Beans can bring both good and bad to the body. Beans are very tasty with proper heat treatment, have a high energy value. We will tell you how the varieties differ from each other and how to eat them correctly. We will understand what the benefits and harms of beans are.
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Beans: Health Benefits
Beans were brought to Europe from South America and India many centuries ago, and Europeans fell in love with it. Emperor Napoleon himself treated culture with great respect, calling it "food for strength and brain." It was brought to Russia just from France, so for a long time it was called “French beans” in our country. Despite the exotic origin, “French beans” quickly took root in our kitchen, and cabbage soup with beans now occupy an honorable place among traditional Russian dishes.
The composition of the culture can be called unique: in terms of nutritional and nutritional value, it approaches animal protein, and it is vegetarians who constantly replace meat with beans. There is no fat in beans, cholesterol, too, but there is a huge amount of vitamins and minerals.
Beans contain: vitamins A, B, PP, C; potassium, copper, magnesium, calcium, chromium; organic acids, amino acids.
A vegetable regulates the amount of sugar in the blood, preventing glucose from jumping. Beans are indicated for the prevention of diabetes, stimulation of intestinal motility, and relief from constipation. Beans contain saponins, which are recognized as effective elements for the prevention of cancer. Some varieties are off scale for the amount of antioxidants.
There are more than 90 varieties of beans, according to the most conservative estimates, so that everyone can choose a favorite to enter into their daily diet.
Red
The benefits of red beans for the body are explained by the huge content of antioxidants (there are even more of them than in currants!), Thiamine, tryptophan, valuable amino acids, a large amount of protein - 8 g per 100 g of product. Beans saturate, slow down the aging process, serve as a source of healthy vegetable protein, which is why nutritionists recommend that red beans be included in the diet for people of retirement age and from time to time to replace meat and fish with it.
The best varieties are considered - Skorospelka (tasty with neat, elongated grains), Tomato (ideal for Georgian lobio, soups, winter preparations), Tashkent - it is grown in Asia, where it is loved for a pleasant slightly sweet aftertaste.
White
White beans are the most delicious and crumbly. It is ideal for making mashed soups, and just mashed potatoes, which are easy to serve as a side dish for fish or meat. Vegetarians have learned to cook a lot of interesting dishes from white beans, ranging from pastes to sweets. It has a sweetish taste and does not have the bitterness that the red variety “sins” with.
In terms of benefits to the body, white beans are priceless. It is a source of calcium, magnesium, fluoride (irreplaceable for the health of tooth enamel). It has zinc necessary for the functioning of the human reproductive system. In white beans, even iodine is present, a deficiency of which is experienced by every second inhabitant of central Russia, beauty vitamins of group B and PP.
It is believed that a woman should eat white beans to strengthen bones, in addition, this species has a mild diuretic and is useful for prone to swelling.
Three types of beans are very popular in our area: Black Eye (with a small black dot), Chali - large fruits that are not cooked in cooking, and Nevi - pea beans with a high iron content. All three varieties grow well and bear fruit in suburban areas and are not at all capricious in leaving.
Black
In Russia, black beans are known only to lovers of Latin American national dishes. It can be maroon (Kindi varieties) or blue-black (the variety is called Preto). In the finished form, these beans are sweetish in taste and have a pronounced smoked smack.
There is evidence that black beans are the most healthy of all types of beans. All the beneficial substances inherent in this vegetable culture are concentrated, so it is black beans that best cleanse blood vessels from cholesterol plaques, improve brain function, increase immunity and even protect against cancer and type 2 diabetes.
The bean structure is denser, they boil longer. Perhaps that is why it is rarely eaten in Russia. But in Brazil - a real cult of black beans. The Preto variety is loved by Brazilians and only from it is the national feijoad prepared. Black bean goes well with tomatoes, herbs, spices, and if you have not discovered it for yourself - it's time to buy a pack and try to stew the beans.
It is interesting:how to cook beans
Green
String beans can be considered a real gift for all lovers of a hearty and healthy diet. It has a sweetish taste, very tender, and there is no use in green pods.
String beans are known for their ability to accelerate metabolic processes, remove excess fluid from the body, and saturate for a long time.
A high sulfur content cures infectious bowel diseases, and iron helps red blood cells. And it is also useful for men to prevent diseases of the genitourinary system, up to prostate adenoma.
