleep
mental fog
Inflammation
autoimmune diseases

Which causes us to

crave sugar to soothe the stressors
need caffeine to stay awake or get bumps of clarity

And sugar and stress promote sludgy circulating hormones.

What Foods Have the Highest Concentration of Soluble Fiber?

Beans!! Beans the magical fruit the more you eat, the more you toot! Soup beans and legumes are jam-packed with soluble fiber.

But don't beans make you toot?

Well, if you don't eat them regularly, they will make you toot! Why? Think of your liver as garbage disposal. The beans are what turn on your garbage disposal. But if you don't eat beans regularly, all that junk will ferment and stink up your liver. So, if you currently have gas and are not eating beans, what do you think is causing your farts and bloating? It can't be the beans, right?

But once you eat beans again, the garbage disposal turns on, so all that excess build-up in your liver has to go somewhere, and it's usually released from your body in the form of a fart and extra bowel movements!

Imagine if you left tons of food in your garbage disposal for weeks, months, and years? Wouldn't it start to smell? And what would happen if you turned on the garbage disposal? The smell will worsen and permeate through every open space in your home. So, of course, you're going to fart because that gas has to go somewhere.

But don't worry, once you eat beans regularly, the toots will go away! But during the tooting season, drink plenty of water!

What if I hate Beans?

Psyllium husk is your next best bet! I highly recommend getting the pills because loose psyllium becomes gelatinous in water, and if you're a texture person - it's not great.

But you definitely want to add beans and lentils because they are dense with nutrition - like magnesium. I sleep so much better when I eat beans three times a day.

Benefits of the Bean Protocol Diet (Bean Protocol)

I'm convinced that the bean protocol can heal pretty much everything, and Karen Hurd is terrific at explaining all the science behind why. Seriously, if you need the layman's explanation of why our bodies cause cancer, and how our adrenals work, and why the earth is round - buy.her.courses!

According to interviews and her website, she's aided in healing a lot of ailments and diseases such as:

Acidity
Acne
ADHD / ADD /Hyperactivity
Aging
Allergies
Alopecia (Hair Loss)
AnxietyArthritis
Asthma
Autism
Bacterial Infections
Building the Immune System
Cancer
Celiac Disease
Children's Health
Cholesterol
Constipation
Coughs and Colds
Crohn's Disease
Cyclic Vomiting
Dental Health
Depression
Diabetes
Diarrhea
Dumping Syndrome

Eczema
Endometriosis
Epstein Barr Virus
Fibrocystic Breast Disease
Fibromyalgia
Fissures and Fistulas
Flus and Fevers
Fungal Infections
Gallbladder
Gas & Bloating
Gastritis
Gestational
Diabetes
Gout
Greying
Hashimotos
Headaches (migraine, sinus, & more)
Heavy Metals
Hemorrhoids
Hormonal Imbalance
Hyperthyroid
Hypothyroid
Infertility
Joint Pain

Kidney Stones
Leaky Gut
Living Well
Lupus
Lyme Disease
Male Pattern of Balding
Menopause
Morning Sickness / Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Osteoarthritis
Osteoporosis
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
PMS
Pregnancy
Psoriasis
Senile Dementia & Alzheimers
Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth
Sinuses
Toxic Mold
Trigger Finger
Ulcerative Colitis
Uterine Fibroids
Weight Loss

Click to view Karen Hurd's Courses for Healing

Other Benefits Include of The Bean Protocol:

glowing skin
stop graying and promotes natural hair color
mood enhancer
great sleep
amazing menstrual cycles, aka low or zero PMS symptoms

Why I decided to Try the Bean Protocol

MY Ailments

For about 10 years, I've been low-key struggling with my health. Digestion issues up the wazoo, poor sleep, repeatedly stressed, thinning hair and my hair was falling out - way more than the 100 strands a day. My skin looked like shit and would break out immediately just by looking at sugar. After eating anything, I was bloated and gassy. My clothes stopped fitting me properly and I felt like a stump. I haven't lost weight and have been comfortably sitting at 145 pounds for at least six years despite eating healthy and exercising regularly.

To round it out, I was experiencing extreme fatigue; no matter how long or short I slept, my body was continually aching for restful sleep. Bags under my eyes, mild headaches, and anything I did physically caused immediate onset exhaustion.

Most days, I would wake up with energy, but after 2 pm, I was crashing, unable to move and feeling drained.

I've had terrible night sweats that would worsen around my cycle for the last year and immediately thought, oh no, I didn't have kids, I am perimenopausal! When my body was too out of whack, in reality, my adrenals were overworked, and I didn't have a healthy gut.

How I heard About The Bean Diet

I am a regular listener of To Be Magnetic’s podcast Expanded. It was around the end of the summer of 2019, that Lacy Phillips first talked about the bean protocol. She has struggled with infertility and fatigue, and after a meeting with Unique Hammond , who healed her Crohn's Disease on the bean protocol.

Then I began doing my own research and I took several of Karen’s Old Classes that are no longer available.

The Bean Protocol for People Who Overproduce Hormones- (Some protocols are different)

🛑 This Protocol is for Hormone Imbalance!
This Protocol Is Not Recommended For People With Gallbladder/Fatty Liver And Inflammation Digestive Issues because the plan varies for these issues.

🛑 If You're Chronic Or Have Severe Illnesses
Consult Your Doctor, Or Work With Karen Or Unique.

