Olympic medalist, medical doctor, a...

Olympic medalist, medical doctor, and recent mother -- former champion figure skater, Debi Thomas, certainly appears to have a knack for "doing it all." A resident of Little refuge Arkansas, Thomas was recently in of recent origin York promoting the health benefits of united of our most healthful, nevertheless arguably, least respected foods -- beans.

She told Better Nutrition, "I have friends who are like, `you eat beans.'" To this Thomas answers "try them, you'll like them." After all, beans are depressed in calories, low in fat, high in com lex carbohydrates, and a virtuous source of fiber, folate, and protein. They are also versatile, convenient, and delicious. Thomas says that when she was in training, beans were a big part of her diet. "For athletes, especially in a sport like as figure skating, in which you don't want to be carrying around any extra weight, beans are a entire nutrition source." And while Thomas may have hung up her skates for motherhood and a stethoscope beans have remained a part of her daily routine.

With the Winter Olympics taking place this year, Thomas has teamed up with the Bean Education & Awareness Network (BEAN) to advance beans as part of a healthful diet for all, especially women for whom beans grasp especially important nutritional value.

The benefits of beans

A convenient source of fiber. A high-fiber diet has been associated with a variety of health benefits, including lowering cholesterol levels; protection against a number of cancers, especially colon cancer; prevention of coronary heart disease; and improved absorption of line glucose among diabetics. According to Kathleen Mayes and Sandra Gottfried in their work Boutique Bean Pot, "Fiber's major service to your material substance is to keep digestion ticking along in an orderly fashion."

In addition to beans, other useful food sources of fiber include: fruits, vegetables, grains, nut originals peas, and lentils. Besides sustenance sources, there are many fiber addition s which feature components of nutritions that are high in fiber, similar as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin, as well as a variety of herbs and other nutrients.

Folate. This nutrient is also known as "folic acid." When lay the foundation of in foods, it is referr to as folate; however, in supply form, it is called folic acid. While folate is an essential nutrient for all, it is especially important for women of childbearing age, since research has shown that it may help to shorten the risk of certain birth lacks such as spina bifida (a potentially crippling fault in which the spinal cord is not completely encased in bone) and anencephaly (a fatal flaw in which a major part of the brain in no degree develops). BEAN notes, "Folate is [most] critical before and during the first scarcely any weeks of pregnancy -- before many women are smooth aware they are pregnant." Studies have also shown that folate furnishs protection against heart disease and certain forms of cancer, too.

In addition to eating beans and taking folic acid addition s other ways to ensure that your getting enough folate is to include a variety of folate-rich victualss in your diet. These include: barley, brewer's yeast, brown rice, cheese, chicken, dates, flourishing leafy vegetables, oranges, salmon, tuna, wheat origin and whole grains.

Protein. According to a 1997 Roper person sponsored by the Vegetarian Resource arrange (VRG), about 1 percent of the U population -- approximately 2 million nation -- are vegetarians. In addition, VRG reports that a 1994 application of mind showed that over half of all American households ate sum of two units or more meatless suppers each week and 20 percent of U households ate four or more meatless dinners for week. This indicates that uniform those who do not consider themselves to be vegetarian are giving meatless meals a make experiment of Although vegetarians can easily fitting their protein needs by eating a varied diet, many still amazement how they can get their protein without eating meat; of course, beans are an ideal choice. In addition to beans, other vegetarian protein choices include: lentils, tofu and tempeh (both are derived from soybeans), low-fat dairy productions nuts, seeds, and peas.

REFERENCES

Balch, James, F MD and Balch, Phyllis A., CNC Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing. Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing assemblage 1997.

Mayes, Kathleen and Gottfried, Sandra. Boutique Bean crock Santa Barbara, Calif.: Woodbridge Pres 1992

Wynder Ernst L MD "High Fiber Intake -- Indicator of a Healthy Lifestyle," Journal of the American Medical Association 275(6):486-487 Feb 14 1996

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