Beans are much more than a meat substitute, they’re packed with fiber and antioxidants and can even aid in disease prevention. Even if you’re a meat eater, you should be incorporating them into your diet. They’re also extremely versatile and inexpensive, allowing those who are on a tight budget to eat healthfully and save money.
Vegans, vegetarians, meat eaters, and those of just about any economic status or circumstances should be eating beans.
How can eating beans benefit your health?
If you want to maintain or reach an ideal weight, a recent study found that those who ate beans regularly weighed an average of 7 pounds less and had smaller waists than those who did not, even though they consumed about 200 calories more per day.
Beans are also cholesterol-free and low in polyunsaturated fat, with their high fiber and water content helping you to feel fuller faster, so you’ll eat less. They can help you cut calories without feeling deprived and even reduce the amount of insulin released, encouraging the body to store less fat.
The average American diet is severely lacking in fiber, and just one cup of cooked beans provides 12 grams, or nearly half the recommended daily dose.
Beans are rich in vitamins, promote healthy blood and contain phytochemicals, compounds that are only found in plants with the ability to fight off cell-damaging free radicals which prevents everything from premature aging to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and much more.
Consider these ideas for adding beans to your diet today:
- Try and make at least one or two days a week meatless by using legumes as your main dish. Add them to salads – all you need to do is open a can, rinse and add them to a green salad.
- Make a bean chili, bean enchiladas or burritos, bean casseroles, beans and rice or a bean soup. You can add beans to canned soup for a super quick and easy meal. Have fun and be creative, you might even come up with your own recipes.
- Beans are a great side dish and complement most any meal.
- Roasted dry beans and lentils make a fantastic healthy snack.
How will you eat your beans today?
– The Alternative Daily
