Can it with the flatulence jokes! Berkeley’s No. 1 bean fan spreads legume gospel on happy stomach

When the phrase “Legume Limerence” becomes a thing, it will be because of the efforts of Madeline Schapiro, a social media influencer known as Bean Supporter.

It’s a phrase she uses often, and I admit, I had to ask her what limerence meant.

“Limerence is a state of romantic obsession where you want something so badly, but it doesn’t want you back,” she explained. “I’m obsessed with legumes; they occupy my brain 24/7. I guess they do love me back because they did save my life, but are they knocking at my door saying, ‘Madeline, I love you, please be my wife?’ No, they’re not. Do I wish they were? Yeah, I do.”

At another point in our conversation, Schapiro asks point-blank: “Did you think I’d be quite this eccentric?”

Honestly, since discovering her delightfully quirky presence on Instagram (29,000 followers) and Substack (1,000+ subscribers), my answer is “absolutely.” It’s the main reason I wanted to interview her in the first place.

Schapiro, who lives in Berkeley, is an influencer, with all the connotations that come along with that, but she’s not in it for the fame; she’s in it for a cause, and that cause is to get people to eat more beans. She has a love/hate relationship with social media, as exemplified by the fact that she owns a ring light — the hallmark of any social media influencer — but she wouldn’t allow Nosh to photograph her with it, as it’s not “on brand” for Bean Supporter (though the fact that she bought it second-hand is on brand).

I’m obsessed with legumes; they occupy my brain 24/7.

Madeline Schapiro

She doesn’t even enjoy filming herself that much, she said, but it’s worth it for the cause. Everything she does as Bean Supporter is in service to beans.

“Beans can do anything,” she said. “They’re affordable. They’re great for the planet. Beans are the best food ever, and I just want people to eat more of them so badly that I make a fool of myself on the internet about it.”

(And yes, her self-deprecating humor is also on brand.)

She develops recipes like beanana bread and beanut butter cups. Even something like granola, in Schapiro’s mind, gets a makeover; lentils replace the nuts, not only giving it a fiber boost, but lowering its cost, as well.

Madeline Schapiro holds up her “gut bowl” dish in a ceramic bowl she made herself. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for East Bay Nosh

Birth of a bean booster

Schapiro stopped eating most meat when she was 8, growing up in Los Angeles, and watching a steady diet of Food Network. The origin story of her bean obsession can be broken into two distinct chapters, the first of which begins in college, when she was having some serious health issues she declined to specify, and doctors couldn’t figure out what was ailing her beyond stress.

From her own research, she read about the health benefits of beans, and began eating them at nearly every meal (though it was often difficult at breakfast in the campus dining hall). She credits her bean-heavy diet with vastly improving her health issues, and making her feel like herself again.

“Gut health is my everything,” she explained.

From then, beans became a mainstay of her meals; living in Chicago post-college, she’d carry several pop-top cans in her backpack, and would often eat 15 ounces in one sitting, straight from the can with a fork at her desk at work.

Madeline Schapiro’s apartment is full of bean recipes, different types of beans, and bean-themed items. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for East Bay Nosh

This past April, she had some major upheaval in her life, a bike accident resulted in a concussion, and she was experiencing some other life changes. When a friend suggested she eat only beans for 30 days and share her experience as a way to focus on something else, she thought it was genius (or “bean-ius”).

She began two days later, on June 1, 2025.

“I would love to tell you that it was a premeditated thing, that I wanted to be an influencer or chef, but I mainly wanted to stop obsessing over the other things in my life that were going on at the time,” she said. “I’ve been obsessed with beans for nine years, but I wanted to publicly channel my obsession into beans.”

So she did.

And people noticed. On day four of her 30-day only-beans challenge, her TikTok (43,700 followers) post about pesto beans started to gain thousands of views (she didn’t achieve that kind of traction on Instagram until day 27). Because she hadn’t planned, it wasn’t until eight months into it that she began thinking about what was ahead, but her posts continued at a regular clip.

Building the Bean Supporter brand

On the day Nosh visited, knowing we were going to be filming her creating a post, she didn’t know what she was going to make until the last minute; a tray of garbanzo beans was sitting out on her coffee table; (they need to be as dry as possible for them to crisp up in the oven). Instead, she ended up using some cooked Vaquito Negro beans she had defrosted instead.

Madeline Schapiro cooks vegetables for her “gut bowl” in her Berkeley kitchen. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for East Bay Nosh

Schapiro lives in a small apartment near the UC Berkeley campus. Her day job is as a product manager for a major corporation that she chose not to name, and she teaches water aerobics at the Berkeley YMCA. Her favorite bean for recipe development is the red lentil because it’s so versatile, but her favorite bean for eating is the Royal Corona (it’s a white bean that looks similar to a lima bean, but larger).

Schapiro moved to Berkeley specifically because of the grocery access, especially the ability to shop for such varieties in bulk. At any given time, she has around 20 different types of dried beans in her pantry. Iacopi Farms are her favorite brand of beans, she said, as they are organic and she supports their farming practices.

