| |
| Health Benefits of Common Bean |
| |
| |
|
Bean
Because of its nutritive qualities, the common bean can successfully replace meat. Its rich containment of proteins (approximately 70% of the necessary amino acids which can be found in meat), carbohydrates and the lack of toxins, it is best recommended for its benefiting effects on health.
Description
Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a herbaceous plant from the Leguminosae family. From what is known, this is one of the vegetables earliest used in alimentation, having been known for 4000 years. There are a number of hypothesis concerning the origin of the common bean: some are convinced that it originated in Central America (there are traces of beans in prehistoric tombs) while others declare that beans originate in Latin America and more precisely, Peru, from where it was brought to Europe after the discovery of America. Because of its nutritional qualities, beans can successfully replace meat. Its rich containment of proteins (approximately 70% of the necessary amino acids which can be found in meat), carbohydrates and the lack of toxins, it is best recommended for its beneficial effects on health. Moreover, beans also have the property of reducing cholesterol. Studies about this were made and they have revealed that including beans in daily alimentation leads to the drop in the value of cholesterol with 20% and 30% in best cases. Nowadays, the majority of nutritionists say that the consumption of beans is important for maintaining health of the nervous system, liver, kidneys, pancreas and bones.
Properties
Besides its proteic content, bean also contains organic and mineral substances (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, silicium, nickel, copper, and cobalt), vitamins (A1, B1, B2, B5, B6, C, E, and P1) bean also contains fibers (soluble and insoluble) with an important role in the body: it reduces the level of cholesterol, prevents constipation and colon cancer. Vitamin B2 helps prevent cardiovascular diseases while pro-vitamin B5 helps prevent cancer and blocks the growth of tumors. Bean also benefits the immune system through its anti-infectious effect which facilitates the growing of the number of leucocytes, destroying injurious microorganisms in the body. This effect is present because of chromium - a substance present in beans with the role of stimulating lymphatic ganglions.
A special species of beans in which case the pods produce no seeds (named Fructus phaseolii sine seminibus) contains arginine, asparagine, tizoline and tipofan - aminoacids with a diuretic and antidiabetic role.
Treatments and mixtures
- Bean pod tea
For preparing tea, one tablespoon of bean pods is boiled in 250 ml of water for a period of 15 to 20 minutes. From this dietetic and anti-rheumatic tea, one or two cups are drunk per day. The tea thus prepared is good for states of hydropsy (water accumulation in the tissues), heart, kidney, and urinary bladder diseases, such as cystitis. At the same time, bean pod tea helps calm spasms, normalize urination and increasing the quantity of urine, remove the excess of water from the body. As a direct consequence of this action, the body loses a great amount of toxins - an important result for the amelioration of rheumatic states. For those suffering from hyperglycemia, the consumption of dried been pod tea is recommended. Because of the specifics of this disease, the tea will not be sweetened with sugar but only with saccharin. Furthermore, in skin diseases such as acne, beans added in the daily alimentation, or consumed as a tea, contribute to the rapid removal of these problems.
- Been flour
Bean pods are rich in salicic acid, which is why they are recommended as energizers for the body. For this reason, flour obtained from beans leads to the removal of unpleasant sensations caused by eczemas, acne or other skin diseases. Manner of utilization: affected areas will be covered with cataplasms containing bean flour.
Beans in alimentation
It is important to know the fact that this vegetable plays an important part in preventing the development of diabetes. Researches have proved that the number of people suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes is surprisingly small in the case of those who have even just slightly added beans to their daily nutrition. Also, in cases of osteoporosis (atrophy of the bones), caused by a loss of calcium and metals and vitamins, or by metabolic imbalances, it has been observed that these are very rare in the cases of those who consume beans. This consequence is tied to the fact that the bean contains a series of vitamins (B5, P, B6 etc.) which prevents the loss of calcium from the body.
| |
| Other Medicinal Plants Articles |
| |
|
|
