But beans, irrespective of the variety available in ones domain or the form it is prepared, is a rich source of plant protein. In fact, it is common for health experts to talk about beans and other bean products such as bean cake as an affordable source of protein that children and pregnant women should eat regularly to ensure good health.
Interestingly, if you are one of the millions of people worried about how best to lose weight or are unsuccessfully battling your weight, regular consumption of beans is a unique way to make your weight loss goals much more successful and easier to attain.
Of course, you can't cheat nature by eating anything you want; but there is a new discovery, backed by real science, that seems to violate the laws of biochemistry. It suggests that taking certain foods like beans with one's daily meals of starch and sugar carbohydrate foods in a way may aid weight loss.
These foods promote weight loss by interfering with the breakdown of complex carbohydrates thereby reducing, or at least slowing, the digestive availability of carbohydrate-derived calories and/or by providing resistant starches to the stomach.
It has been known for over 50 years that certain foods in their natural state, like raw wheat and beans, contain small amounts of a certain protein that binds to the receptor site of alpha-amylase, the enzyme in our bodies that digests starch carbohydrates.
This protein prevents the alpha-amylase enzyme from breaking down or digesting the starch for a short period, subsequently neutralising the starch. The starch is then simply passed through the digestive system in whole-molecule form, without releasing its calories. The starch calories remain undigested; the same way fibers do, and are eliminated.
Enzyme-neutralizing proteins are protective in nature, they help protect food sources from insects and rodents. Since this same process happens when these species eat foods that contain them, like raw wheat, the insects or rodents don't get enough calories to live off of it, so they tend to avoid these types of foods.
Essentially, enzyme neutralisers are a simple defense mechanism that nature has provided for certain plants to survive. Although this process has always occurred in nature, only recently has human beings discovered it as a means to aid weight loss.
No doubt, strategies to lose body fat typically involve a combination of dietary changes limiting caloric intake, increased physical activity, behavioural therapy, pharmacotherapy, and, in extreme cases, surgery. In addition, the availability and popularity of natural dietary supplements such as those containing "starch blockers", which were intended to help with weight loss has risen dramatically in recent years.
Recent reports suggest that beans, a common staple in Africa, also contain "starch blockers," an alpha-amylase neutralising enzyme responsible for preventing starchy carbohydrates from breaking down and thereby stopping up to one third of the carbohydrates consumed from becoming stored as fat in body.
For instance, careful research on the protein concentrates of Phaseolus vulgaris (commonly referred to as white kidney bean, brown beans or French beans) showed it to be safe and that some weight loss results occurred.
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled 2007 study, 60 slightly overweight people were given either placebo or a white kidney bean's protein concentrate once daily 30 minutes prior to a main meal rich in carbohydrates.
Over the 30 days of the study, the results indicated in the International Journal of Medical Science that bean treatment led to a significantly greater reduction of body weight and improvement of lean/fat ratio as compared to placebo.
However, according to the trial, if the bean extract is not in the stomach at the same time as the carbohydrates are, it will be rendered completely ineffective. So, it should not be taken too far ahead or too far behind a meal.
Equally, a new review in Nutrition Research corroborated that bean extract promotes weight loss when taken concurrently with meals containing carbohydrates.
According to the review, studies have found that the white bean extract may reduce the spike in blood sugar levels after a meal, and that the ingredient can be formulated into foods and beverages "without losing activity or altering the appearance, texture or taste of the food."
The review included 10 clinical trials on the weight loss potential of bean extract, with three studies demonstrating efficacy compared to placebo.
While consumption of beans will assist with preventing further weight gain, it will not necessarily assist with weight loss, because there is no fat burner or appetite suppressant.
In addition to lowering cholesterol, beans' high fibre content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
Its high dietary fiber also provides the bulk effect needed for good bowel function, meaning it ensures fewer problems with constipation and many other bowel diseases.
Also, beans contain substantial amounts of iron, zinc, potassium (for healthy heart and nerves), selenium (for great skin and chemical processes in the body), magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and thiamin.
Beans are rich in many ingredients that help to protect against diseases such as cancer. One of such constituents is a group of naturally occurring hormones in beans called phytoestrogens which are believed to counter the bad effects of certain other chemicals, and help to protect against Bosom and other forms of cancers, as well as improve symptoms of menopause, help strengthen the bones, and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
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