Beans Are Nutritionally Unique
Beans and other legumes (such as lentils and split peas) are the ideal starchy food. When many people think of high-fiber, starch-containing foods, they think of whole grains, which are healthful foods, but beans are nutritionally superior. Beans and other legumes have uniquely high levels of fiber and resistant starch, carbohydrates that are not broken down by our digestive system. Though indigestible, these carbohydrates have a number of valuable health effects. First, because they are indigestible they reduce the total number of calories that can be absorbed from beans. Fiber and resistant starch also limit the glycemic (blood sugar raising) effects of beans. Finally, when resistant starch and some fibers reach the colon, they act as food for our healthy gut bacteria, which then ferment it into anti-cancer compounds in the colon….