Food

19 Amazing Facts About Beans

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The legume family is very diverse, and its representatives grow all over the earth. Due to the peculiarity of the fruit, trees, and herbs, shrubs and vines are classified as legumes. Legumes are not only very widespread but also very useful. Perhaps only cereals are more important for human nutrition. Beans are relatively inexpensive, unpretentious, nutritious, and have a host of other health benefits. Here are some of the known and not so many things about beans:

  1. From a botanical point of view, legumes are very diverse. Among the 1,700 species, there are both herbaceous and trees over 80 m high.
  2. The largest bean is produced by Entada climbing, its fruits grow up to one and a half meters in length.
  3. All beans are covered with a very strong transparent shell. It is so effective that it allows the beans to survive the toughest conditions. For example, scientists have successfully sprouted a 10,000 year old bean found in the Arctic.
  4. Beans have an almost perfect combination of protein and fat. Therefore, eating beans instead of meat is really healthy. Moreover, the normal daily dose of beans is only about 150 g.
  5. Beans are three times as high as potatoes and six times as many as corn. There is a variety of lentils, the fruits of which contain 60% protein. At the same time, on average, legumes contain 25 – 30% proteins.
  6. Beans are rich in vitamins and other nutrients. They contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese and a number of acids.
  7. Food containing beans actively removes salts of heavy metals from the human body, so it simply needs to be consumed by residents of industrial regions.
  8. Beans contain toxins, so you should not overuse beans, as, indeed, any other food. Most of the toxins are eliminated by steeping and boiling. Beans should be discarded for problems with the pancreas, inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, gout, nephritis and circulatory failure.
  9. The homeland of beans is the Mediterranean. The Egyptians ate them 5,000 years ago. And already the ancient Romans knew that beans are good for health and were highly revered. The beans were also known and appreciated in Indian America.
  10. A peanut is not a nut at all, but a bean. China is the world leader in the production of peanuts, and almost all of the cultivated peanuts are consumed in the country. China produces about 40% of the world’s peanuts, and is not among the top five in terms of export share.
  11. In European countries, the flour from which bread is baked often contains a small (up to 1%) proportion of bean flour. Moreover, in different countries, bean flour is added for different reasons: in France, in order to improve the appearance of bakery products, in Spain – to increase the calorie content of bread.
  12. Especially for the British Navy, a variety of beans was bred, which was named so – Navy bean, that is, naval bean. In general, in many Western armies, beans form the basis of the soldier’s diet.
  13. The value of beans was first widely appreciated by Americans during the Great Depression – beans helped millions of Americans survive. Since then, canned beans have been considered food for the poor in the United States.
  14. Beans actually contribute to increased gas production in the human gastrointestinal tract. However, this action is easily neutralized by onions, dill, parsley, carrots or orange juice. But with fresh fruit, beans are not worth eating.
  15. Acids and salt slow down the digestion of the beans. Therefore, add spices and salt to a dish with beans only after the beans are fully cooked.
  16. In Mexico, there is a shrub that produces jumping beans. The moth larva inside makes them jump. The larva eats away the pod core and can move in it, “running away” from heat and light.
  17. Cocoa is also a bean. Rather, the cocoa powder, from which the popular drink is made, is obtained from the beans of the chocolate tree. The cocoa bean is not at all like a pod in shape, it rather resembles a rugby ball.
  18. Beans are not only nutritionally valuable. If the land on which other crops grow has to be fertilized, the legumes themselves produce fertilizers as they grow. Bacteria, which receive nitrogen from the atmospheric air, settle on the roots of legumes. Accordingly, the tops and roots of legumes are an excellent fertilizer.
  19. Acacia, which is very common in middle and southern latitudes, is also a legume. The tree also enriches the soil with nitrogen, like its garden cousins. And from an average size of acacia during the flowering period, beekeepers receive about 8 liters of honey.
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