Abstract
Given the emerging health benefits of regular legume consumption, we hypothesized that the historically low legume consumption levels in US adults increased. We evaluated legume consumption patterns in US adults using cross-sectional data from the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014-year cycles of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and a 2017 cross-sectional, online survey of Oregon families named “Beans, Lentils, Peas (BLP) Survey”. We also compared legume consumption patterns between consumers below US dietary recommendations for mature legumes (<37.5 g/day, marginal), below levels showing nutritional and disease-prevention benefits (37.5-87.49 g/day, recommended); and levels demonstrating nutritional and disease prevention benefits (≥87.5 g/day; beneficial). In NHANES, legume consumption remained low in US adults and declined from 2011 to 2014 (mature legumes: 12.8 to 8.3%; dry beans: 10.0 to 6.5%). In BLP, less than 5% consumed legumes daily; approximately one-third did not consume legumes during the last month. Marginal mature-legume consumers ate a limited variety of legumes (dry beans and green legumes on a weekly to monthly basis). Beneficial amount consumers ate mature legumes daily or every other day and included chickpeas, lentils and dry peas to their legume mix. Our data suggest that legume consumption declined in US adults, warranting improved communication about the benefits of regular legume consumption.
Perera T, Russo C, Takata Y, Bobe G. Legume Consumption Patterns in US Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014 and Beans, Lentils, Peas (BLP) 2017 Survey. Nutrients. 2020 Apr 27;12(5):1237. doi: 10.3390/nu12051237. PMID: 32349355; PMCID: PMC7281997.
Here’s a link to the study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32349355/
My love of beans began when I moved to Texas and discovered fast food bean burritos. I’ve pretty much stopped eating restaurant prepared bean burritos since discovering my favorite local version has nearly 1200 mg of sodium in one burrito.
Too much sodium in my food tends to keep me in my fat jeans.
You can control the amount of salt in home cooked beans. If you are cooking with canned beans try the low sodium versions. Or if you are cooking with the regular canned varieties, rinse and drain several times before adding to your dish. This will cut down on the sodium content. Believe it or not, someone actually did a lab analysis on this:
If you’re watching your sodium intake, we have good news. In each case, draining and rinsing beans lowered the sodium by about 100 milligrams per ½-cup serving—or 20.7 to 26.5 percent.
Does Rinsing Canned Beans Remove Sodium? https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/11227-does-rinsing-canned-beans-remove-sodium
garyskitchen.net 