February is the month for hearts! Between February as the designated heart health awareness month and Valentines Day it is a good month to look at the heart healthy side of the gluten-free lifestyle. So we included information and yummy recipes featuring beans and some of our healthy products.

Beans – a gluten-free gold mine!
When you first learned about all the foods that are naturally gluten-free, it's pretty good guess that you weren't jumping up and down with excitement when you found out you could eat any kind of bean you wanted.

When you have to give up several common grains and all the products that are made with them, beans seem a lowly consolation prize.

But in addition to being gluten-free, beans are packed with nutrition, low in calories, economical, readily available and pretty tasty if you know how to prepare them. They are also becoming more popular in the US as Americans try different types of ethnic foods that frequently use beans.

Pound for pound, beans are a great source of key nutrients for significantly less money and less fat than meat. Beans as a group offer approximately six to seven grams of protein per half-cup serving, which is equal to a one-ounce serving of lean meat.

In addition, beans are very low in fat, and a great heart healthy food. Beans do not contain cholesterol and offer other nutrients that animal proteins do not. For example, beans are a rich source of fiber. Each ½ cup serving offers approximately six grams of fiber, which is 25 to 30 percent of the daily recommended amount of fiber.

Even better, it is soluble fiber, which means it forms a gel like substance in the intestine that binds fats. A diet rich in soluble fiber is associated with decreased risks of colon cancer and heart disease and helps reduce cholesterol levels.

Beans need partners
However, most beans do not have a complete protein profile, which means they have to be combined with another grain, seed or nut to get the balance of amino acids equivalent to the protein found in animal sources (Soybeans are an exception and have complete protein profile on their own). Combining beans with grains, seeds or nuts may sound tricky, but you will find that many recipes already mix beans with grains, nuts or seeds.

Most traditional bean recipes call for the very combinations necessary to provide the same protein you would get from a serving of chicken or steak. Examples include beans and rice, vegetable curry with cashews, buckwheat pancakes with hazelnut spread, and lentil soup with a slice of bread. The bonus with the bean-based dish is that you get added fiber and other nutrients without all the added fat and extra calories.

In general, beans are also good sources of B complex vitamins especially thiamin and folate. Beans also contain minerals, including iron, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, potassium, calcium, copper and zinc. However, the mineral content is not easily absorbed by the body without help from foods that are high in vitamin C. So combining beans with foods like tomatoes, broccoli, cabbages, collards, kale, peppers, and snow peas, provides the ascorbic acid needed to release the minerals in beans.

Fruit that is rich in vitamin C, like cantaloupe, citrus fruits, guava, papaya, and strawberries also enhances release of the minerals from beans in the body. For example a marinated bean salad with citrus or papaya chunks tastes great and is rich in nutrients that when combined are extremely well absorbed by the body A fruit smoothie of berries and silken tofu, which is a form of soybeans, is a great source of protein, calcium and iron.

Another way to enhance the availability of the bound nutrients in beans is to add a bit of animal protein to the dish, either ground turkey, beef, or fish to a bean stew. Traditional tacos with beans and some ground meat or Mediterranean fish stew are good examples and tasty ways to stay gluten-free and heart healthy!

Follow this link to our featured recipes.

Summarized from an article written by Anne R. Lee for Gluten-free Living