“I’m not a doctor or nutritionist. I’m a recipe developer and a woman who loves soluble fiber.”

Madeline Schapiro

We observed her making a “gut bowl,” first sautéing chard stems and fennel fronds with minced shallot and seasoning the pan with a splash of her homemade mushroom vinegar (she is also a fermentation fan, and makes all of her own vinegars, hot sauces and sauerkrauts, and she also is an advocate of eating the parts of vegetables most people don’t.) Once the cooking part was done, she placed the condiments into tiny stemmed glasses, on brand for Bean Supporter, who only shops secondhand, whether it be for kitchen accessories or clothing (and, of course, she wears natural fibers only). And then she filmed the assembly of the gut bowl outside on her tiny balcony, with her phone propped up on a log.

She has done a few partnered posts with brands that have reached out to her; she’s become a brand ambassador for USA Pulses, for example, but only those that align with her values.

She has planned several meet-ups in Berkeley’s Willard Park, where everyone shows up with a bean dish. (The next one is Feb. 22, from 1 p.m. to 3 pm). She has met with Rich Hannan, the director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District to advocate for more bean-based meals (he is a follower). And she contributed a salad of black-eyed peas and dill to the Berkeley Supper Club’s dinner in December.

“Bringing Madeline into the supper club felt obvious because her work with beans is deeply nerdy and rooted in joy and passion,” said Alon Yoeli, Berkeley Supper Club’s founder.

She has found it humbling that several people who attended her meet-ups have brought dishes made from her recipes; that has made her feel an added pressure to create recipes that work, since she knows people are following them to the letter. She has also been recognized a few times now; the first time it happened, she was in San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Park.

She has a two-ingredient bean dip series (like pureeing white beans with hot sauce), for example, and a “one can, one pan” series, which uses fewer than five ingredients, can be cooked in 15 minutes or less, and provides a quick meal in one skillet.

Schapiro has no formal culinary training or background in nutrition. She is aware of the negative connotations of wellness influencers, but she doesn’t feel the least bit guilty about being one, because rather than promoting a certain colostrum or recommending that people eat pounds of raw meat or whole sticks of butter, she said, what she’s hawking is actually good for you.

“I’m not a doctor or nutritionist,” she said. “I’m a recipe developer and a woman who loves soluble fiber.”

(Left) Beans dry in Schapiro’s apartment. (Right) Some bean art decorates Schapiro’s refrigerator. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for East Bay Nosh

One thing Schapiro doesn’t love about being on social media is the trolling. One can imagine the comments she gets about her diet, with people suggesting she is single because of certain side effects a bean-heavy diet might cause. It’s not an issue, she said, sounding resentful that she has to address this topic “all the damn time.”

She addresses it fully on her Substack:

When is she going (to) tell us about her gas, or crazy poops? Or at least that is the information I’ve been led to believe you crave…I hope it is clear by now that I am earnest. I would love to tell you stories of my bowels, for maybe that would gain some reader traction, but in reality, there was no change. My body is a well-oiled soluble fiber machine.

While Instagram has helped grow her community, she said, and she appreciates receiving feedback when followers try her recipes, Substack is her true medium of choice, where she can express herself through writing; she calls her musings “The Luxury of Legumes.”

A recent post, which includes a recipe for “Cheezy Pea Puffs,” begins:

It’s three weeks into the new year, and your goals to eat healthier may be starting to fade. You went to the grocery store last night and saw those ‘better for you’ cheese puffs, maybe even the ones made from chickpeas, and thought… maybe I should buy a bag. You wake up elbow-deep in a Costco-sized bag of them and wonder: ‘How did I get here?’

And another:

Legumes are one of my ultimate luxuries, as luxury starts from the inside out. I find them captivating, attractive, and they just make me feel stupendous. I will sing the wonders of legumes from the rooftop. I did, however, want to give you all a glimpse into a bit of my life outside of my fiber intake.

Bush’s sent Schapiro bean sandals to celebrate her completion of the 30-day only-beans challenge. Credit: Kelly Sullivan for East Bay Nosh

Schapiro doesn’t know what her end-goal with Bean Supporter actually is, but she’s just happy she’s getting more people to eat beans, and for those who already eat them to eat more of them. (Case in point, a few days after interviewing her, I felt compelled to create a bean dip of my own, blending caramelized onions, a baked sweet potato, sherry vinegar and olive oil with some cooked Royal Coronas, and it was the rave of the party to which I brought it).

“My mission is for sustainability and holistic health,” she says, and to her, frequent bean eating is the way. “I care way less about being an influencer and care way more about beans getting out there.”

She added, “I’m really proud of what I’ve done and what I’ve shared in terms of bean recipes, and with beans creating community. Now, I really want to think about how I show up as me and how I show up with beans, and how I want my narrative with beans to carry.”

Can it with the flatulence jokes! Berkeley’s No. 1 bean fan spreads legume gospel on happy stomach

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