Benefits of Adding Green Beans to Your Daily Food Intake

What are the benefits of adding green beans to your daily food intake?

This is my post for the letter D- Dwarf Beans- and that for the letter C is- Why must you include Capsicum- Bell pepper in your daily food intake.

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D for Dwarf Beans. 

In this post, I consider the following facts and funs about dwarf beans.

• What are dwarf beans & their origin
• Did you know
• A product of South Africa
• Health Benefits of Green Beans
• A South African Product.
• Pulsus-a Cheap Supply of Protein.
• Me and Beans

Dwarf beans & their origin 

Dwarf beans are another name for the French or Common beans.  

The belief is that dwarf beans originated in Central America, Peru and Colombia.  They have been in cultivation since 7000 BC in the Tehuacán Valley in Mexico, first by the Indian tribes.  Christopher Columbus brought them to Europe and from where to the colonies-South Africa and India!  

Did you know?

In Nicaragua, newlyweds are given a bowl of beans for good luck.

In ancient Greece, there was a practice of who picked a single white bean in a load of black beans won the election for minor public positions. 

January 6 is national beans day in the US the day the geneticist Gregor Mendel passed away in 1884. That day Americans celebrate a bean dish. 

A South African Product.

Dwarf beans, a staple food in South Africa, are cultivated and available throughout.  It is easy growth in your vegetable garden during the summer months. If you can afford a tiny spot and a little time, you can provide your family with a daily supply of this fruit, rich in nutrients and count on its health benefits. It grows profusely even in a pot. 

Health Benefits of green beans

They are a rich source of Vitamins A, C and K and of folic acid and fibre.

Beans in your daily diet decrease obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Rich in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that gives fruits and veg colours.

Helps fight inflammation, a reliable source of folate and potassium that helps regulate blood pressure.

A source of protein and fibre, which helps lower cholesterol.

Boiling beans removes nutrients; eating them fresh or frozen is the best.

Eat canned beans after draining to remove the salt.

Recommended for fertility in women during the fertility age.

Help with depression.

Pulses are peas inside the pods dried and are cheap sources of protein. They have immense health benefits. 

Me and Beans

The nutrition benefits of fruits and vegetables came to my mind as a theme for the A2Z, not as an expert in nutrition or the medical profession, but purely from a learner's perspective.  Making food choices out of awareness and not taste came to my mind when faced with a health predicament in the family.  And by the fourth post in the series, I feel good for braving the decision. 

Before we shifted to Cape Town, we lived in Grahamstown, where we grew a vegetable garden and harvested green beans and other vegetables.   

 Would like to know whether the readers are benefiting from my posts.  Do you grow beans even in your flat?

This blog is for D in the series of my A2Z, lasting for the entire month and is part of the A2Z Blog chatter challenge.