A Fiber Food Worth Tooting About

Lifestyle MedicineNutrition
Written By Paul Martin
tooting-beans.jpg

You’ve probably heard the familiar jingle: Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot, the more you toot, the better you feel. So eat your beans at every meal.

Eat beans at every meal? That’s right in line with the Cancer Prevention Recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund International and the American Institute for Cancer Research.(1) One of their summary cancer-prevention recommendations is to eat whole grains and/or beans at most meals. Not most days. Most meals.

Unfortunately, this has not translated into action for the typical American adult, whose average weekly intake of beans is 1 cup if you’re male, ⅔ cup if you’re female.(2) That’s in marked contrast to a large part of the world population outside of America, where beans are an important staple of the daily diet.

Beans are also an integral part of many healthy eating patterns: Full Plate Living, Meditarranean, DASH eating plans, Blue Zones, vegetarian, vegan and lower glycemic index diets. So what’s so great about beans?

Health benefits

  1. Beans have a well-known hypocholesterolemic effect, significantly lowering both total and LDL cholesterol.(3)

  2. Higher bean intake is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease.(4),(5)

  3. Beans are a part of the healthy plant-based dietary pattern that has been shown to decrease risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and for those who have diabetes, to lower fasting blood sugar and insulin levels, A1C, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood pressure and weight.(6),(7),(8),(9)

  4. If you have type 2 diabetes, substituting beans for red meat may result in significant decreases in fasting blood sugar and insulin levels, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.(10)

  5. Not only do beans help lower blood sugar at the meal you eat them, but hours later, at the next meal as well. It’s called the “second meal effect.”(11),(12)

  6. Eating slightly less than 1 cup cooked beans a day is associated with significantly decreasing blood pressure, whether normal weight, overweight, obese, diabetic, normotensive or have hypertension.(13)

  7. Higher bean intake is associated with weight loss, reductions in waist circumference and fat mass.(9),(14)

  8. Regular bean consumption is associated with improvements in the gut microbiome.(9)

  9. Higher bean intake is associated with significant reductions in inflammatory biomarkers, improving overall inflammatory status.(9),(15)

  10. Higher bean intake may protect against breast, prostate and colon cancer.(16-19)

  11. One daily cup of cooked beans, chickpeas or lentils for three months may slow resting heart rate as much as exercising 250 hours on the treadmill.(20)

  12. Higher bean intake is the single most important dietary predictor of a long lifespan amongst the elderly. In other words, beans were the only food linked with a reduced risk of mortality.(21) 

It’s the whole nutritional package

How can this humble “poor man’s meat” provide so many health benefits? Because beans are the seeds of pod-bearing plants, and like all seeds, they are especially nutrient rich with all that’s needed to grow a new plant.

  1. They are an exceptional source of dietary fiber, which includes both soluble and insoluble fiber. Each half cup serving of cooked beans provides 7-9 grams of fiber, which helps to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, the latter making them low glycemic index foods. 

  2. Beans are an excellent source of plant protein, providing about 7-9 grams per half cup serving, with the exception of soybeans. One half cup cooked yellow soybeans supplies 15.5 grams of high quality plant protein, while green soybeans provide 11 grams.

  3. Naturally low in fat, beans have almost no saturated fat, helping protect against elevated LDL cholesterol and risk of heart disease and diabetes.

  4. Because beans are plant foods, they are cholesterol free and have the added bonus of being free of trans fat, the latter protecting against heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. 

  5. Beans provide complex carbohydrate in the form of starch, a readily available source of energy, while being essentially sugar free.

  6. They are a good source of phytosterols, plant substances which can help lower cholesterol levels by blocking cholesterol absorption.

  7. Beans are very low in sodium and abundant in potassium and magnesium, both of which, along with fiber, help optimize blood pressure.

  8. They also provide B vitamins (an excellent source of the B vitamin folate), vitamin E, iron, calcium, copper, manganese, zinc, selenium and phosphorus.

  9. Beans are packed with antioxidant phytochemicals and possess outstanding antioxidant activities(15): phenolic acids, tannins, flavonoids, lignans, stilbenes, phytates.

The solution to the gas problem

If you’re not used to eating a high-fiber diet, beans can create a noticeable short term increase in gas because they’re such a high-fiber food. The solution is not to stop eating beans but to start slowly. Add ½ cup cooked beans to any meal every day. The key is to limit the amount you eat to ½ cup cooked beans, no more, no less. And keep at it; don’t miss a day. In 2-3 weeks the discomfort of increased gas should dissipate.(22) 

Recommendations

In order to optimize your health, work up to eating 1 cup cooked beans daily. To decrease your risk of diabetes, substitute beans for red meat. 

