Half a cup of beans a day may drop one’s cholesterol 20 points.
Beans, Beans, Good for Your Heart
4.4/5 - (16 votes)
As important as it is for us to eat our greens, we should also eat our beans. We’ve all heard about how good soybeans are for us, but what about the less exotic pinto bean? Half a cup of cooked pinto beans a day for two months could mean a 20-point drop in our cholesterol. A new wonder drug? No, just pinto beans. Same with baked beans—half a cup of canned vegetarian baked beans a day for two months; navy beans this time, and the same amazing effect. There was a randomized crossover clinical study with a control group and the vegetarian baked bean treatment group. Of all the treatments we have in allopathic medicine—radiation treatments, chemotherapy—a vegetarian baked bean treatment sounds pretty benign. Imagine if there were a pill that could do that, and go good with toast, they’d be making a fortune!
Beans are, after all, one of nature’s most perfect foods; the whole plant in just one little package. Low in fat, no cholesterol, high in fiber and protein. So just like we can improve the nutrition of any dish by adding greens and other veggies, we can do the same by adding beans.
Another study this year showed some remarkable qualities about watermelon. A fruit once dismissed as being, basically, well, water. Now we realize it’s a rich source of citruline, which we talked about in a previous year’s review.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
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- Winham DM, Hutchins AM, Johnston CS. Pinto bean consumption reduces biomarkers for heart disease risk. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Jun;26(3):243-9.
- Winham DM, Hutchins AM. Baked bean consumption reduces serum cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic adults. Nutrition Research. Volume 27, Issue 7, Pages 380-386 (July 2007).
As important as it is for us to eat our greens, we should also eat our beans. We’ve all heard about how good soybeans are for us, but what about the less exotic pinto bean? Half a cup of cooked pinto beans a day for two months could mean a 20-point drop in our cholesterol. A new wonder drug? No, just pinto beans. Same with baked beans—half a cup of canned vegetarian baked beans a day for two months; navy beans this time, and the same amazing effect. There was a randomized crossover clinical study with a control group and the vegetarian baked bean treatment group. Of all the treatments we have in allopathic medicine—radiation treatments, chemotherapy—a vegetarian baked bean treatment sounds pretty benign. Imagine if there were a pill that could do that, and go good with toast, they’d be making a fortune!
Beans are, after all, one of nature’s most perfect foods; the whole plant in just one little package. Low in fat, no cholesterol, high in fiber and protein. So just like we can improve the nutrition of any dish by adding greens and other veggies, we can do the same by adding beans.
Another study this year showed some remarkable qualities about watermelon. A fruit once dismissed as being, basically, well, water. Now we realize it’s a rich source of citruline, which we talked about in a previous year’s review.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Winham DM, Hutchins AM, Johnston CS. Pinto bean consumption reduces biomarkers for heart disease risk. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Jun;26(3):243-9.
- Winham DM, Hutchins AM. Baked bean consumption reduces serum cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic adults. Nutrition Research. Volume 27, Issue 7, Pages 380-386 (July 2007).
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Beans, Beans, Good for Your Heart
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
For some of the latest video on the cardiovascular benefits of beans: Soy Worth a Hill of Beans?
And more on beans’ copious health benefits:
- Increased Lifespan From Beans
- Cooked Beans or Sprouted Beans?
- Diabetics Should Take Their Pulses
- Phytates for the Treatment of Cancer
And check out the other videos on beans, and a blog about their gassiness: Clearing the Air.
For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk and Raisins vs. Energy Gels for Athletic Performance.
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