Two Unlikely Friends With Benefits

Okay, I know where your mind likely just went but that's not the types of friends or benefits that we are talking about here.

Two nutritional power houses that most nutritional experts never discuss, but should, are beans and jalapeños.

Yes, beans and  jalapeños, the standard fare of most Mexican food. People forget that jalapeños are hot because of capsaicin which has been known to have some amazing health benefits. Then beans of course have a lot of stinky jokes being told about them because they are known as the musical fruit. Eat them without soaking first and you can end up sounding like you should try out for the wind section of an orchestra. 

Why eat jalapeños?

1. 1 small pepper with only around 4 calories contains about 18% of your daily vitamin C for a 2,000 calorie diet, while also offering 17% of your vitamin A requirements as well. (1)
2. A study in the journal “Cell Signal” in 2003 concluded that capsaicin is “promising” for treatment of cancer because it appears to turn off NF-kB, a protein that promotes tumor growth. (1)
   
3. Jalapeños may also have some significant arthritis benefits. Because they are natural anti inflammatory agents they typically help reduce the pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. (2)
   
4. Being a great source of antioxidants and flavanoids they have shown superb free radical scavenging abilities. We all know that we need more antioxidant rich foods in our diets and jalapeños fit the bill quite nicely. (2)
   

Why Eat Beans?

1. Beans contain a great dose of hearth healthy soluble fiber. Just like when you eat most fibers and they help to increase the transitory time of foods through the intestinal tract. Beans soluble fiber helps clean and move plaque along the artery walls so that your body can manage it and it doesn't build up. (3) 
   
2. A 1/2 cup of beans provide about 7 grams of protein. This is going to be about the same amount found in 1 ounce of chicken. This means that beans can help supply a quality source of vegetable protein to anyone's diet vegetarian or not. (3)
   
3. They can help to balance blood sugar. With their low glycemic index, fantastic blend of both protein and carbohydrates mixed with their high fiber content, beans are a blood sugar stabilization powerhouse. (3)
   
4. They keep you satisfied longer. For all the same reasons as the blood sugar control benefit above, beans also digest far slower than many other types of foods. They thereby help promote satiation and that feeling of fullness that many dieters have such a hard time with. (3)
   

Beans and jalapeños are two foods you should definitely keep in your cupboard and add to your eating regimen. They are both cheap, easy and give fantastic benefit to calorie ratios that you just can't find in most other foods.

References

1. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-jalapeno-peppers-4880.html
2. http://healthresearchfunding.org/jalapeno-health-benefits/
3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/beans-health-benefits_n_1792504.html

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