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Food and Nutrition
Beans and Good Health
Donna Winham, DrPH
Densie Webb, PhD, RD
Amy Barr, MS, EdM, RD
An expanding body of research suggests that beans promote
health and reduce risks for, or improve outcomes of, various
disorders, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and
other diseases. For these reasons, many dietary
recommendations include beans. Plus, beans are good to
excellent sources of protein, fiber, folate, potassium,
magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese yet also are
cholesterol- and fat-free. Nutr Today. 2008;43(5):201–209
S
cientific research linking health, nutrition, and
longevity to the affordable and widely available
dry bean continues to emerge. Beans are inexpensive
sources of high-quality protein. Today, however, beans
are also in the news because of their potential to lower
cholesterol, reduce the risks of heart disease, relieve
constipation, improve gastrointestinal integrity, and
stabilize blood sugar.1
An Ancient Food
Because they are easy to plant, grow, and store, beans are
among the oldest cultivated and most widely used foods
in the world. They also are relatively inexpensive to
produce, are portable, and have a long storage life. Their
low cost and high nutritional value have contributed to
their global popularity. Historically, beans have served as
a food staple for at least 10,000 years, and some food
historians double that figure.
Today, beans continue to serve as food staples in
China, India, the Middle East, and the Americas. Several
varieties may have arrived in North America with the
pilgrims on the Mayflower,2 but many others were native
plants. Domesticated about 7,000 years ago in what is
now Peru and Southern Mexico, several varieties of beans
were already flourishing by the time the Portuguese and
Spaniards arrived in the New World.
Nutrition Today, Volume 43
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What Is a Bean?
The terms dry beans and legumes often are used
interchangeably in the United States. In other parts of
the world, including Canada, beans often are called
pulses. Distinguishable by their seed-bearing pods,
legumes are a family of plants characterized by
2 classes: oilseeds, such as soybeans and peanuts, and
grain legumes, including dry beans, lima beans,
cowpeas, fava beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans),
lentils, and dry peas. Of the estimated 16,000 legume
varieties, more than 100 are cultivated commonly
worldwide. Rooted from the Latin word puls, or
ancient bean porridge, dry beans, peas, and lentils all
qualify as pulses, but the term excludes green beans,
green peas, soybeans, and peanuts.3 (For the purpose
of this article, ‘‘beans’’ refers to dry edible beans but
excludes soybeans and all ‘‘garden-type’’ fresh-bean
varietiesVgreen, string, wax, etc.)
Legume. A family of plants with seed-bearing pods.
These grain legumes include dry beans, lentils, dry peas,
lima beans, and chickpeas.
Pulse. A term used in many countries to refer to
crops harvested solely for their grain, including dry
beans, peas, and lentils but excluding green beans,
green peas, soybeans, and peanuts.
Fruit, Vegetable, Meat Alternative
Beans are an inexpensive and flavorful source of
protein, fiber, carbohydrates, and micronutrients,
which often are lacking in American diets. In
MyPyramid, beans are listed in 2 different food
groups: vegetables, and meat and beans.4 From a
strictly botanical standpoint, beans are the fruits of
bean plants; however, they function in the diet as a
vegetable and as a nonmeat protein source, as well as
an excellent source of fiber. Still, many consumers
view beans erroneously as a starch, like rice or pasta5
(see Sidebar A).
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Food and Nutrition
Beans and Good Health
A. Survey
Beans are really fruits but look more like vegetables,
not starches.
Despite the fact that the American Cancer
Society, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the US Dietary Guidelines, and
nutritionists classify beans as vegetables, a recent
survey found that only 43% of consumers think
of beans as a vegetable.5
Nutrients and Other Beneficial
Constituents in Beans
Beans have a nutritional profile that suits all ages,
providing cholesterol-free protein, fiber, magnesium,
potassium, B vitamins, resistant starch, and the more
recently discovered phytonutrients. Their nutrient profile
fits with the dietary needs of growing children and
teenagers as well as adults. Protein is critical for growth
and development in children and adolescents, and beans
cooked until tender are an easy-to-chew protein source
and an appealing finger food for young children.
