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| makes you unlikely to overdo it on other, less healthy foods. |
| Anticancer Compounds |
| Beans contain compoundslignans, saponins, isoflavones, phytic acid, and protease inhibitorsthat have been shown to help prevent cancer. Protease inhibitors, for example, can stop normal cells from becoming cancerous in the early stages of cancer. And isoflavones help deactivate potent estrogens that can lead to breast cancer. |
| F.Y.I. |
| A half-cup of black beans contains 32 percent of the RDA for folate, which can lower heart disease risk and prevent birth defects. |
| Beans contain useful amounts of iron; in fact, they have nearly the iron content of white meat or fish. That's very good news for women, who tend to be low in this mineral. |
| They're also a good source of potassium, which helps maintain heart health. |
| Healthy Protein |
| Like meat, beans are loaded with protein; unlike meat, they're not loaded with fat and calories. |
| Beans contain incomplete rather than complete protein. That means the protein is missing some of the ingredients to make it usable in your body. No problemjust do what vegetarians have been doing for centuries: combine beans with a starch such as rice that provides a complementary protein. But although beans and starches make a natural combination, you don't have to have them together in order to obtain complete protein; as long as you get two complementary proteins during the course of the day, you'll be fine. |
| Tips: |
| Don't fret if there's never time to soak and cook beans: canned beans are just as nutritious as dried beans and will do just as much to help lower cholesterol. But if you use the canned kind, be sure to rinse them well first; they're packed in sodium-laden liquid. |
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