Vegetable - Flat Beans - Health Benefits

Flat beans or Lima beans

1. Lower Your Heart Attack Risk :
   • Flat beans or Lima 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. Elevated blood levels of homocysteine are an independent risk factor for heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease, and are found in between 20-40% of patients with heart disease. It has been estimated that consumption of 100% of the daily value (DV) of folate would, by itself, reduce the number of heart attacks suffered by Americans each year by 10%.
   • Flat 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 enough magnesium is 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 Lima beans.
2. Stabilizing Blood Sugar :In addition to its beneficial effects on the digestive system and the heart, Flat beans soluble fibre helps stabilize blood sugar levels. If you have insulin resistance, hypoglycemia or diabetes, Lima beans can really help you balance blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy. Studies of high fibre diets and blood sugar levels have shown the dramatic benefits provided by these high fibre foods. Researchers compared two groups of people with type 2 diabetes who were fed different amounts of high fibre foods. One group ate the standard American Diabetic diet, which contained 24 grams of fiber/day, while the other group ate a diet containing 50 grams of fibre/day. Those who ate the diet higher in fibre had lower levels of both plasma glucose (blood sugar) and insulin (the hormone that helps blood sugar get into cells). The high fibre group also reduced their total cholesterol by nearly 7%, their triglyceride levels by 10.2% and their VLDL (Very Low Density Lipoprotein--the most dangerous form of cholesterol) levels by 12.5%.
3. Iron for Energy :In addition to providing slow burning complex carbohydrates, lima beans can increase your energy by helping to replenish your iron stores. A cup of Lima beans contains 24.9% of the daily value for this important mineral. Particularly for menstruating women, who are more at risk for iron deficiency, adding to their iron stores with Lima beans is a good idea—especially because, unlike red meat, another source of iron, Lima 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.
4. Energy Production and Antioxidant Defend :Lima beans are a very good source of the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defends. For example, the key oxidative enzyme super-oxide dismutase, which disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells), requires manganese.
5. Protein Power Plus : Lima's are a good source of protein, and when combined with a whole grain such as whole wheat pasta or brown rice, provide protein comparable to that of meat or dairy foods without the high calories or saturated fat found in these foods. And, when you get your protein from lima beans, you also get the blood sugar stabilizing and heart health benefits of the soluble fibre provided by these versatile legumes. A cup of Lima beans will provide you with 13 grams of fibre and almost 15 grams of protein. All this for a cost of only 216 calories with virtually no fat.

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