The Benefits of Beans

Before I get into bean basics, I just want to encourage you to please feel free to leave any comments you may have about the recipes and articles.  There was a glitch that was brought to my attention last week, and it has since been resolved.  So now you're free to comment away!  It's great to get feedback and encourage discussion.  It's a great forum asking questions too.  Since, chances are, someone else may have the same question, the answer can then be available to other readers too.  Other readers may also have info to share too. The comments on cholesterol last week were great and I encourage you to check them out.  However they were at a pretty highly detailed level.  Don't feel like you have to write anything nearly as involved or intellectual.  This is a place for EVERYONE!

Okay now let's talk about beautiful beans, or legumes.

If you don't currently include legumes as part of your regular or daily diet, you may wish to consider doing so once you read about what nutritional superstars they really are!  There are so many choices out there too; black, navy, pinto, black, adzuki, or garbanzo beans, various types of lentils, the list goes on and on.  Not to mention the fact that they are an easy, filling and inexpensive addition to any meal.

Here is a quick list of the top 5 reasons to include beans in your diet:

1. Bulky Beans - Legumes are naturally high in fiber.  1 cup of beans has 12-15g fiber.  That gets you about half way to the daily recommended intake of 25-30g/day.  The high fiber content allows you to feel full and satisfied, without consuming a lot of extra calories and fat, and helps regulate insulin and blood sugar levels. The soluable fiber in legumes is the very type of fiber that we spoke of last week that binds with cholesterol in the digestive tract and carries it out of the body. Soluble fiber also slows the rate at which glucose (sugar) travels from the food we eat to the bloodstream, decreasing the need for the body to produce more insulin.  High insulin levels can also be a precursor to diabetes.  Insoluable fiber (aka roughage), also found in legumes, is helpful with digestive regularity and decreasing one's risk of colorectal cancer.  Just a word of advice though...anytime you increase your fiber intake, be sure to also increase your fluid intake along with it, or else you'll be pretty backed up and uncomfortable.  So eat your beans and drink your water! 

2. About the size of a vitamin, but so much more! - Beans are full of vitamins, minerals and disease/cancer fighting phytochemicals found only in plant foods. Nutrients commonly found in various legumes include iron, calcium, zinc, copper, folate (the form of folic acid found in food), potassium, B vitamins.  For example, lentils are high in folate which is particularly important for pregnant or nursing women. I learned this first hand early on in my pregnancy with our first child, Nathan. I found myself craving, not chocolate or ice cream but LENTILS! What?! Just goes to show that our bodies sometimes crave things we actually need.

3. Super Beans - Beans are disease fighters.  Studies have shown that regular consumption of beans can reduce one's risk of heart disease, colorectal and other cancers, and diabetes. 
 
4. Power Beans - Beans are packed with healthy plant protein.  Animal protein has been linked with a wide variety of health issues, which I promise to get into a more detailed discussion about in a future post. Casein for example, which makes up 80% of dairy protein is actually a known carcinogen (cancer causer).  Consuming animal protein can actually cause our bodies to lose calcium too.  Seems ironic since we are all told to increase our calcium levels by eating more dairy (But isn't it the dairy board that keeps telling us that with those "Got Milk?" ads?).  Yet for some reason, this information is not widely shared with the general public.  Studies have shown that when a high plant protein diet was pitted against a high animal protien diet, the health problems associated with the high animal protein diet were siginificantly less, sometimes non-existent, in the plant-protein group.   Replacing even some of the animal protein you consume with plant protein will help decrease your risk of disease.  I am by no means advocating a high protein diet.  Most Americans eat too much protein as is.  But it seems to me from the data I've seen, that the type of protein we consume is probably more influential than the actual number of grams.  I know this is controversial and I'm sure I'm going to get a few comments on these statements.  
 
5. Easy Beans - Beans are so easy to incorporate into your diet.  They are inexpensive, can be purchased dried and soaked overnight at home, or canned and ready to use.  Beans are a great way to make a dish more filling and a great source of plant protein. 
 
So there you have it.  Some basic general information about the Benefits of Beans.  So next time you're in the store, pick up a can or two and try adding them to something, or pick up a container of hummus.  Our daughter's favorite snack is hummus (garbanzo bean and sesame seed dip) with pita bread, and our son's favorite meal right now is whole wheat spaghetti with beans and kale.  Is it any wonder he was craving legumes in the womb?! 
 
The recipe posted today for Hummus "Quesadillas" rocks!  Give it a try.  It will become a new favorite go to snack/appetizer/lunch. 
 
In Good Health,
Your Nutritionista