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Here at Kaia, we encourage you to try a vegan lifestyle to aid in weight loss, and keep you healthier for longer. One of the staples of the vegan diet are beans. Whats so great about the beans? Well, for one, they taste great, are simple to make, & can be added to anything for a little oomph of protein, fiber, & all around satiation.
While Kaia recommends 30g of fiber a day, American diets tend to be seriously skimpy when it comes to fiber (the average American consumes just 15 grams daily), which can be deadly to your heart & your waistline. One cup of cooked beans (or two-thirds of a can) provides about 12 grams of fiber – meat, on the other hand, contains no fiber at all.
The obvious difference in fiber means that meat is digested fairly quickly, leaving you hungry within a few hours of eating it. Beans are digested slowly, allowing you to feel full for longer. They are also low in sugar, preventing insulin from spiking in your blood steam and causing you to feel hungry.
Still thinking beans aren’t so magical? In a recent study, bean eaters weighed, on average, 7 pounds less and had slimmer waists than their bean-avoiding counterparts — yet they consumed 199 calories more per day if they were adults!
Beans also contain something else with a little magic: phytochemicals, compounds found only in plants (phyto is Greek for “plant”). Beans are high in antioxidants, a class of phytochemicals that incapacitate cell-damaging free radicals in the body. Free radicals have been linked to degenerative deseases such as cancer & Alzheimer’s.
In an agriculture study, researchers measured the antioxidant capacities of more than 100 common foods. Three types of beans made the top four: small red beans, red kidney beans, and pinto beans. And three others – black beans, navy beans, and black-eyed peas — achieved top-40 status.
Pretty magical huh?