Children who eat beans have significantly greater intakes
of fiber, magnesium, and potassium than do those who
do not eat beans. Bean eaters between the ages of 12 and
19 years also weigh significantly less and have smaller
waist measurements compared with nonYbean eaters.6
For adults who want to moderate their fat and
cholesterol intakes, beans are a healthful alternative to
meat. Several studies show that beans may help lower
blood cholesterol.7Y9 Furthermore, soluble fiber and
resistant starches in beans may help suppress appetite and
manage blood sugar.10,11 Compared with other sources of
carbohydrates, beans exhibit a low glycemic index (GI)
and produce a relatively flat blood-glucose response.
For example, the GI of kidney beans is 23, and chickpeas
is 42. Long-grain, boiled white rice, however, produces a
GI of 61, and a baked potato12 has a GI of 85.
The glycemic load (GL) is another related indicator of
a food’s effect on blood glucose. Whereas GI is based on
the effect of a standard 50-g amount of a food on blood
sugar, GL accounts for carbohydrate quality and
quantity. Calculations are based on a typical single
serving of the food. For a half-cup standard serving of
kidney beans, the GL is 6, and for chickpeas, the GL is 9.
The same size serving of rice exhibits a GL of 22 and
of baked potato,12 a GL of 26.
Beans contain health-promoting oligosaccharides
(short-chain sugar polymers) and another functional
carbohydrate, resistant starch. Food starches are
classified as either glycemic or resistant. Glycemic
starches break down into glucose and then are absorbed
into the bloodstream. Resistant starches, however,
cannot be broken down by enzymes in the body and,
because they cannot be absorbed, pass to the large
intestine for fermentation by intestinal bacteria. Similar
to the actions of dietary fiber, resistant starch helps
decrease intestinal transit time and increase fecal bulk.
Beans contain several important minerals. One-half
cup of beans supplies 10% or more of the daily values for
potassium, magnesium, and iron. (See illustration in
Sidebar B on the 12 key nutrients in beans.) Cooked dry
beans are very low in sodium, and rinsing canned beans
reduces sodium content by approximately 40%.13 Beans
also offer even higher antioxidant contents than some
wines and many vegetables do.14,15
B. 12 Key Nutrients in Beans
Beans Chart (per one-half cup of Cooked, Dry Beans)
Nutrient
Baby Lima Black Black-eye Cranberry Garbanzo Great Northern Navy Pinto Red Kidney
Calories
115
114
112
121
135
105
127
123
113
Carbohydrates, g
21
20
20
22
23
19
24
22
20
Protein, g
7
8
7
8
7
7
7
8
8
Fiber, g
7
8
6
9
6
6
8
8
7
Folate, 2g
137
128
120
183
141
91
127
147
115
Calcium, mg
26
23
20
44
40
60
63
40
25
Iron, mg
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
Fat, g
0.4
0.5
0.5
0.4
2
0.4
0.6
0.5
0.5
Sodium, mg
3
1
4
1
6
2
0
2
2
Nutrition information is based on nutrient profiles for baby lima beans, black beans, black-eye peas, cranberry beans, garbanzo beans, Great Northern
beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans.
Source: US Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 19 (2006).
202
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Beans and Good Health
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Food and Nutrition
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203
Food and Nutrition
Beans and Good Health
Cooked dry beans are very low in
sodium. Rinsing canned beans
reduces sodium content even more,
by approximately 40%.13
However, beans do vary nutritionally, especially with
differences between and among types of dry beans and
their bioactive food components (BAFCs).16 BAFCs
are ‘‘dietary constituents that elicit physiological effects
beyond those associated with essential human nutrition.’’17
In animal studies, different types of beans exhibited
varying effects on the occurrence of induced breast and
colon cancers among rats.18 Processing beans also alters
their BAFC, reducing BAFC up to 80% or more, as
compared with unprocessed seed.