🛑 If You Have Eating Disorders.
Consult Your Doctor. This protocol may be triggering. Always honor your mental and emotional health before trying any healing protocol.

Grab a copy of the Bean Protocol PDF for women who overproduce Hormones here!

What do you eat a day of the Bean protocol?

What You Can Eat on The Bean Diet - Guidelines

3 to 6, 1/2 cup servings of beans or lentils per day for soluble fiber.

Psyllium husk can be substituted for a soluble fiber serving (check the nutritional label for the exact conversion), but keep in mind that it will not provide many of the other benefits found in beans. Eating actual beans is usually preferable.
Limit the amount of oil you cook with when you eat your beans

Three palm-sized servings of a complete, LEAN, efficient protein per day with beans.

Low fat of the following: Meat, eggs, poultry, fish, and seafood

3 to 5, 1/2 cups of vegetables or 1-1/2 cup servings of leafy greens per day.

Consider tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes vegetables. Corn and potatoes are considered starches, not vegetables.

Unsaturated fats with salt. These are oils, nuts, or seeds—any fats that are liquid at room temperature. (People with Gallbladder issues or fatty liver should buy Karen’s Courses)

Coconut oil and butter are saturated fats and not recommended.
Nuts of any kind are also considered unsaturated fat.

3/4 Gallon (96 ounces) of purified water per day, preferably warm or hot.

Warm water is preferred to increase the metabolic rate. Water also helps with dehydration from the increased fiber.
Varies depending on weight!

PLUS

Sleep eight hours per night or 56 hours per week
Stay toasty warm at all times.
Incorporate walking, calm yoga or pilates.

What You Can’t Eat on The Bean PRotocol

Sugar or sweeteners in any form—granulated, honey, molasses, agave nectar, etc. If it tastes sweet, it is not allowed! ANYTHING sweeter than a carrot is not allowed - including artificial and natural-artificial sweeteners and fruits.
Caffeine, in all forms and in any amount, is not allowed. This list still has small traces of caffeine that can stimulate the adrenals including teas, decaf coffee, cinnamon and more.
Saturated fats. These are solid fats at room temperature. Saturated fat can be hard to 100% eliminate, but strive for lean meats and use unsaturated fats for cooking.
Alcohol
Gum (regular or artificially sweetened)
Dairy, in most cases, isn't allowed.
Processed Foods
Fragrances of any kind.
Soy products
Stress - Yes, everyday stress, from everyday life events, stimulate your hormones and needs to be reduced.

What’s Neither REcommended Nor Forbidden

Supplements
Condiments like salad dressing, ketchup, etc., with less than 5 grams of sugar per serving, are permitted.
Sparkling water is allowed; however, it doesn't count towards the required water intake for the day.

After hearing and reading that list, a few words came to my mind: HELL to the NO! But my body was aching for it. As a manifesting generator, I could feel my sacral expand and was incredibly curious by it.

However, my mind won for about two months, until one day I woke up and my intuition came in loud and clear. I had to try The Bean Protocol.

I spent the month of December cutting down my coffee and sugar intake, using up fragrant products, researching bean recipes, and learning more about the history of beans and sugar.

My Results from the Bean Protocol

Bean Day 2020

I officially started the protocol on Jan 2nd, after a busy, festive, and food-heavy trip back east with my in-laws. I was so ready to begin my healing!

I won't sugarcoat it. The process of withdrawal from caffeine and sugar plus detoxing my liver was C-R-A-Z-Y. Particularly around my cycle! Lots of bloating and gas for the first two weeks, and I was thankful that I work from home.

What also made the first two weeks intense was my detox from sugar and caffeine. It was like getting hit by a brick wall. I had a pounding headache and zero energy for seven days. I highly recommend cutting down on coffee and sugar as soon as possible.

Results

My skin is glowing! Two weeks in, my skin cleared up, with only a few blemishes to be seen over the last two months. More importantly, my milia bumps finally disappeared.

My energy is back!! I stopped crashing at 2 pm, and my energy is through the roof 24/7. Partly to do with getting the best sleep of my life and feeling like I was always fueled by the food I was eating. Quick tip… veggies are essential.

Zero Night Sweats! From December until mid-January 2020, I experienced terrible night sweats because I am an overproducer of hormones. It's now been two weeks without any night sweats, and I feel normal again... and dry. 🤣

Losing Weight! I'm steadily losing weight, about five pounds since I've started, and I haven't changed my lifestyle too much. I go to Aerial Yoga 2-3 days a week and try to walk or ride the Peloton 2x a week.

Click here if you need extra tips on how to lose weight on the Bean Protocol?

The whites of my eyes are whiter! Seriously, these bad boys used to be a light yellow; I thought living in Australia gave me cirrhosis. Now they are turning white again, hello healthy liver!

Arthritis is gone! I've been struggling with arthritis for about three years, and two weeks in, it suddenly went it away! Freedom!

Digestion is regular and easy! No kidding, I used to have a hard time going to the bathroom. There would be times I was scared to go. Now it's just a part of my routine, and I get relief. A good #2 is a blessing.

There are more benefits, particularly for my vegan boyfriend, but I'll leave those for another time!

What do you need to start the Bean protocol diet?

All you need is beans! But I also recommend removing all the fragrances from your home. As they stimulate hormone production and prevent healing.

If you have any questions about the Bean Protocol, leave them down below!

What is the Karen Hurd Bean Diet (Bean Protocol)?