EVERYDAY DELICIOUS your food
Time to Spill the Beans
No other food offers the nutritional power of beans.
Here’s how to put beans on your table. By Dawn Simonds
{ YOUR GOAL: Add three 1 ⁄2 -cup
servings of beans to your diet each week to boost your intake of fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates.
It’s true, good things come in small packages: A single cup of cooked beans provides 8 to 20 grams of fiber, up to 18 grams of protein, and almost no fat. That same cup makes up 15 percent of your daily recommended complex carbohydrates—the building blocks of muscle and brain tissue. Beans are loaded with vitamins and minerals key to your health, including calcium, vitamin B and folate. Plus, they’re inexpensive, convenient and at your local grocery store. You can create a delicious bean entrée to feed a family of four for less than one dollar a serving. Add beans to salads, soups, and tortilla roll-ups for lunch, and rice dishes, stir-fries and casseroles for dinner.
Canned or Dry? While many serious cooks prefer the flavor of dried beans, soaked over night, you can’t beat the convenience of canned beans. Drain and rinse them to reduce the sodium content before use. Dried beans offer longer storage life. You can
keep them right on your shelf. But use or replace your supply every fall, when the new harvest hits store shelves. Old beans take longer to cook and lose flavor over time.
Dealing with Naysayers If the unsocial aspects of beans have your dinner mates running from the table, hand them a supplement before they eat (see Gas Gauge). And remind them of all the reasons why beans are an important part of a healthy diet: Beans help lower cholesterol by increasing your soluble fiber; promote a healthier digestive tract with insoluble fiber; balance your blood sugar with complex carbohydrates; and are a natural source of calcium and potassium.
GAS GAUGE
Beans are a healthy addition to your diet, but they can cause gas in some people. Beans contain a type of sugar molecule that our stomachs can’t digest. This sugar is called oligosaccharides (ol-i-goh-SAK- uh-rides). When oligosaccharides move from the stomach to the large intestine, they are broken down by bacteria, causing gas buildup.
To avoid gas buildup, take an enzyme called alpha-galactosidase (al-fa gu- LAK-toe-si-dase) at the start of your meal (a commonly available brand is Beano®). This enzyme prevents your body from producing gas by breaking down oligosaccharides before they get to your large intestine. You can also reduce the gas-
producing effects of dried beans by
soaking them overnight and changing the water before cooking. Add a carminative (kahr-MIN-uh-tiv), such as a carrot or a sprig of oregano, to the cooking water and discard it before serving. Carminatives prevent gas from forming in the intestines or help get rid of it. Basil, carrots, coriander, oregano and thyme are all carminatives.
A single cup of cooked beans provides 8 to 20 grams of fiber, up to 18 grams of protein, and almost no fat.
1 CUP 54 HEALTHYADVICE.COM PHOTOGRAPHS BY MAREN CARUSO
STYLIST: VICKI WOOLLARD; BEANO® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF GLAXOSMITHKLINE.
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