Kidney Beans

Like their name kidney beans have a kidney like shape and are excellent choice in simmered dishes where they tend to absorb the flavor of the other foods and seasoning in which they are cooked. Like most of the other beans and legumes, kidney beans are available throughout the year in both canned and dried form.

Nutritional profile of kidney beans

Kidney beans are excellent source of molybdenum followed by good amounts of folate, manganese and dietary fiber. Kidney beans are a good source of protein and when combined with whole grains and cereals provide negligible fat and high quality proteins. They also provide good amounts of thiamin, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and vitamin K.

Kidney beans are included in high fiber foods as just a cup of kidney beans (cooked) provides 45.3% of the daily value for fiber. Like most of the other legumes it helps lower cholesterol by binding with bile and eliminating it from the body. Besides lowering cholesterol, fiber from kidney beans also help to control blood sugar levels in people with irregular glucose metabolism like in diabetes, hypoglycemia or insulin resistance. Kidney beans may help to maintain the blood sugar levels by slowly burning the energy and providing steady amounts of carbohydrates to the blood. The insoluble fiber in kidney beans helps to relieve constipation by increasing the stool bulk and may also prevent gastrointestinal disorders like diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Molybdenum is an important component of sulfite oxidase, an enzyme required for detoxification of sulfites. Sulfites when consumed in higher amounts (commonly added in prepared foods and salad bars) can cause headache, rapid heartbeat or disorientation. This reaction to sulfites is only possible when the body stores of molybdenum are low. Kidney beans are rich in this trace mineral and a cup of cooked black beans would provide 177 % of the daily value for molybdenum.

Kidney beans lower the risk of getting a heart attack and death from other coronary heart diseases. Researchers found that including legumes as a part of a healthy diet is associated with 82 % reduction in the risk of heart diseases and especially kidney beans in diet significantly lowers both LDL and total cholesterol in the body.

Submitted on January 16, 2014