A mathematical genius feared this vegetable. #AncientGreece #Pythagoras #HistoryFacts The aversion to beans might have had medical roots alongside the spiritual ones. Modern science suggests Pythagoras or his community may have suffered from Favism, a genetic enzyme deficiency common in the Mediterranean that causes acute hemolytic anemia after eating fava beans. For a sufferer, the beans could literally destroy red blood cells, validating the belief that they ravaged the body. Sources: Riedweg