Bravo for beans
IHAVE never truly appreciated beans until I went to university in Texas as a teenager and was exposed to Mexican cuisine, which uses a lot of beans. Being on a student budget, Mexican food was a welcome sustenance, so much healthier than the usual burger and fries.
Naturally, with its nutritional credentials and cheap price, beans are now a staple in my kitchen.
I use them in soups, stews, curries, dips and in desserts. Beans are a good source of protein, fibre, folate, iron, magnesium and potassium.
Compared to other protein foods such as meat and eggs, beans have almost no fat, cholesterol and sodium.
The Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010 recommend that we have at least half to one cup of beans each day, as part of our protein foods. Here’s why beans are nutrition stars:
PACKED WITH DIETARY FIBRE
The Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010 recommend that an average adult consume 25g of dietary fibre per day for good health.
Unfortunately, the average Malaysian falls short of this. If this includes you, then it’s time to boost your fibre intake and beans can help!
On average, one cup of beans contribute about 14g of dietary fibre. That’s more than half your requirement for the day.
Fibre is what I call nature’s girdle, because it helps you to feel full. Eating high fibre foods can help you to eat less while at the same time give you the feeling of fullness.
A high fibre intake is also a natural way to move your bowels more easily to avoid constipation. I see so many clients in angst because of constipation.
A simple solution is to be consistent with your fibre intake every day and to drink plenty of water.
FULL OF FOLATE
Beans are rich in folate, a type of B vitamin. Folate is essential for healthy production of red blood cells.
Pregnant women need to be mindful of their folate intake because it is a crucial component for the development of their baby’s nervous system.
A lack of folate in pregnant women can cause neural tube defects, which is a preventable form of brain impairment in babies.
GOOD FOR YOUR HEART
We know that beans are high in dietary fibre. What’s even better is that they are in the form of soluble and insoluble fibres.
Both these fibres help reduce your risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity — all main risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
To reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, the recommendation is to have a variety of foods that are low in artery-clogging saturated fat and plenty of dietary fibre.
ANTIOXIDANTS
Including beans in a healthy diet with a variety of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains may lessen your risk for cancer too.
Researchers attribute this to antioxidants and beans have an impressive amount of it.
The main antioxidants in beans are tannins, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, among others.
The colour of the beans have a lot to do with its antioxidant capacity. Coloured beans such as red, brown, green, black show more antioxidant activity than white ones.
GLUTEN-FREE
Those with celiac disease lack the ability to digest gluten found in wheat, barley and rye.
Many common grain products such as breads, biscuits and cereals contain wheat so inevitably, their variety of foods gets limited.
Beans are naturally gluten-free and have comparable amounts of the nutrients found in most grain products such as iron, fibre, folate, and some B vitamins. Bean flour can be used as an alternative to wheat flour too.