The Lean of the Bean and the Ease of Peas
Part 1: What Makes Bean Such a Miracle Food?
Do you want to keep your body healthy and functioning at peak abilities?
Do you want to regulate your blood sugar, prevent heart disease and certain cancers, plus help promote weight loss?
Yes, of course you would, and there is a simple food out there that can do all those things: BEANS!
Beans, the common term for the food category called legumes that includes beans, peas, and lentils, are an ancient and incredible source of health benefits.
- BEANS Contain a Wide Variety of Nutrients
In the food pyramid they belong in both the meat and bean section and the vegetable section. They provide complete proteins, a rarity in plants. 1/4 cup of cooked beans, peas or lentils has the equivalent amount of protein as one ounce of meat, or 15 grams per cup. But beans provide proteins without the animal fat that meat sources provide.
- BEANS are High in Carbs
Beans are high in carbohydrates--but the good kind--complex carbohydrates that help to curb hunger and boost energy levels, resulting in weight loss.
- BEANS Give You Energy
Beans have the unique ability to release energy into the bloodstream over a sustained period of time. This gives them a low glycemic index, making them an excellent food source for diabetics, as well as protection against obesity.
- BEANS are Loaded with Fiber
Beans are not only loaded with fiber, but with soluble fiber, which has been proven to help lower cholesterol levels. Fiber is a critical nutrient especially as people age. In a 2001 study people who ate beans four times a week instead of once showed a 22% reduction in heart disease. A University of Kentucky study also showed that eating a cup of cooked beans (15 grams of fiber) every day can lower cholesterol 10% in six weeks. Women over the age of 19 should try to consume 25 grams of fiber daily, while men of same age should get 38 grams.
- BEANS Contain Antioxidants
Beans contain antioxidants that lower the risk of some cancers, particularly colorectal, according to studies. Of the top 20 antioxidants on the US Dept. of Agriculture’s list of antioxidant food sources, beans occupy spots number 1, 3, 4, and 7 with small red beans, red kidney, pinto, and black beans. Antioxidants protect against damage by free radicals and keep us looking younger.
- BEANS offer Calcium, Potassium, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Folate, and Alpha-Linolenic Acid
These nutrients that work together in key areas of the body to promote overall health. Beans have a unique compound that has been shown to keep normal cells from becoming cancerous and slow their growth. Hispanic women have half the risk of breast cancer as white women, and research credits that fact to the high content of beans in their diet.
Part 2: The Texas Two-Step of Soak and Simmer
It may surprise you to know how simple it is to prepare beans. This newsletter provides quick and easy instructions for preparing beans, or, as we like to say, the “ease of the peas.” Peas in this instance stands for all legumes--dried beans, lentils and peas!
Soak and Simmer
That’s the basic description for what we do to dried beans to rehydrate them and turn them into their miraculous little selves, ready for cooking. Some beans and all peas don’t even need the soaking step. So starting with pea soup as the easiest legume to cook, the peas go right into a pot with broth or a ham bone and water, cook for a couple hours and you have soup.
See Frontier Soups Nebraska Barnraising Green Pea Soup!
For most other beans the method is The Texas Two-Step of Soak and Simmer!
Step One: Soaking--Choose the one that fits your timing the best
Basic Soaking: Place beans into a bowl and cover by two inches with fresh water. Let the beans stand at room temperature for minimum four hours.
Quick Soak: Bring beans to a rolling boil for ten minutes. Cover, turn off heat and allow to soak for two hours.
Overnight Soak: Place beans in large bowl covered by two inches of water. We recommend keeping the bowl at room temperature for an hour or two and then refrigerate soak from 12 to 18 hours until ready to cook, or the beans may stay at room temperature for up to 12 hours before proceeding with simmering.
Note: For all soaking methods, avoid “hard water.” Use bottled water, if your tap water is considered hard.
Step Two: Simmering of Beans in Water
The simmering, or precooking stage will take from a half hour for softer beans like the navy bean or cranberry bean; firmer beans like the black bean, red kidney or garbanzo bean will require 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Then, drain and proceed with your recipe.
To check beans for doneness gently push a bean against the side of the pot with the back of your spoon. If the beans start to give, they’re ready to add to recipe. Do not cook them so long that they become mushy. If the bean is still hard, cook a bit longer. Make sure the water stays at a slow boil.
Peas and lentils are super easy. They do not require presoaking to cook right, just put them right into your soup pot and let them cook along with the other ingredients. Lentils are done in about 30 to 45 minutes, peas take about 1-1/2 to 2 hours simmering over low heat.
Beans cook best with the soak and simmer method. Beans vary in cooking times, but presoaking guarantees successful recipes. Two of Frontier Soups’ top selling bean soups, Minnesota Heartland 11-Bean Soup and Dakota Territory Beef Barley Bean Soup do not require presoaking, the long, slow cooking time takes care of the soaking time needed.
Note: Water boils at a lower temperature in high altitudes. To compensate, use more water and double the simmering time or use a pressure cooker and increase cooking time by 50%. Be sure to have thoroughly soaked the beans.
Beans Lower Your Cholesterol
The effect of adding legumes (dried beans and peas) to the diet has been shown to lower cholesterol. It's the soluble fiber among other nutrients that benefit heart health. Analysis of almost 35,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study shows that women who ate four or more servings of legumes a week was enough to decrease risk of heart disease 22 percent compared to those eating legumes less than once a week. Read Nutritional Facts...
Low Sodium Diets
More than 30% of Americans are on sodium restricted diets. Did you know Frontier Soups are packaged with no added salt? The only salt in the package is the sodium that occurs naturally in vegetables such as celery.
