If you had to pick one food to be stuck on a desert island with, it would have to be beans. They'd provide you with almost complete nutrition and you wouldn't have to worry about offending anyone.
Yes, beans can be gassy, but there are ways around that. So don't let their "explosive" nature scare you away from some of the best lean protein around.
When your diet's based on protein -- and fiber-rich beans and other complex carbohydrates -- you're more likely to feel full sooner. In addition, a diet high in fiber can reduce your risk of developing diabetes and help lower blood cholesterol levels, which can reduce your risk of heart disease.
Complementing beans with grain foods, like rice, makes them a great substitute for higher-fat protein sources like meats. Beans are also filling enough to stave off hunger. The low-fat, high-fiber nature of a bean-centered diet means chances are good that you'll lose weight eating this way. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend eating 3 cups of beans per week.
| Nutritional Values Fiber Content of Selected Dry Beans & Peas (grams per 1/2 cup serving, cooked) |
Health Benefits
Not only are beans low in fat and high in quality protein, but they also have the added bonus of soluble fiber's disease-preventing qualities. The soluble fiber in beans dissolves in water, trapping bile acids in its gummy goo. This lowers blood levels of damaging LDL cholesterol, especially if LDL cholesterol levels were high to begin with, without compromising the level of protective HDL cholesterol.
Because beans are singled out for their soluble fiber, you may not realize they also provide substantial insoluble fiber, which helps combat constipation, colon cancer, and other conditions that afflict your digestive tract. How?
Insoluble fiber absorbs water, which swells the size of stool, puts pressure on the intestines, and moves everything along faster. To help combat the gas problem -- caused by indigestible carbohydrates -- let your body get used to eating beans. Start slowly, eating only small amounts at first, and try to eat them when you know you'll be active afterward; it helps break up the gas.
Beans contain several types of phytochemicals. They are rich in lignans, which may play a role in preventing osteoporosis, heart disease, and certain cancers. The flavonoids in beans may help reduce heart disease and cancer risk. Phytosterols, also in legumes, help reduce blood cholesterol levels.
As for vitamins and minerals, beans are a bonanza of folic acid, copper, iron, and magnesium -- four nutrients that many nutrition experts agree we don't get enough of. Indeed, most dry beans and peas are rich sources of iron -- ideal for people who don't eat meat.
The nutritional content of most beans is very similar to the black beans we've chosen as a representative example. (Soybeans are in a class by themselves, so are listed separately.) Exceptions? White beans have almost twice the iron of black beans, while kidney beans are somewhere in between. And fiber does vary. Most differences, however, are minor.
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