Genesis 3:3: But God did say, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Could this be the earliest warning not to eat fava beans?
Favism, also known as Glucose-6-Phosphate-Dehydrogenase Deficiency (G6PD), is a genetic disease that affects Mediterranean people after eating fava beans. For Jews, 40 days after ingestion, an allergic like reaction occurs where a blood disorder called hemolytic anemia occurs causing the blood cells to self destruct, and in severe cases causes acute kidney failure. It takes 100-120 days for our spleen to remove the red blood cells, and because of the two time periods, the total length of the disease process is some 150 days. Each condition causes a series of signs and symptoms. Hemolytic anemia causes fatigue, loss of appetite, fluid imbalance, bone deformities, irregular heartbeats, hypertension, heart failure and sometimes death. Acute kidney injury can cause extreme thirst, weakness, fatigue, hormones are not produced, and bone demineralisation resulting in excruciating bone pain, deformities, and fractures. In the Middle East jaundice is common, featuring yellowing of the eyes and face only days after ingestion.
A high percentage of people in the Mediterranean are are so susceptible that even smelling the pollen from a bean field causes faces and eyes to turn yellow. The bible states that the original sin was eating a forbidden fruit and the Seven Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143) appear to document a case of favism.
Psalm Chapter 6 portrays King David begging God for forgiveness and mercy. He says that he is weak, and that his bones and his soul are vexed. He asks how long it will last, that he is weary from groaning, that all night long he cries and that his eyes grow weak with grief.
In Psalm Chapter 32 we find David continuing to groan all day and night, saying that his bones are wasting away, that his strength was sapped, and that he feels pressure from God’s hand. He acknowledges that his sin made him sick and claims that his moisture is turned into the drought of summer, which indicates extreme thirst. As he gets closer to the 40th day, the acute kidney failure begins to take effect.
Psalm Chapter 38 shows King David asking God to not rebuke him out of displeasure and to not discipline him during his wrath. He again uses the analogy that God's hand has come down upon him. He claims that there is no health in his body and that his bones have no soundness because of his sin. He says that he is bowed down greatly. That his back is filled with searing pain. His heart panteth. His strength faileth him: as for the light of his eyes, it also is gone from him. His loins are filled with a loathsome disease, telling us that his kidneys are failing. He gets paranoid, because he’s not getting the needed hormones for his brain to function properly.
Psalm Chapter 51 has him repeatedly begging for God's mercy. He says that in sin did his mother conceive him. His bones feel broken.
Psalm Chapter 102 does not mention the name of King David, but his bones are burned as an hearth. His heart is smitten, and withered like grass. He forgets to eat his food.
Psalm Chapter 130 is very short, and another unnamed person begs for mercy, and cries out of the depths. Failed kidneys flooded him?
Psalm Chapter 143 has David still begging for mercy, asking God to come to his relief. he hath smitten his life down to the ground; he hath made him to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. His spirit faileth: lest he be like unto them that go down into the pit (of death).
All these verses point toward favism as the culprit. They describe the physiological and psychological signs, plus the symptoms of this 150 day long ordeal, even going as far as naming the kidneys as the main organ affected.
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