Can you eat black beans straight from the can?
In this brief article, we will answer the question, “Can you eat black beans straight from the can?” We will also discuss the nutritional components of black beans, from where we can get these beans, how they are made, their benefits, and the downsides of beans.
Can you eat black beans straight from the can?
Yes, we can eat black beans straight from the can, the beans are cooked to some extent in the can and these are safe to eat from the can.
Black beans
Beans belong to the legume family, where plants produce shells or pods that consist of seeds inside. Black beans are considered a staple food in some cultures. Important nutrients such as plant-based proteins, folates, and a significant amount of iron are extracted from black beans.
It is mostly ingested in the United States. Types of beans such as navy beans, pinto beans, and black beans are commonly consumed in the United States. These can be purchased in dried form along with canned beans.
Some people think that canned beans are unhealthy as compared to dried beans. They don’t make it good for health benefits.
How are they made?
Beans are cooked and canned partially under high heat and pressure. At the industrial level, beans are canned firstly by rehydrating at 167-185 degrees Fahrenheit or 75 to 85 degrees centigrade. The purpose of this rehydration process is to kill microorganisms of the beans at the surface level.
After rehydration, these are treated with any additives of food that can be salt and these are scanned at high temperature and pressure.
Canned beans have less amount of polyphenol. This polyphenol is present naturally in the beans, which play a significant protective effect on the body.
Canning also alters the colour and weight of the beans and it also reduces the protein content.
Benefits of canned beans
Canned or dried beans play a significant role in managing and protecting from chronic disease.
Here are some of the health beneficial effects of canned beans,
Plant-based protein
Black beans are enriched with protein, due to this black beans are also considered as a good alternate source of meat in the diet.
The amount of protein that can be ingested by the adults are as follows:
Those who are under the age of 65
0.36 grams of protein are estimated per pound of the body (0.8 grams per kilogram). 58 grams of protein is the requirement of a human who weighs 72 kg.
Those who are over 65
0.45 grams of protein is the requirement per pound of a body (1.0 gram per kilogram).
Canned beans are a good source of proteins that can fulfil protein requirements as 1 cup of pinto canned beans can provide15.4 grams of protein.
As these are protein enriched, they can be useful for weight loss. It plays a vital role in weight management.
They also minimize the risk of many severe issues in the body such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, boosts the function of the brain, and also reduces metabolic syndromes.
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fibre is a form of carbohydrate that couldn’t be digested in the human body. It has been shown by research that it is important in many ways such as it can lower blood cholesterol levels, and also helps in weight loss.
We can extract 15 grams of fibre from cooked pinto beans while the daily requirement of the human body is 28 grams of fibre as per daily value. So, it provides more than half of the fibre from its recommended value.
Gut health
Beans are also part of prebiotic food, that’s a good nutritional source of bacteria that resides inside the gut. Beans also consist of anti-inflammatory components which help in the reduction of inflammatory conditions and it also has a quality of lowering lipid that helps to minimize the fat level of the body.
A healthy gut microbiome is also supported by black beans. The gut microbiome is the residential place of many bacteria that live in your intestine. These microbiomes are important in the maintenance of overall health, which also involves weight management.
Cost and convenience
These are not too expensive, have a long shelf life, and are easy to prepare as compared to dried beans. The major difference between canned and dried beans is: it’s not compulsory to soak canned beans in water overnight which reduces the cooking time of canned beans.
Potential downsides of canned beans
These are generally safe to eat and are a good source of nourishment but in the 2020 study some of the canned beans contain environmental contaminants in canned beans but these were very minor contaminants, it majorly focuses on the canned meat and canned fish. More research is needed to approve this fact.
Other FAQs about Beans that you may be interested in.
Can you eat dried beans without cooking them?
How to cook black beans in a rice cooker?
Can you cook dry beans in instant pot?
Conclusion
In this article, we have elaborated the difference between canned beans from dried beans, their nutritional values, its drawbacks and also mentioned the health-beneficiary factors.
