Many good reasons to eat more red beans

Both dried and canned red beans are available throughout the year. Known in most other parts of the world as kidney beans, these popular beans are in fact kidney shaped and are especially good in simmered dishes where they absorb the flavours of seasonings and the other foods with which they are cooked.

Red beans and other beans such as pinto beans, navy beans and black beans are known scientifically as Phaseolus vulgaris. They are referred to as "common beans" probably owing to the fact that they all derived from a common bean ancestor that originated in Peru.

They spread throughout South and Central America as a result of migrating Indian traders who brought red beans with them from Peru. Beans were introduced into Europe in the 15th century by Spanish explorers returning from their voyages to the New World.

Subsequently, Spanish and Portuguese traders introduced red beans into Africa and Asia. As beans are a very inexpensive form of good protein, they have become popular in many cultures throughout the world. Today, the largest commercial producers of dried common beans are India, China, Indonesia, Brazil and the United States.

Red beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fibre , as are most other beans. In addition to lowering cholesterol, kidney beans’ high fibre content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. When combined with whole grains such as rice, red beans provide virtually fat-free high quality protein. But this is far from all kidney beans have to offer.

Check a chart of the fibre content in foods and you’ll see legumes leading the pack. Red beans, like other beans, are rich in soluble and insoluble fibre. A cup of cooked kidney beans provides 45.3 percent of the recommended daily intake for fibre.

Red beans’ contribution to heart health lies not just in their fibre, but in the significant amounts of folate and magnesium these beans supply. Folate helps lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that is an intermediate product in an important metabolic process called the methylation cycle. Just one cup of cooked red beans provides more than half (57.3 percent) of the recommended daily intake for folate.

Red beans’ good supply of magnesium puts yet another plus in the column of its beneficial cardiovascular effects. Magnesium is nature’s own calcium channel blocker. When there is enough magnesium around, veins and arteries breathe a sigh of relief and relax, which lessens resistance and improves the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Studies show that a deficiency of magnesium is not only associated with heart attack but that immediately following a heart attack, lack of sufficient magnesium promotes free radical injury to the heart. Want to literally keep your heart happy? Eat red beans — a one cup serving provides 19.9 percent of your daily needs for magnesium.

In addition to providing slow burning complex carbohydrates, red beans can increase your energy by helping to replenish your iron stores. Particularly for menstruating women, who are more at risk for iron deficiency, boosting iron stores with red beans is a good idea — especially because, unlike red meat, another source of iron, red beans are low in calories and virtually fat-free. Iron is an integral component of haemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is also part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism. And remember: If you're pregnant or lactating, your needs for iron increase. Growing children and adolescents also have increased needs for iron. A one cup serving of red beans provides 28.9 percent of the daily recommended intake for iron.

Canned red beans can be found in most markets. Unlike canned vegetables, which have lost much of their nutritional value, there is little difference in the nutritional value of canned red beans and those you cook yourself.

Store dried red beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry and dark place where they will keep for up to 12 months.

Cooked red beans will keep fresh in the refrigerator for about three days if placed in a covered container.

To shorten their cooking time and make them easier to digest, red beans should be pre soaked.

Before cooking the beans, regardless of pre-soaking method, drain the soaking liquid and rinse the beans with clean water.