Canned beans are a convenient option with one major drawback -- high sodium levels. If you can’t purchase low- or no-sodium canned beans, put regular canned beans in a colander and rinse and drain them well, which results in losing about 40% of the sodium.(23)

Online resources like those found at www.fullplateliving.org can provide excellent, free materials to help you integrate more beans into your everyday meals.

If you are under medical supervision for any reason, please consult with your physician or other healthcare professional before following these recommendations.

References

  1. https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/recommendations/wholegrains-veg-fruit-beans

  2. https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/2015-2020-dietary-guidelines/guidelines/search?query=beans+legumes

  3. Bazzano LA, Thompson AM, Tees MT, Nguyen CH, Winham DM. Non-soy legume consumption lowers cholesterol levels: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2011;21(2):94-103. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2009.08.012

  4. Marventano S, Izquierdo Pulido M, Sánchez-González C, et al. Legume consumption and CVD risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Public Health Nutr. 2017;20(2):245-254. doi:10.1017/S1368980016002299

  5. Blekkenhorst LC, Sim M, Bondonno CP, et al. Cardiovascular Health Benefits of Specific Vegetable Types: A Narrative Review. Nutrients. 2018;10(5):595. Published 2018 May 11. doi:10.3390/nu10050595

  6. Ley SH, Hamdy O, Mohan V, Hu FB. Prevention and management of type 2 diabetes: dietary components and nutritional strategies. Lancet. 2014;383(9933):1999-2007. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60613-9

  7. Polak R, Phillips EM, Campbell A. Legumes: Health Benefits and Culinary Approaches to Increase Intake. Clin Diabetes. 2015;33(4):198-205. doi:10.2337/diaclin.33.4.198

  8. Barnard ND, Cohen J, Jenkins DJ, et al. A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled, 74-wk clinical trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89(5):1588S-1596S. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.26736H

  9. Ferreira H, Vasconcelos M, Gil AM, Pinto E. Benefits of pulse consumption on metabolism and health: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jan 25]. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2020;1-12. doi:10.1080/10408398.2020.1716680

  10. Hosseinpour-Niazi S, Mirmiran P, Hedayati M, Azizi F. Substitution of red meat with legumes in the therapeutic lifestyle change diet based on dietary advice improves cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight type 2 diabetes patients: a cross-over randomized clinical trial. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2015;69(5):592-597. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.228

  11. Mollard RC, Wong CL, Luhovyy BL, Anderson GH. First and second meal effects of pulses on blood glucose, appetite, and food intake at a later meal. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011;36(5):634-642. doi:10.1139/h11-071

  12. Wolever TM, Jenkins DJ, Ocana AM, Rao VA, Collier GR. Second-meal effect: low-glycemic-index foods eaten at dinner improve subsequent breakfast glycemic response. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988;48(4):1041-1047. doi:10.1093/ajcn/48.4.1041

  13. Jayalath VH, de Souza RJ, Sievenpiper JL, et al. Effect of dietary pulses on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials. Am J Hypertens. 2014;27(1):56-64. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpt155

  14. Kim SJ, de Souza RJ, Choo VL, et al. Effects of dietary pulse consumption on body weight: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;103(5):1213-1223. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.124677

  15. Ganesan K, Xu B. Polyphenol-Rich Dry Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and Their Health Benefits. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18(11):2331. Published 2017 Nov 4. doi:10.3390/ijms18112331

  16. Sangaramoorthy M, Koo J, John EM. Intake of bean fiber, beans, and grains and reduced risk of hormone receptor-negative breast cancer: the San Francisco Bay Area Breast Cancer Study. Cancer Med. 2018;7(5):2131-2144. doi:10.1002/cam4.1423

  17. Kolonel LN, Hankin JH, Whittemore AS, et al. Vegetables, fruits, legumes and prostate cancer: a multiethnic case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2000;9(8):795-804.

  18. Lanza E, Hartman TJ, Albert PS, et al. High dry bean intake and reduced risk of advanced colorectal adenoma recurrence among participants in the polyp prevention trial. J Nutr. 2006;136(7):1896-1903. doi:10.1093/jn/136.7.1896

  19. Agurs-Collins T, Smoot D, Afful J, Makambi K, Adams-Campbell LL. Legume intake and reduced colorectal adenoma risk in African-Americans. J Natl Black Nurses Assoc. 2006;17(2):6-12.

  20. Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Augustin LS, et al. Effect of legumes as part of a low glycemic index diet on glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(21):1653-1660. doi:10.1001/2013.jamainternmed.70

  21. Darmadi-Blackberry I, Wahlqvist ML, Kouris-Blazos A, et al. Legumes: the most important dietary predictor of survival in older people of different ethnicities. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(2):217-220.

  22. Winham DM, Hutchins AM. Perceptions of flatulence from bean consumption among adults in 3 feeding studies. Nutr J. 2011;10:128. Published 2011 Nov 21. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-128

  23. https://bushbeans.com/docs/reduced_sodium_article.pdf 

Paul Martin
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