Patriot Health Digest
They are great in your Chipotle burrito, but are beans really the healthy star of the show? One person who believes they could be is longevity focused expert and founder of Blue Zones, Dan Buettner. After years of researching the planet’s longest-living humans, there is still no better food to throw on your plate when you are attempting to live past the age of 100.
In a talk given by Buettner at the Global Wellness Summit, he spoke about what those people living in the Blue Zones eat to remain healthy. While their diets had a lot of greens, tubers, whole grains, nuts, and very small amounts of animal products, beans are the unbeatable staple in every Blue Zone area.
“The star longevity food is actually beans., he says. “If you are consuming about a cup of beans per day, it is probably going to add another four years to your life expectancy.”
A cup of beans each day in exchange for all those extra years? That is a great trade-off. Buettner’s research comes from studying the Blue Zones for many years, where he found the longest-living humans always consume a full cup compared to the 1/2 cup which is recommended by official dietary guidelines.
Other studies have also confirmed just how amazing beans are for longevity. In a study done by the Journal of Tropical Medicine, people’s risk of dying was lower by 7 to 8 percent for every 20 grams of beans they consumed.
When you are at the supermarket looking for beans, experts say you should choose either a dried or canned.
If you go with canned, be sure it is low-sodium. Then, include them into anything and everything to get your daily cup.
You can use the fiber- and protein-filled food in soups, chili, burgers, salads, and much more. Most of the time, you can even put them in without even noticing they are there.
The people in the Blue Zones are showing that staying healthy and living a longer life is easier than we ever believed. And if you increase your intake of beans, you too could make your centenarian dreams come true.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
