Simply put, yes, you can eat beans while on a diabetes diet. In fact, the American Diabetes Association calls beans a diabetes superfood, and recommends that those with diabetes incorporate beans into their diet plan. Beans provide starchy complex carbohydrates. According to the American Diabetes Association, starchy foods should make up one half of your breakfast meals and one quarter of your lunches and dinners.
Dietary Fiber
Beans provide a high amount of soluble fiber. Eating soluble fiber-rich foods may help improve your diabetes health, as soluble fiber helps regulate your blood sugar levels. Soluble fiber works to slow down your body's absorption rate of sugars into your bloodstream, which may help prevent your blood glucose levels from reaching potentially unsafe highs. Diabetes increases your risk for developing heart disease. The fiber in beans may help reduce this risk because soluble fiber may help lower your blood pressure and your low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol. Fiber can also help you lose weight, an important factor in controlling the symptoms and complications associated with diabetes.
Protein
Even though beans belong to the starchy foods category on a diabetes diet plan, they also provide healthy protein. A 1/2 cup serving of cooked beans contains approximately the same amount of protein as 1 oz. of meat. Unlike meat, however, beans contain almost no saturated fat. For example, ½ cup of cooked black beans contains only 0.12 g of total saturated fat, while ½ cup of cooked red kidney beans contains only 0.06 g of total saturated fat.
Potassium
People with diabetes face increased risk of suffering from hypertension, heart disease and stroke. Beans contain high levels of potassium, a mineral that may help protect you against heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends that you include about 4,700 mg of potassium in your daily diet, and beans can help you meet this guideline. A 1 cup serving of lima beans, for example, contains 955 mg of potassium.
Menu Ideas
Beans fit easily into a variety of healthy diabetes meals. You can add cooked black beans to your green leafy salads or use them to prepare a homemade vegetarian black bean burger. Other meal ideas include adding pinto beans to a burrito, prepared with a whole grain soft tortilla and plenty of non-starchy vegetables. Additionally, you could make a fresh homemade salsa with navy beans, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and red peppers; or try preparing a chicken and white bean soup.
References
- American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Superfoods
- American Diabetes Association: Carbohydrates
- American Diabetes Association: Create Your Plate
- MayoClinic.com; Dietary Fiber: Essential For a Healthy Diet; November 2009
- USDA: National Nutrient Database
- American Heart Association; Potassium and High Blood Pressure; January 2011
