How a small amount of black beans can add multiple health benefits. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
A recent USDA Research study involving obese mice revealed that adding cooked black beans to a high fat diet improved sensitivity to insulin and other measures often related to diabetes. The researchers found that as little as the mouse-size equivalent of a single serving a day of black beans, about a half cup for a human, lowered insulin resistance 87-percent in obese mice compared to other obese mice eating the same high-fat diet without black beans. Mice on the high-fat with black bean diet also showed decreased levels of LDLs, the so-called bad cholesterol, and triglycerides which are both risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Even more encouraging, the study found that adding black beans to the high-fat diet restored the balance of healthier bacteria in the gut, and decreasing the ratio of bacteria that’s associated with obesity.
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