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Longevity and legumes. Long have scientists wondered if the two go hand in hand because many of the longest-living populations in the world are lovers of legumes (more commonly known as beans), such as the Japanese (soy, tofu, natto, miso); the Swedes (brown beans, peas); and cultures surrounding the Mediterranean (lentils, chickpeas, white beans).
There is in fact something mighty about the lowly bean, affirms new research.* Scientists affiliated with the World Health Organization and International Union of Nutritional Sciences identified five groups of long-lived elderly people (aged 70 and older) – Japanese in Japan, Swedes in Sweden, Anglo-Celtic people in Australia, and Greeks in both Greece and Australia – and observed them for the next seven years, tracking their health status and food choices among nine different categories: vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, cereals, dairy products, meat, fish, and monounsaturated fats. A total of 785 elderly people were followed.
The researchers found that legumes were the most important dietary predictor of survival among the elderly, “regardless of their ethnicity,” they wrote. For every 20 grams increase in daily legume intake (20 grams is about three-quarters of an ounce), “there is a 7 to 8% reduction in mortality hazard ratio.”
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a more perfect food than beans,” affirms Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LV/N, Director of Nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center® & Spa in Aventura, Florida. “Beans are an excellent source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and complex carbohydrates. They’re very low in fat and virtually sodium-free. Plus, they’re filling.”
And fiber? Even the lowest-fiber bean puts most other foods to shame. A cup of high-fiber beans, like pinto or black beans, tallies up 16 grams of fiber. You’d have to eat about eight slices of whole wheat bread to get the same amount of fiber. And it’s primarily cholesterol-reducing soluble fiber, which makes beans an excellent heart-healthy alternative to meat.
You don’t have to settle for the same old pintos or garbanzos, either. Nowadays there’s a tremendous variety of beans in both markets and restaurants, like cranberry beans, black-eyed peas, pink beans, white beans, and fava beans.
So experiment. Have fun! Use them as “meaty” toppings for warm vegetable salads. Stir them into pasta sauces. Fold them into corn tortillas, snazzed up with a little salsa, shredded nonfat jalapeno cheese, and lettuce. Puree them for dips or sauces, like black bean sauce, for everything from tostadas to seafood. Combine with a jar of your favorite salsa, topped with nonfat plain yogurt, for a hearty side dish. Or just toss them into your soup pot in the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Don’t want to bother with soaking and cooking your beans? Keep cans of already-cooked beans in the pantry. Always buy “no salt added” varieties, or rinse and drain them well. Bean apetit!
* Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004; 13 (S): S126.
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