BEAN KNOWLEDGE

What Is a Bean?

Beans are part of the legume family! Beans’ seedpods split into two halves. The part of the bean plant we eat as humans is the seed that grows inside of the pod.

What Is a Legume?

Legume are a family of plants. They have nodules on their roots that contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria. That means they naturally create nitrogen as a fertilizer for themselves and the soil around them! Legumes include beans, soybeans, peas and lentils.

bean nutrition information

EAT YOUR BEANS!

Everyone should strive to increase their vegetables and fruit intake, including eating a minimum of 1 ½ cups of beans each week. A standard single serving size for beans is ½ a cup. Beans are the one exception to the federal government’s MyPlate campaign: they fall into both the vegetable and the protein groups.
Beans are rich in protein, iron, zinc, fiber, folate and potassium. They are also low in, or free of, things you should avoid like saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol (nutritionfacts.org).

Beans contribute to regulation of blood sugar, insulin levels and cholesterol.
It is recommended we consume 3 servings of beans a day, which is easy to do! See our recipes for more inspiration on how to incorporate beans into your daily diet.