Beans and Health
An expanding body of research suggests that beans
promote good health and reduce risk for, or improve
outcomes of, several diseases. Thus, beans are included
in many dietary recommendation frameworks, including
the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DG) 2005,
MyPyramid, Dietary Approaches to Stop
Hypertension (DASH), American Heart Association,
American Cancer Society, and Produce for Better Health
Foundation (see Sidebar C).
C. Beans: Current Guidance From
Health Authorities Encourage More
Health organizations have incorporated messages
about beans into their recommendations for healthful
eating, including guidelines specifically designed to
help prevent heart disease and cancer.63,64
In 1997, the World Cancer Research Fund/American
Institute for Cancer Research issued its report entitled
‘‘Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global
Perspective,’’ which recommended that everyone should
choose a predominately plant-based diet rich in a variety
of vegetables and fruits. Specifically, the report singled
out legumes such as beans as important in the diet.65
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
emphasizes the importance of beans in a healthful diet
and recommends an adult intake of 3 cups of
legumes, such as beans, each week.61 This quantity
is more than 3 times the average amount that adult
Americans currently consume.36
204
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and
MyPyramid identify beans as part of both the meat and
beans group and the vegetable group.4,61 Beans, good
sources of protein, can serve as a meat substitute
(one-half cup of cooked dry or canned beans = 2 oz of
lean meat) or as a vegetable (one-half cup = 1 serving).
Also, in 2005, bean processors began adding an
official dietary guidance message to their food labels:
‘‘Diets including beans may reduce your risk of heart
disease and certain cancers.’’ A dietary guidance message
is not a health claim; rather, it is a statement that
generally encourages consumers to eat more healthfully
and to make better food choices that promote good
health. The only other official guidance statement
currently in the marketplace is a more general one for
fruits and vegetables, which also includes beans.
‘‘Fruits & Veggies: More Matters’’ is an advertising
campaign that promotes the consumption of fruits and
vegetables, including beans as a vegetable, to encourage
eating more of them to improve the health of Americans.66
The American Cancer Society’s 2006 Guidelines on
Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention
recommends choosing fish, poultry, and beans as
alternatives to beef, pork, and lamb and stresses the
healthfulness of vegetables.64
For the prevention of cardiovascular disease, the
American Heart Association recommends 4 to 5 servings
a week of nuts, seeds, and legumes, such as beans.63
Longevity
Several studies have shown that people who eat a
Mediterranean-style diet, rich in plant foods,
including beans, have lower risks of heart disease and
some cancers.19,20
A cross-cultural study of the dietary intakes of
785 subjects, aged 70 years and older, in Japan, Sweden,
Greece, and Australia revealed that of all the dietary
factors analyzed, legume consumption had the most
consistent and statistically significant association with
reduced mortality risk. Every 20-g increase in daily
intake of legumes produced a 7% to 8% reduction in risk
of death. Even after controlling for age, sex, and smoking,
the link to beans was still statistically significant. No other
food or food group affected survival across culturesVnot
olive oil, nor fish, nor other fruits and vegetables.21
Reducing Cancer Risk
Several specific bean constituents offer possible roles in
reducing cancer risk: saponins, inositol, resistant starch,
and fiber. Saponins, a class of phytonutrients found in
beans, may help reduce the risk of lung and blood
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Beans and Good Health
cancers.22 Beans also are an abundant source of inositol,
specifically inositol hexaphosphate, an antioxidant
compound that can help prevent cancer and control
the growth, progression, and spread of tumors in
animals.23,24 Inositol hexaphosphate has not yet been
studied for its effectiveness in human beings. One animal
study showed that mice consuming diets consisting of
20% black beans experienced a reduced incidence of
DNA damage, which may be linked to cancers, but
human studies are not yet available.25
A strong correlation exists between high intakes of
resistant starch, present in beans, and lower risks of
colorectal cancer.26 The fiber and resistant starch in
beans increase the production of short-chain fatty acids,
such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate, as a result of
fermentation by intestinal bacteria of the undigested
carbohydrates. (Studies suggest that butyrate may help
slow the growth of colon tumor cells.27) However, in
another recent study, bean consumption had no effect on
total short-chain fatty acid production, and propionic
and butyric acid production actually was lower.28
Eating beans also did not affect gut bacterial populations,
except for Escherichia coli, which also was lower.
