A researcher looking into what it takes to live a longer life has named a store cupboard staple that could make a huge difference. Dan Buettner’s studies have taken him around the globe to ‘blue zones’, regions, where people enjoy exceptionally long and healthy lives.
Buettner’s findings suggest that beans are not just a superfood but the bedrock of diets in these longevity hotspots. According to him, beans are nutrient-dense, affordable, sustainable, and have been a human dietary staple for over 13 millennia.
He explained: “Beans are the ultimate longevity food. Packed with protein, fiber, and complex carbs, they’re a staple in every long-living culture.
“One study even found that eating a cup of beans a day could add four extra years to your life. No supplement can do that. If you want to live longer, eat what humans have thrived on for thousands of years.”
And what does the scientific community make of this?
A landmark study from 2001, which followed 9632 individuals, did indeed find a strong link between regular legume consumption and a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), suggesting that upping our bean intake could be crucial in preventing CHD, reports Surrey Live.
Cardiovascular disease often goes hand in hand with conditions like dyslipidemia, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, chronic inflammation, and obesity. However, research has shown that beans can help reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels, protect against cancer, and assist in weight management.
These humble legumes are packed with protein and fibre, which can keep you feeling satisfied for longer periods. They are also a rich source of copper, folic acid, iron, magnesium, and vitamin B6.
Beans have a low glycemic index score, meaning they don’t cause your blood sugar levels to spike and crash like foods made from refined grains or added sugars do.
So, which bean is the healthiest?
All beans offer health benefits, but different types provide different advantages. Lentils, for example, are packed with polyphenols – plant-based compounds with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that can help protect against diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
Just half a cup of lentils provides 115 calories, 20g of carbohydrates, 9g of protein, 0g of saturated fat, and 8g of fibre. Considering more than 90 per cent of Brits don’t get enough fibre each day, and 8g represents nearly 30 per cent of our recommended daily intake, it’s clear we could all benefit from adding more lentils to our diets.
White beans – including cannellini beans and butter beans – are particularly high in potassium, calcium, folate, and iron. Black beans, on the other hand, are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as being rich in protein and fibre.
Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans as some call them, are packed with nutrients like fibre, protein, and folate, making them a superfood for women trying to conceive. Meanwhile, red kidney beans, a UK favourite especially when paired with a spicy chilli, boast an impressive amount of plant-based iron.
Even the humble baked bean has its place in a balanced diet. Typically made from white beans such as haricot or cannellini, these beans are dished up in a rich tomato sauce seasoned with spices like paprika and onion powder.
However, it is wise to eat them as part of a healthy diet and keep an eye on the salt and sugar content – a half-can serving of store-bought baked beans can pack around 9g of sugar and 1.3g of salt.
“Beans are the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world. Why? They are complex carbohydrates, they are full of protein, and they have a lot of fibre,” explained Buettner. “They are cheap, people in blue zones know how to make them taste delicious, they are sustainable, they grow sustainably, and there is one very good study that followed a lot of people for decades, and they found that the more beans people ate, the longer they lived.
“The rough equivalency is if you are eating a cup of beans a day and you start young enough, it’s worth about four extra years of life expectancy. And I don’t know of any pill or any supplement or any superfood on Instagram that’s going to give you an extra four years of life expectancy.
“Beans have been around humans for 13,000 years. I find that if you pay attention to what we evolved with, it’s usually a pretty good prescriptive for what we should do if we want to be around longer.”