NUTRITIOUS BEANS presented Ellie Steele RD
at the October Meeting of the CCA
One of the best sources of nutrition in the diet is beans and legumes. They offer an inexpensive, readily available source of many nutrients, and they are Gluten free.
This passage on beans is taken from “Full of Beans” by Violet Currie & Kay Spicer, Gordon Soules Book Publishers:
“Beans rate as the richest source of vegetable protein, a very high source of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber and a fabulous source of non-sweet complex carbohydrate, making them a marvelous source of energy. They supply impressive amounts of the B-vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, thiamin and folic acid), calcium, iron, phosphorous, potassium, zinc and some trace elements. All are positive nutritional qualities that health professionals recommend for healthy choices.”
As well they have no cholesterol or gluten and very little sodium and fat. They are recommended for the diabetic and weight conscious people.
They are on the list of Low Glycemic Index foods that are so popular in the literature now. (to be explained later)
Dried beans are a great substitute for other protein foods like meat although they do not contain all the essential amino acids that meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy foods do. That is why cereals and legumes are often paired together. The methionine that is low in beans is high in cereals and the lysine that is low in grains are high in beans. So dishes like Mexican beans with Corn tortillas or Cuban black beans and rice or hummus with tahini and Boston baked Beans t-with GF bread all complete the protein when consumed together.
WHY? Does this matter?? Well, almost 2 decades ago it was determined that Celiacs are grossly lacking in many nutrients including the B vitamins and in another smaller study in 1992 by Sabry (who was my Thesis adviser many moons ago) and Okada indicated that Celiacs eat fewer grain products and more fat and fruits and vegetables than non-celiacs. Therefore their diets are lower in thiamin, riboflavin, iron, and calcium.
At the time of their study 35 / 368 GF products were enriched with B vitamins. GF cereals are lower in folate, iron and fiber.
Therefore celiacs need to add Buckwheat for Niacin,
Quinoa for Riboflavin and
Oats for Thiamin.
Rice flour , Potato Starch, Tapioca starch, and Cornstarch have almost negligible amounts of these.
To increase iron you need 2 iron rich foods per day from whole grain GF flours or Specialty GF grains.
Also a multi-vitamin with mineral and iron helps and always take that iron-rich food or vitamin with Vitamin C.
Luckily some companies are rising to the need and now fortifying some of their products with these important nutrients.
Please take time to read and DIGEST the information in the Rate your Plate article in the Celiac News Vol17 Issue2 by Mavis Molloy RDN who presented at the CCA Convention in Kamloops.
Also on pages 34 & 35 of Bette Hagman’s Bread Cookbook there is a comprehensive chart comparing the various GF flours and products . The bean flours and the new garfava and sorghum flours most definitely need to be in all your meal plans. Also, honorable mentions go to Amaranth, Quinoa, Millet and Buckwheat.
Marg also put some of the info from this article in the newsletter on Fiber recommending 20-25g per day. Some recent research is actually pushing these levels up to a 30-35 g/day recommendation. Note how high beans rate in fiber.
Newly Diagnosed patients may need to go gentling into this area until their bowel villi have returned to good health and inflammation id down. They would benefit from small amounts of well ground flax as would all celiacs and non-celiacs and work up to 2 Tbsp a day.
Also take a look at the chart in the Rate your Plate page 9 for a list on Non-Cereal Food Sources for all the missing nutrients and you will see LEGUMES or Beans in 5 of the 7.
GLYCEMIC INDEX What is this? The Glycemic Index compares the rise in blood glucose after different carbohydrates foods are eaten, to the rise in blood glucose that occurs when the same person eats the same amount of carbohydrate as white bread or glucose. Slowly digested foods have a low glycemic index, while more rapidly digested foods have a higher glycemic index, closer to that of white bread.
In the early 1980’s, Dr. Jenkins and group developed this GI tool to distinguish foods with low or high GI. This is now a popular way to teach healthy foods for diabetic, high cholesterol and overweight patients in many European countries and Australia. In Australia, they even label their foods with the known GI rating like an ad or selling feature. Canadian Diabetes Assoc now accepts it as important concept but USA is dragging their feet.
Guess what? BEANS or LEGUMES rate way up there for LOW GI foods. Although GF breads were not tested it makes predictable sense that the celiac gut will respond favorably to foods lower in GI.
There are some surprises in these lists as some foods are lower than one would predict. Apparently the GI is influenced by the type of CHO, the amylose:amylopectin ratio, ripeness, degree of grinding, particle size, extent of gelatinization, food processing or preparation procedures including cooking and s the amount or soluble fiber. Therefore pasta and par-boiled rice were lower and OATS won a top prize.
In fact, there is some suggestion that the refined grains we have been eating all these years has placed unusual stress on the first few inches or feet of the small intestine and rendered the last several feet unchallenged. So maybe this is why we have an increase in Celiac disease from the stress of an atrophied or over used small bowel that weakens the immunity.
Cooking with bean flours is a challenge. You don’t have to use solely bean flours, just some in with the less valuable yet tastier ones.
Bean flours are stronger in flavor so you need to mask this with brown or maple sugar, molasses, chocolate or applesauce in the recipe. Add sorghum flour to the bean flour to cut the bitterness and use with pumpkin, molasses and rhubarb. Bette Hagman has put many hours into this research so use her recipes to start. She is totally sold on their value. The bread baking demo at Marg last year taught her Four Flour Bean Bread.
Bean flour has more protein so bread rises higher and product is more tender. If the flour is labeled micronized, processed, pre-cooked or toasted the company have treated it to reduce the flatulence effects.
TYPES:
Garbanzo or chickpea
Garfava—garbanzo and fava
Fava is a broad bean that tastes sweet & buttery
Whole bean flour- from Romano or cranberry beans
White pea bean or navy beans(see book from Ontario Beans)
All bean flours are interchangeable. Try some to thicken sauces and gravies.
Sorghum or Jowar, is a millet-like grain high in fiber, starch and protein and rich in fat-soluble and B-vitamins. It is sweet and browns well when baked.
Also we can easily incorporate Beans without baking. Bean salads, hummus, dips, Mexican dishes East Indian dishes and Canadian Baked Beans are all at our fingertips.