Beans, Beans, They're Good For Your Heart

Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you …Are you fearful of flatulence? Worried over a case of the toots and not eating your beans?

Beans are part of the legume family which also includes chickpeas, split peas, lentils, soybeans and peanuts. Legumes are the world’s #1 longevity food. In all of the places in the world where people are living the longest and the healthiest lives on the planet, legumes are a cornerstone of the diet. 

They are a high quality source of protein with the added benefit of fiber, free from the baggage of saturated fat and cholesterol. When you eat legumes, your metabolism is positively affected and remains that way 10-11 hours later. Check this out! The way your body digests legumes adds beneficial components to your gut flora (think of probiotics). When you eat your next meal, it will also be positively affected by the good gut flora created by the beans. Imagine if you kept repeating this process! But that’s not all. Because you had legumes for one meal, your appetite actually changes for the next meal (it’s called “the second meal effect”). You are less hungry and require fewer calories. In fact, cravings for high sugar foods decrease. 

Many people have become healthier and lost weight simply by adding a serving of beans per day to their diets. Try starting off with a small serving 2-3 times per week and work up to a full daily serving (½ cup). 

Every single one of us toots, farts, passes gas. And most of us pretend not to. It’s an odd social game we play, but look, when it comes to legumes, fear not! They regulate things in your tummy and after a week or two of incorporating them into your diet, there will be no difference in the amount of tooting. Give it a chance and the benefits will last a lifetime!

Here are a few easy ways to eat legumes: 

Hummus

Peanut Butter

Bean Burrito

Bean Dip

Split Pea Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Curry

Edamame

Taco Salad with Black Beans

*There’s a documentary on Netflix called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, based on Dan Buettner’s book (Blue Zones) and life’s work studying the longest lived, healthiest populations on the planet over the past thirty years. It’s worth watching! 

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