Hyperinsulinemia also may be a factor in increasing
cancer risk. Several population studies, for example, have
found that consuming a diet consisting of low-GL foods,
such as beans, is associated with a reduced risk of
colorectal cancer.29,30
For the past 3 decades, epidemiologic data connecting
beans and reduced risk of various cancers have been
suggestive, and here is a summary of the findings, which
may provide the foundation for smaller controlled
studies as well as for larger clinical intervention trials.
A study of African American, white, Japanese, and
Chinese men showed that those people with the highest
intake of legumes, such as beans, were significantly
less likely to have prostate cancer.31 Even when soy
foods were excluded from the analysis, risk was still
significantly reduced.
A recent analysis of more than 183,000 subjects
enrolled in the HawaiiYLos Angeles Multiethnic
Cohort Study revealed that a high intake of legumes,
including beans, was associated with a significantly
lower risk of pancreatic cancer among overweight and
obese subjects.32
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)Yfunded Polyp
Prevention Trial, a multicenter, randomized clinical trial of
more than 2,000 men and women, was designed to
determine the effects of a high-fiber, high-fruit,
high-vegetable, low-fat diet on the recurrence of
adenomous polyps (colon cancer precursor lesions) in the
large bowel. Researchers found a much lower risk (65%
lower) of advanced adenoma recurrence in people who
increased their intake of beans the most (an almost 4-fold
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Food and Nutrition
increase) during a 4-year period.33 This NIH study was the
first research to examine the effects of beans on adenomas
in a Western population. Other studies have examined
legumes as a group without focusing on dried beans
specifically. The average bean intake for the study’s
intervention group was about one-quarter cup a day, still
much higher than the current bean intake in the United
States, which is less than a cup a week.34 If these effects
stand up in more definitive studies, more recommendations
for increased dry bean consumption may follow.
Promoting Cardiovascular Health
Several components of beans decrease cardiovascular
disease: soluble fiber, phytosterols, magnesium,
potassium, copper, and folate. Consuming enough fruits
and vegetables (including beans) rich in potassium and
magnesium is a critical component of the DASH Diet
approach to controlling hypertension.35,36 As part of
the long-term, 4,000-person Coronary Artery Risk
Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study,
researchers found that greater consumption of legumes
was linked to a lower incidence of hypertension.37
Less well documented are the effects of copper,
highly available in beans, which may help reduce the
risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering blood pressure
and cholesterol levels.38 Folate, too, may help reduce
the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Researchers
analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) Epidemiologic
Follow-up Study and found that those who consumed
the most folate (average intake, 405 2g/d) exhibited
21% lower risk of stroke and 14% lower risk of
cardiovascular disease than did individuals who
consumed the least folate (99 2g/d average intake).39
One-half cup of beans alone provides as much as
45% of the daily value for folate.
The soluble fiber in beans (about 6Y9 g per half-cup
cooked beans) helps lower blood cholesterol by binding
bile acids and preventing cholesterol reabsorption.
Animal studies show that the resistant starch in beans
also may help lower blood cholesterol.40
Researchers have suggested that a diet that replaces
some refined carbohydrates with protein sources low in
saturated fat, such as beans, may help reduce the
cardiovascular disease risks.41 The Mediterranean
dietary pattern, which includes beans, also reduces
cardiovascular disease risk and mortality.19,20
A study of 9,632 men and women involved in the
first NHANES Epidemiologic Follow-up Study who
were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline and
were tracked for 19 years, on average, revealed similar
effects of bean consumption. People who ate legumes,
including beans, at least 4 times a week during that
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Food and Nutrition
Beans and Good Health
long period showed a 22% lower risk of coronary heart
disease as compared with those who ate beans less than
once a week.7 A 10-year longitudinal study of Costa
Ricans revealed that people who ate just one-third cup
of black beans a day were 38% less likely to experience
myocardial infarction, compared with people who ate
beans less than once a month.42 Because many other
factors may have differed between these populations,
more definitive studies are needed to draw firmer
conclusions.
