More Beans Means Lower Risk of Diabetes

Fri, 02 Sep 2011
A new Costa Rican study has discovered that beans are better for your health than white rice .

The research involved 2,000 individuals; it found that those who frequently swapped a serving of white rice for that of beans were a third less likely to show symptoms which usually precede diabetes.

The body converts rice into sugar very easily. As it is highly processed, it is pure starch and starch is a lengthy chain of glucose.

Beans have much more fibre and protein compared to rice, as well a lower glycaemic index which means that they trigger lower insulin responses .

Between 1994 and 2004 diets of Costa Ricans were studied for risk factors for heart disease; there were no diabetics within the study group at the beginning of the study.

As Costa Rica has got wealthier and more urbanised, with rice consumption having increased and bean intake having decreased; the rate of diabetes has sky rocketed in the country.

Study participants who ate more white rice experienced higher blood pressure, greater levels of blood sugar, harmful fats in the blood and lower levels of "good" cholesterol.

The above factors and a high waist circumference are all factors which contribute to metabolic syndrome, a huge risk factor for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Those whose diets consisted of at least two servings of beans for each serving of white rice had a lower risk for metabolic syndrome. In those who substituted a serving of beans for a serving of white rice the risk of metabolic syndrome was reduced by 35 percent.

These results have implications for white rice eaters everywhere. Americans consume more rice than ever before, up from 9.5 pounds per person in 1980 to 21 pounds per person in 2008. On the other hand, dry bean consumption is much lower, at approximately seven pounds per person per annum, so says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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