Health Benefits of Those Tiny Kidney Shaped Legumes

Did you know that there are more than 10,000 different types of legumes. Legumes are usually regarded as a staple food in the diets of poor people. However, there are many Health Benefits of those tiny kidney shaped legumes

Legumes have a high concentration of proteins and are low in fat (almost no fat) which is great for the health conscious eater. Proteins, as you know, are great health building blocks and and legumes are full of them. Also, legumes are high in antioxidants and are actually rated ahead of blueberries in their antioxidant content.

According to this article, beans, are very high in antioxidants Also, they are cheap and easy to get in the US and worldwide. Many countries have beans as they everyday food staple item (Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, etc). On the antioxidant test they rank high with a relative antioxidant value of more than 13000. Red kidney beans, the pinto beans, and the small red beans are the ones with the highest antioxidant power. White beans rank the lowest.

Sprouting legumes increases legume's nutritional value by increasing vitamins and minerals content and even the antioxidant content.

Cousens (2000) recommend to alway cook legumes. This is because legumes are rich in antinutritional factors that may prevent you from reaping it full health benefits. Cooking will eliminate thos antinutritional factors sice they are proteins and protein denature with heat.

So to have more nutrition in your daily life and reap the health benefits of those tiny kidney shaped legumes eat groundnuts, jack beans, horse beans, sweet peas, common vetch, french, pinto, black, peanuts, lentils, mung, sword beans, lima, navy, kidney, green, white, casto beans.Sources

Cousens, G. (2000) Concious Eating, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA, 2000