For 20 years, researchers have known that diets
supplemented with dry beans lower serum cholesterol
by as much as 19% and low-density lipoprotein
(LDL) cholesterol by 24%, almost identical to the
cholesterol-lowering effect of oat bran.8 Nearly 2 decades
later, a meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials revealed that
legumes (including beans, but excluding soybeans) may
have a significant, beneficial effect on several important
risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including total
cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein
cholesterol, and triglycerides.43
Beans are part of the University of Ontario’s
‘‘portfolio diet’’ that emphasizes cholesterol-lowering
foodsVfruits and vegetables, soy protein, almonds,
plant-sterolYenriched margarine, and foods high in
soluble fiber, such as oats and barley. This diet can be
as effective as prescription statin drugs for lowering
serum LDL-cholesterol levels.44
Various kinds of beans differ in their disease-fighting
abilities.45 In a study undertaken to determine the effects
of daily consumption of beans on risk factors for coronary
heart disease and diabetes, adults with abnormal insulin
sensitivity consumed either a half cup of pinto beans,
black-eye peas, or carrots (placebo) daily. As the 8-week
study progressed, a significant effect was evident. Reduced
total and LDL blood cholesterol resulted with pinto beans,
but not with black-eye peas or carrots. Pinto bean
consumption, in fact, lowered cholesterol more than
oatmeal did. In a related study, vegetarian baked beans,
even with their added fat and sugar, lowered serum
cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic adults.9
Weight Management?
In NHANES, those men and women who regularly
consumed beans had a 22% lower risk of obesity when
Pinto bean consumption was found
to lower cholesterol more than
oatmeal did.45
206
compared with nonYbean eaters.46 In Canada, women
who followed eating plans resembling the Mediterranean
diet pattern, which included a higher consumption of
legumes, such as beans, significantly reduced their
waist measurements.47
Various types of carbohydrates found in beans are
likely contributors to healthier weight status. Eating
foods with a high GI or GL may stimulate appetite sooner
after a meal than if low-GI or -GL foods, such as beans,
are consumed.48 At least 15 studies have shown that
participants experienced lower satiety, increased hunger,
or higher food intake after consumption of high-GI
compared with low-GI meals.49 The impact of low-GI
meals on satiety and food intake may be especially
effective in people who are overweight or obese.50 Beans
may also function by slowing digestion, prolonging the
feeling of fullness, and reducing hunger, in part, because
of their effect on hormonal responses to a meal.51
Soluble fiber, including that found in beans, may also
help promote satiety, but study results, to date, have
not yielded a definitive, significant relationship. In
addition, more generally, although satiety is one factor
related to weight regulation, researchers continue to
debate whether soluble fiber or resistant starch aids
with weight loss.10,11,52
Unlike most other vegetables, beans contain significant
amounts of protein, and research shows that protein may
be more satiating than fat. In several studies, subjects
consuming higher protein diets reported less hunger on
reduced-calorie diets.53Y55
Controlling Blood Sugar
Beans may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
and improve diabetes control.56 Over the years, several
dietary-intervention studies have shown that increasing
dietary intakes of legumes, including beans, as well as
whole grain foods and other vegetables, positively affects
blood glucose management and insulin sensitivity. For
example, in one study, the glycemic responses to 5 kinds
of beans were tested and compared with the glycemic
response to bread. Although glycemic responses to
different beans varied, all were significantly lower than
the response to bread.57
Flatulence
People believe that beans cause significant gas and bloating.