To cut sodium intake in the finished recipes, use low sodium broths, or dilute the broth with water. Experiment for flavor, but we like using 3/4 of the broth called for in the recipe and adding water to equal the remaining 1/4 of the broth called for. Many cooks make their own broths, or stocks, with little added salt, but it's an additional time consuming step.
For more information on reducing sodium in your diet visit Low Salt Foods.com.
Beans Fight Cancer
Here's another reason to add soup to your Fall menus. Recent Studies by British scientists have shown that the compound - inositol pentakisphosphate - found in most legumes (such as LENTILS, PEAS and BEANS) and in wheat bran and nuts inhibits a key enzyme involved in tumor growth. In the study the compound was tested in mouse models and on cancer cells. Not only was it found in inhibit the growth of tumors in mice, but the phosphate also enhanced the effect of cytotoxic drugs on ovarian and lung cancer cells. Read Full Article
Do you know beans about beans?
Not only does bean soup make a great tasting meal, it offers terrific nutritional value as well. Beans are part of the legume family including beans, peas, and lentils. They provide two kinds of fiber. Soluble fiber acts like a little sponge to mop up the bad LDL and lower cholesterol, a foil against heart disease. You get this kind of fiber in cereal. But beans also contain insoluble fiber that provides roughage that aids digestion and intestinal health, and has been shown in studies to contribute to weight loss.
In addition beans, especially pintos and kidney beans contain omega 3’s, an important nutrient that scientists are finding have hopeful correlations as an anti-inflammatory for arthritis and heart disease, and with mental health. Legumes contribute potassium, magnesium, and folic acid to the diet—minerals chronically deficient in the standard American diet, and vital for the normal functioning of the heart and circulatory system.
*The Weston A. Price Foundation, Feb. 2007. For more information go to www.westonaprice.org.
Soup: "A Healthy Meal Plan."
Frontier Soups contain no added salt, no preservatives, no MSG and are trans-fat free. Eating soup makes it easy to eat right.
Eating right is a major concern of Americans. School lunch programs are under fire for not providing enough health wise options for children and everyone knows many Americans are over weight and suffer from related health problems. Frontier Soups 33 dried mixes for home preparation offer wholesome and delicious soup meals that feature a wide range of ingredients and recipe options.
Mireille Guiliano in her recent top seller book French Women Don't Get Fat makes a case for eating soup - French women do five times a week! Frontier Soups mixes offer a real solution to the what-to-serve-for-dinner dilemma that delivers real nutrition, diverse menus and the comfort and convenience of home cooking. The following articles give additional real reasons to eat right and eat soup!
Eat Beans, Live Longer
Dried beans aren't just hearty-they're also good for your heart. According to a 2002 report by James Anderson and Amy Major of the Metabolic Research Group at the University of Kentucky, dried beans-such as black beans, cannellini beans and chickpeas - can reduce cholesterol levels and prevent heart disease because of their levels of soluble fiber. Their high-fiber content can also help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of hypertension, and their low glycemic index (a ranking of carbohydrates and their effect on blood sugar levels) has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes. Eating dried beans can also help you lose weight, because they stimulate hormones that decrease hunger. A recent Australian study even found a positive correlation between eating dried beans and longevity.
Top 20 Antioxidants
Department of Agriculture nutrition scientists have used the latest technologies to tabulate antioxidant levels in over 100 types of vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, and spices. Antioxidants are believed to help oppose damage done by molecules within the body - "free radicals" - that are associated with cancer and aging.
This list below features dried beans as numbers 1, 3, 4, and 18. Frontier Soups' products offer a good source of key antioxidants, and don't forget #7 - artichokes are added to our California Chili!
- Small Red Beans (Dried Legumes)
- Wild Blueberries
- Red Kidney Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Blueberries, cultivated
- Cranberries
- Artichokes, cooked
- Blackberries
- Prunes
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Red Delicious Apples
- Granny Smith Apples
- Pecans
- Sweet Cherries
- Black Plums
- Russet Potatoes, cooked
- Black Beans, dried
- Plums
- Gala Apples
Eat Big Food - The Diet That Works
Besides being delicious, soup has a positive function as part of a healthy diet. In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal article, "Eat Big Food" explains why eating soup helps weight control. See April 22, 2003, "The Diet That Works" in the Wall Street Journal for more dieting techniques validated by research studies.
"A Pennsylvania State University study fed normal-weight women over two days. The women ate as much as they wanted of different types of high-calorie and low-calorie foods.
When researchers tallied the women's intake, they found the women instinctively ate about three pounds of food a day. The calorie content didn't seem important to the women in determining how much they ate--even when it dropped by 30%. In other words, the women seemed satisfied by a certain volume of food, not calories.
So the trick for the dieter isn't to eat less food, but to pick foods that pack relatively few calories by weight, says Barbara J. Rolls, the Penn State nutrition professor and author of the "volumetrics" diet books. An easy way to do this is to think big. Choose foods that are bulked up by water or fiber. For instance, for 100 calories, you can eat a quarter-cup of raisins or two cups of grapes. Adding vegetables can double the size of a pasta dish without much of a calorie increase.
Soups are also big food - even though liquid calories usually don't satisfy hunger. The reason could be psychological, or it may simply be that soups are more substantive, so the body treats them as a food.
The difference soup can make is startling. In one study, women were given 1 1/3 cups of chicken-rice casserole and a 10-ounce glass of water to drink. Another day, the water was mixed with the casserole, turning it into 2 cups of soup. Both portions contained 270 calories.
After the main course, the women could eat other foods. The casserole group consumed 396 calories for lunch. The soup group stopped at 289 calories. The body, it appears, didn't factor in the water when it was consumed as a beverage, but bulking up the casserole with water made the meal more satisfying."
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