Scientists Shocked to Discover Even More Health Benefits of Beans

Although legumes, such as lentils, chick peas and dried beans are an integral part of diets in other parts of the world, they are generally not featured prominently in western diets. But will this change in light of new research indicating they may improve the health of diabetics?

In the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, scientists made some discoveries that could catapult this somewhat underappreciated food into a realm of greater importance. Researchers found that merely changing the diet can aid in lessening some of the symptoms of diabetics, as well as reducing their risk of heart disease. Moreover, rather than taking years to see improvements, the benefits can be noted in as little as a few months.

Study suggests eating beans can lead to less dependence on diabetic meds.

Canadian researchers worked with 121 type 2 diabetic patients, monitoring parameters like blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol. Half of the participants were instructed to add a cup of legumes to their diet each day, while the other half was asked to incorporate more whole wheat products into their diet.

At the end of three months the participants were retested. Both groups saw a reduction in a marker of average blood sugar, but the reduction was a little larger in the legume group. The magnitude of these reductions were considered “therapeutically meaningful,” which indicates they could result in less diabetic symptoms along with lower doses of medication needed to control blood sugar levels.

On top of this advantage, scientists discovered an additional benefit they did not expect — the legume group experienced a significant drop in blood pressure. Lead author David Jenkins states, “That came as a shock to us.”

Experts laud the health benefits of beans.

Researchers say the positive findings translate into better diabetes control and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Jenkins advises incorporating more legumes into the diet, noting, “They will help you keep your blood pressure down and your blood glucose under control, and help you keep your cholesterol down.”

Samantha Heller, a clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., adds her voice to the experts extolling the benefits of beans. “Not only do legumes have a relatively low glycemic index, they are loaded with fiber, antioxidants, protein, vitamins and minerals,” she says.

Also read: Can beans clear your brain fog?: 6 Foods That Clear Brain Fog

In addition to being heart-healthy, they are more affordable than less healthy red meat and processed meat, Heller points out. Dishes like lentil soup and bean chili are healthful substitutions for meals featuring red meat. She also suggests that beans make an excellent addition to salads and burritos, along with pasta sauces and dips.

Article Sources:

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/23/can-chick-peas-and-lentils-help-to-control-diabetes

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/10/22/beans-a-boon-for-people-with-diabetes-study-finds

http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20121022/bean-diet-health

Peanuts cut Type 2 diabetes risk, hunger

They're inexpensive, they're childhood lunchbox staples, and now a new study indicates that peanut butter and peanuts, when eaten for breakfast, can curb hunger and control blood sugar levels throughout the day.

The small study, published this month in the British Journal of Nutrition, involved 15 obese women with high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The findings, researchers say, are promising because peanuts and peanut butter may help overweight people control their appetites. And the foods, which are already common worldwide, aid in keeping blood sugars stable - something that's important to a population at risk for Type 2 diabetes.

The scientists tested the dietary effects of peanuts and peanut butter in three phases. In one phase, the women ate 1.5 ounces of peanuts for breakfast, along with orange juice and Cream of Wheat cereal. In another phase, the same women substituted 3 tablespoons of peanut butter for the peanuts. The third, the "control phase," was given just the juice and cereal.

When the women ate peanuts or peanut butter, they reported a lower-than-usual desire to eat for up to 12 hours after breakfast. The women's blood samples revealed that when they ate peanuts and peanut butter, their production of an appetite-suppressing hormone called peptide YY increased.

Blood sugar levels, which naturally rise as the body digests food after meals, did not rise as much after breakfasts that included peanuts and peanut butter. And although the women didn't eat peanut products at lunch, their blood sugar levels didn't rise as much as usual after that midday meal.

Peanut butter yielded slightly better results than whole peanuts. But, in both cases, researchers credit peanuts' high levels of protein and healthy fats for their ability to stave off hunger. Peanuts have about 8 grams of protein per ounce - the highest of any nut.

This Is Your Brain on Coffee

This column appears in the June 9 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

For hundreds of years, coffee has been one of the two or three most popular beverages on earth. But it’s only recently that scientists are figuring out that the drink has notable health benefits. In one large-scale epidemiological study from last year, researchers primarily at the National Cancer Institute parsed health information from more than 400,000 volunteers, ages 50 to 71, who were free of major diseases at the study’s start in 1995. By 2008, more than 50,000 of the participants had died. But men who reported drinking two or three cups of coffee a day were 10 percent less likely to have died than those who didn’t drink coffee, while women drinking the same amount had 13 percent less risk of dying during the study. It’s not clear exactly what coffee had to do with their longevity, but the correlation is striking.

Other recent studies have linked moderate coffee drinking — the equivalent of three or four 5-ounce cups of coffee a day or a single venti-size Starbucks — with more specific advantages: a reduction in the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, basal cell carcinoma (the most common skin cancer), prostate cancer, oral cancer and breast cancer recurrence.

Perhaps most consequential, animal experiments show that caffeine may reshape the biochemical environment inside our brains in ways that could stave off dementia. In a 2012 experiment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mice were briefly starved of oxygen, causing them to lose the ability to form memories. Half of the mice received a dose of caffeine that was the equivalent of several cups of coffee. After they were reoxygenated, the caffeinated mice regained their ability to form new memories 33 percent faster than the uncaffeinated. Close examination of the animals’ brain tissue showed that the caffeine disrupted the action of adenosine, a substance inside cells that usually provides energy, but can become destructive if it leaks out when the cells are injured or under stress. The escaped adenosine can jump-start a biochemical cascade leading to inflammation, which can disrupt the function of neurons, and potentially contribute to neurodegeneration or, in other words, dementia.

In a 2012 study of humans, researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami tested the blood levels of caffeine in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, or the first glimmer of serious forgetfulness, a common precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, and then re-evaluated them two to four years later. Participants with little or no caffeine circulating in their bloodstreams were far more likely to have progressed to full-blown Alzheimer’s than those whose blood indicated they’d had about three cups’ worth of caffeine.

There’s still much to be learned about the effects of coffee. “We don’t know whether blocking the action of adenosine is sufficient” to prevent or lessen the effects of dementia, says Dr. Gregory G. Freund, a professor of pathology at the University of Illinois who led the 2012 study of mice. It is also unclear whether caffeine by itself provides the benefits associated with coffee drinking or if coffee contains other valuable ingredients. In a 2011 study by the same researchers at the University of South Florida, for instance, mice genetically bred to develop Alzheimer’s and then given caffeine alone did not fare as well on memory tests as those provided with actual coffee. Nor is there any evidence that mixing caffeine with large amounts of sugar, as in energy drinks, is healthful. But a cup or three of coffee “has been popular for a long, long time,” Dr. Freund says, “and there’s probably good reasons for that.”