String beans are widely cultivated in Asia - under the southern sun, the pods grow longer, juicier, sweeter. There are beautiful varieties of purple that are stewed with spices and eaten as an independent dish.
Asparagus
Asparagus beans are essentially the same as string beans. So colloquially called green-legged, that is, unripe fruits of the usual beans. Asparagus beans are actively grown in Indonesia, India, Turkey and eat there in large quantities.However, beans are grown for export in China and Kenya. These countries are today the leader in the production of asparagus beans and global sales.
Not all varieties of asparagus beans are equally good for health, and even not all of them can be eaten: a shelling variety is grown only for the sake of grains, their pods quickly become tough; edible pods only in universal varieties.
Nutritionists believe that green beans must be present in the diet: it is cooked very quickly, goes well with all vegetables, meat, wins from spices, quickly absorbing the taste of spices. Such beans are tasty in canned form, fresh, and do not lose their properties when frozen. Asparagus varieties are beloved in Belgium - they are appreciated there for its high fiber content, ease of preparation, taste and nutrition.
True, you should not confuse it with another plant of the “asparagus” family (the shoots of the plant are called asparagus): this is a completely different culture, not related to the variety of beans.
Canned Beans - Useful Properties
Canned beans, in principle, are just as nutritious, healthy, rich in protein and fiber. Canned beans have one huge plus - they are ready. For this reason, it is easy to add to soups, salads and just warm up as a side dish to the same chicken or fish.
Beans are still more beneficial in their own juice. In tomato filling, it often causes heartburn, irritating the delicate mucous membrane of the stomach.
In Russia, beans are often used for cooking salads, for example, with crackers and crab sticks. And from it just to cook Georgian lobio in a hurry: just heat the beans, sprinkle with herbs, hops-suneli and walnuts.
Benefit and harm for children
Beans are rich in protein and rarely cause allergies, so pediatricians are allowed to enter it in the baby’s diet from the age of 7-8 months and give along with pieces of rabbit or chicken.
White and red varieties are considered more difficult to absorb by the baby’s delicate stomach, so it is not recommended to give it up to 3 years. But then you can cook light vegetable soups with it, for example, with carrots, onions and tomatoes.
Slimming use
Regular consumption of legumes is very beneficial for anyone who is losing weight. Particular attention should be paid to varieties of green beans. It is a low-calorie product and is quickly absorbed by the stomach.
There are only 31 Kcal per 100 g of product, so all dishes from green pods (if you do not stew them in a huge amount of vegetable oil) are light and dietary. Interestingly, everyone who constantly eats green beans boasts that the kilograms do not return, and the weight continues to fall.
What form of beans is healthier?
It is better to use beans, boiled, stewed with vegetables, spices. It is very tasty steam: for this, it is simply steamed, they prepare a sauce of rosemary, olive oil and lemon juice for it. You can make salads with beans, adding a lot of fresh herbs, pine nuts (a handful), dry ginger.
White, red, black beans must be soaked: otherwise it will cook for hours. But after soaking, the cooking time is significantly reduced.
When added to soups, it is better to boil them in water: soup will turn out to be satisfying. And, of course, not a single variety of beans will be useful if you often eat fatty dishes with meat, season them with sour cream, butter, stew, or fry in fat, but treat yourself with a rich feijoade, if necessary.
Contraindications and possible harm
Despite all its wonderful properties, beans can be harmful. For example, it cannot be eaten raw: a vegetable contains lysine poisonous to humans, which disappears after heat treatment.
In acute diseases of the gastrointestinal tract - ulcers, colitis, gastritis - it is worth giving up dishes with beans: beans are considered to be solid food for humans and are difficult to digest.
Beans are not recommended for people with the following problems:
- with cholecystitis, gastritis, ulcer (with high acidity), gout due to the increased content of purines in the product;
- in case of diseases of the pancreas, liver - beans can lead to stagnation of bile, its “casting” into the pancreas. The product is especially dangerous if there are stones in the gallbladder;
- with caution and in small doses, it is allowed to everyone who periodically suffers from bloating: beans provokes the formation of gases, worsens the general state of health.
Do not use canned beans often: manufacturers preserve it by adding harmful preservatives, sugar, tomato and salt. But in general, if you know the measure and not get carried away with fatty dishes from beans with meat, it will bring the body only benefit.