However, the same bean components that cause
gasVoligosaccharides and fiberValso are responsible for
some of beans’ health-promoting properties, including
stimulating healthy gut flora. Recent research provides new
insights into human beings’ ability to adapt to bean
consumption with reduced flatulence occurring over time.58
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Beans and Good Health
The study included participants consuming daily a half
cup of either pinto beans, black-eyed peas, vegetarian
baked beans, or control (carrots). Results revealed that
only half or fewer participants felt that they had an initial
increase in flatulence, and of those who experienced an
increase in flatulence, most study participants said they
had returned to ‘‘normal’’ after the second to fourth week
of regular bean consumption.
The researchers concluded that consumers may be
needlessly concerned about increased flatulence and
should be counseled that any increase will be transitory
with continued legume consumption. Eating more
beansVand more oftenVmay be better when it comes
to enjoying beans and avoiding their side effects.
Food and Nutrition
Barriers to bean consumption include lack of
knowledge about preparing and serving beans, as well as
outdated perceptions about gas and bloating. Health
professionals can help consumers increase their bean
intake from the current average of less than a cup a week
to the recommended 3 cups a week for adults by
emphasizing these factors:
1. The flavor and convenience of beans in a
health-promoting dietVconsumers need specific tips
for bean preparation.
2. The reduction of gastrointestinal signs and
symptoms over time, when beans are consumed
regularlyVconsumers need guidance for gradually
increasing bean intake, much like dietary advice for
raising overall fiber intake.
Other Health Conditions
Beans also may help alleviate other health disorders. In a
prospective study of more than 32,000 men, the intake
of legumes, including beans, also was linked to lowering
risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia (noncancerous
enlargement of the prostate gland).59
On a totally different health front, additional
research is underway to study the efficacy of a
bean-based food to improve growth and
development and to slow the progression of AIDS in
a group of HIV-positive children in Botswana.60
At the study’s implementation, most children
displayed clear signs of both acute and chronic
malnutrition. Nutritional intervention with a
bean/micronutrient-fortified sorghum porridge
improved growth and development when compared
with a sorghum-only porridge(a familiar food in the
region) that was micronutrient fortified but contained
no bean ingredient. The protein quality of the
bean-proteinYenriched product was equal to that of
a similar soy-based product used in similar
nutrition-intervention relief work. Preliminary data
have revealed that nutritional intervention reduced
the prevalence of growth stunting by half and the
prevalence of underweight by 22%.
Tips for Health Professionals
Most current guidelines for health and disease
prevention, such as the DG 2005, offer recommendations
to eat legumes daily, and most mention beans
specifically.61 As an update to the 2000 version of the
DG, the 2005 edition places more emphasis on
subgroups of nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, such
as dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, legumes
(including dry beans), and starchy vegetables.62 In fact,
the 2000-calorie eating plan calls for 3 cups of cooked
dry beans per week (nearly a half cup per day).
Nutrition Today, Volume 43
Number 5
D. Resources
For additional information on the link between beans
and good health and for practical information about
cooking and consuming beans, visit the following
www.beansforhealth.com
www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines
www.mypyramid.gov
www.5aday.gov or
www.morematters.com
Donna Winham, DrPH, serves as an assistant professor in the
Department of Nutrition at Arizona State University in Mesa. Her recent
research has focused on various health aspects related to bean consumption
and the retention of beans in traditional diets of immigrants.
Densie Webb, PhD, RD, based in Austin, Texas, is freelance food and
science writer and editor and has written for US-based, nationally focused
publications, including The New York Times, Woman’s Day, First, Eating
Well, Fitness, and Prevention. She is also associate editor for Environmental
Nutrition newsletter and is the author or coauthor of 7 books, including
Super Nutrition After 50 (1999) and The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being
Fabulous! (2004).
Amy Barr, MS, EdM, RD, is a cofounder of Marr Barr, a Colorado-based
communications firm dedicated to food, nutrition, agriculture,
sustainability, and the natural environment. She is also a member of the
Nutrition Today editorial board.
Corresponding author: Amy Barr, MS, EdM, RD, Marr Barr Communications,
Suite 106, 2101 Ken Pratt Blvd, Longmont, CO 80501 ([email protected]).
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