Swapping beef for beans could help you shed pounds without counting a single calorie, according to new findings that show it could support weight loss while actually allowing you to eat more food each day.
A six-week trial showed participants who chose beans over meat dropped around two pounds, even though they consumed about 240 extra calories daily.
This is good news for anyone who loves a hearty meal but wants to improve their health, as simply choosing bean tacos or mixing legumes into burgers could make all the difference.
The bean-eaters also saw their LDL cholesterol levels drop more than those sticking with meat, the study revealed.
Bean-eaters saw their cholesterol levels drop by a significant amount over six weeks
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The research involved 102 healthy Finnish men with an average age of 38, who were split into two groups for the experiment.
One group continued eating their typical amount of red and processed meat – about 760 grams weekly, which provided a quarter of their protein intake.
The other group cut their meat consumption to just 200 grams per week, replacing the rest with legume-based foods.
The bean group got 20 per cent of their protein from legumes and only five per cent from meat.
Both groups kept eating their regular diets otherwise, with researchers tracking their food intake and taking blood and urine samples at the start and finish.
After six weeks, the legume group shed roughly 2 pounds, while the meat group lost only about half a pound.
What’s more, the bean-eaters weren’t restricting their food intake at all. They actually consumed around 240 more calories each day than the meat group, yet still lost more weight.
Their BMI decreased more noticeably, too. Both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol – the harmful type – fell more substantially in those eating beans compared to the meat group.
It makes perfect sense when you consider that legumes pack more fibre and beneficial fats than red meat.
But like any research, this study has its limits. The trial lasted just six weeks, which isn’t long enough to see lasting effects.
Only men participated, so we can’t say if women would see similar results. The participants tracked their own food intake, which can sometimes be unreliable.
Legumes pack more fibre and beneficial fats than red meat
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Those eating beans reported exercising more, which likely influenced the weight loss. The bean group’s vitamin B12 levels dipped slightly but stayed within healthy ranges.
Iron intake actually went up for bean-eaters, though plant-based iron isn’t absorbed as easily as meat-based iron. Both groups ended up with similar iron levels overall.
Finally, the weight loss might partly reflect temporary changes like water retention rather than permanent fat loss.