When you saw kidney beans, what came to mind? It`s tasty, right? Well, they are not only tasty; they are also nutritious too. Like other legumes, this variety of beans is just a perfect choice for people with diabetes. Adding kidney beans into the diet of children helps to strengthen their bones and promote growth. Do you plan to make some changes to your diet? Then you should consider adding kidney beans to it, you sure will see some health improvement.
What Are Kidney Beans?
Just as the name implies, they are these kidney-shaped beans with deep reddish-brown color.
They are just perfect for salads, soup, stew, or pasta.
Nutritional Value of Kidney Beans
See what you Get in 100 Grams of Kidney Beans!
- Calcium 61.95mg
- Choline 53.98mg
- Copper 0.38mg
- Dietary fiber 11.33g
- Iron 3.93mg
- Folate 230.10mcg
- Magnesium 74.34mg
- Manganese 0.76mg
- Molybdenum 132.75mcg
- Omega-3 fatty acids 0.30g
- Omega-6 fatty acids 0.19g
- Pantothenic acid 0.39mg
- Phosphorus 244.26mg
- Potassium 716.85mg
- Selenium 1.95mcg
- Sodium 1.77mg
- Vitamin B1 0.28mg
- Vitamin B2 0.10mg
- Vitamin B3 4.09mg
- Vitamin B6 0.21mg
- Vitamin E 0.05mg
- Vitamin K 14.87mg
- Zinc 1.77mg
How Fantastic Can Kidney Beans Be?
Treating Asthma
Kidney beans provide magnesium. Magnesium is a bronchodilator, one that enhances the widening of the bronchi, and a mineral that ensures smooth breathing. A deficiency in magnesium leads to asthma in children. A rich level of kidney beans in one`s diet treats asthma.
Balancing Cholesterol Levels
Dietary fiber and complex carbs maintain cholesterol levels in the blood. Kidney beans are a rich source of dietary fiber and complex carbs.
Increasing Energy Levels
The inability of the body to break down nutrients properly is quite an issue. It causes fatigue. Increasing your manganese intake does a lot to ameliorate the situation, as it increases metabolism and helps turn nutrients into energy. Manganese from kidney beans keeps you safe from any of such conditions.
Increasing Bone Density
Calcium and manganese protect the bones from fractures and other age-related bone problems like osteoporosis.
Maintaining Healthy Body Weight
Kidney beans are bursting with dietary fibers, protein, and fatty acid. These nutrients can keep you full for a long time, and curb appetite. So have you been considering stopping overeating so you can maintain a healthy weight? Try a serving of kidney beans daily. You will see wonders.
Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis
Did you know that inflammation can lead to arthritis if not treated early enough? Inflammation occurs as a result of a deficiency of copper. Add kidney beans into your diet, and enjoy a large amount of copper. Sufficient levels of copper in the body guarantees flexible joints and ligaments.
Preventing Diabetes
Because kidney beans contain a low glycemic index, they`re just safe for diabetics. Kidney beans balance the sugar in the bloodstream. A daily intake of kidney beans prevents the incipience of diabetics.
Lowering the Risk of Eye Disease
Eye disorders could be age-related, while others are genetic. A consumption of whole foods such as kidney beans affects does some good to the eyes. This is because of the presence of minerals such as magnesium,
folate, and B vitamins, and manganese. These nutrients combat the causes of eye diseases such as cataracts.
Promoting Tissue Growth
Tissue degeneration indicates chronic weakness, with some symptoms such as hair fall, weak eyesight, and uneven skin tone. It`s not a condition to be taken lightly. Consuming foods rich in vitamin B6 does well in dealing it. Kidney beans contain vitamin B6, and this vitamin helps reinvigorate damaged tissues in the body.
Promoting Cognition
Acetylcholine, an essential neurotransmitter, when functioning abnormally, leads to chronic psychological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. This is a reason it is essential to get some good level of B vitamins regularly. They improve memory, concentration, and prevent brain damage.
Side Effects of Kidney Beans
Even though there are a number of health benefits associated with kidney beans, there are some side effects too. Aside the seemingly mild effects such as bloating and flatulence, we will take a look at others.
Raw Kidney Beans Toxicity
Raw kidney beans have got high amounts of a toxic protein called phytohaemagglutinin. Phytohaemagglutinin is found in many types of beans, however, it is particularly in high amounts in red kidney beans.
Kidney Beans Contain Antinutrients
Antinutrients are substances that diminish the absorption of proteins, minerals, and carbs. They can be reduced by soaking and cooking the beans. Here are some of the antinutrients:
Phytic Acid (Phytate)
Phytic acid negatively affects the absorption of minerals such as iron and zinc.
Protease Inhibitors (Trypsin Inhibitors)
These are proteins that disturb the function of various digestive enzymes, thereby impairing protein digestion.
Starch Blockers (Alpha-amylase Inhibitors)
These are substances that have some negative influences on the absorption of carbs from the digestive tract.
Phytic acid, protease inhibitors, and starch blockers are all completely or partially inactivated when beans are properly soaked and cooked. Fermenting and sprouting the beans may also reduce antinutrients, such as phytic acid.
General Beans Facts!
- Beans are the only cultivated plants that actually enhance, rather than deplete the soil during the growing process. This is so because legumes have nodules on their roots that add nitrogen to the soil instead of using it up.
- Cooked beans can be frozen for up to six months. They only need to be thawed overnight before reheating.
- Bean carbohydrates, to a large extent, improve the stability of blood sugar levels in diabetics.
- In ancient Rome, legumes were so valued that the four leading families took their names from them: Lentullus (lentil), Piso (pea), Cicero (chickpea), and Fabius (fava). How amazing!
- India, Canada, the United States, Bangladesh, Turkey, Australia, Nepal, and China are the world’s top lentil producers.
- Beans, their kin, and the products made from them such as tofu and tempeh are some of the most concentrated sources of plant-based protein in the world. Between 6 and 11 percent of a cooked bean’s weight is protein.
- Oligosaccharides cannot be broken down by our digestive enzymes; instead, our intestinal bacteria ferment them during digestion, causing most of the gas characterized with beans.
- It’s possible to decrease the gas-making effects of beans through controlling factors such as cooking method and duration, complementary ingredients, and the variety of bean used.
- The least flatulence-causing legumes are adzuki beans, mung beans, lentils, split peas, and black-eyed peas.
- No part of the world is close to equaling the abundance and variety of beans available in America.
- Did you know that a 1907 resolution introduced by Minnesota Senator, Knute Nelson, states that while the Senate is in session, bean soup must be served daily, regardless of the weather?
- Amazingly, in ancient Greece, minor officials were elected by putting one white and many black beans in a pot. Whoever picked the white bean got the job. In the 19th century, the Russian army used a similar system to give a conscript his freedom.
- There were some ancient cults, particularly the monastic followers of Pythagoras, who believed in reincarnation and thought human souls traveled through the stems of bean plants to Hades, where they then got transmogrified for their next lives. It was, at the time, a sin to eat beans or even walk among bean plants. It was said that Pythagoras would have allowed himself to be slaughtered rather than cross a field of beans.
