Beans, peas and lentels are in the legume family and are
excellent food choices. Legumes are healthy complex
carbohydrates, full of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber.
They are a good source of protein, although they do not have all
the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) that the body
needs, so supplement your legumes with a variety of foods to get
the complete protein your body needs.
Beans have also been shown to help lower the risk of Diabetes
and heart disease. Eating a cup of cooked beans a day can lower
your total cholesterol by up to 10% in 6 weeks, which decreases
your risk of heart disease by 20%. The phytonutrients in beans
also help lower the risk of cancer.
Canned beans will give you the much of the same benefits as
dried beans, so if you don't like to cook your beans from
scratch, canned beans are a good alternative.
Some people avoid beans because of the gas and bloating that
beans cause. This can be avoided in several ways. First always
soak your dried beans overnight, and then discard that water and
replace it with fresh water before you cook the beans. If beans
still cause you problems, you might try gradually increasing the
amount of beans you eat over several week, to help your body
adapt. You could also try the product "Beano" found in most
stores. It works well for most people.
Seeds and nuts can also be an important source of healthy fiber,
plus they are often satisfying and help control the appetite.
Nuts and seeds are full of healthy unprocessed monosaturated
fats as well.
You might also seriously consider adding bean and seed sprouts
to your
diet, if you don't eat them already. The nutritional
content of sprouts is many times greater than the original seed
or bean it sprouted from. Sprouts have the highest concentration
of nutrition per calorie than any food. They are also known for
their high enzyme activity, which is never surpassed in any
other stage of plant growth.
Beans are almost always a good food choice, but one exception to
this is soybeans. Although soy is a popular "healthy" additive
to food today, originally the Chinese did not eat soybeans as
they did other beans because they knew that soybeans contained
harmful substances. Soybeans contain powerful enzyme inhibitors
which block the action of the enzymes the body needs for protein
digestion. Even cooking them does not get rid of these
substances, which cause gas and bloating, as well as other very
serious problems in the body, like cancer and blood clots.
The only soy products that do not cause these health problems
are the traditional fermented soy products, such as tempeh,
natto, miso and shoyu (tamari or soy sauce,) since the lengthy
fermentation process seems to get rid of most of the harmful
substances, and allow the soy to be easily digested. All other
soy products should be avoided, and definitely not used as a
replacement for meat in the diet.
