The Protein That Keeps Your Arteries Young
It’s lean, it’s laden with fill-you-up protein, and it helps keep your arteries clear. What is it?
It’s the mighty bean. Yep. Beans have it all — including the ability to reduce the amount of artery-clogging fat in your blood.
Lower Lipids
In a study, people who ate a half cup of cooked pinto beans every day for 12 weeks experienced a drop in total and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Which means beans could do great things for your heart health. Researchers theorize it’s the antioxidants in beans — called polyphenols — that may help lower blood lipids.
More Heart Safeguards
One possible caveat: In the recent bean study, HDL (good) cholesterol dropped a bit, too — something not seen in other bean studies. Follow-up research will be needed to see if it’s a fluke or holds true. In the meantime, here are a bunch of other reasons to make beans your best friends:
They help your pants fit better.
Thanks to all the fiber, they help control Blood Pressure.
Getting Rid of the Gas
The fact that beans help thwart colon polyps is all well and good. But how can you prevent the gassy aftereffects that often come with beans?
Here are some tips:
Rinse canned beans before cooking or eating them.
Pour off the soaking water for dry beans and use fresh for cooking.
Increase bean consumption gradually.
Offset the added fiber with plenty of fluids and exercise.
Bean There, Done That
Colon health doesn’t start and stop with eating beans, of course. You should also consider colon cancer screening.
Learn how you can save big on lightbulbs, over on Frugal Mania.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 pm
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