Black beans. Pinto beans. Cannellini. How do they stack up nutritionally?

In many ways, beans are the ultimate power plants. These little superfoods are packed with essential vitamins and minerals, protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber, resistant starch, and antioxidants—and they generally have approximately 120 calories per half cup of cooked beans. They’re also low in fat, versatile for cooking, and inexpensive.
在许多方面，豆类是终极发电厂。这些小小的超级食物富含必需的维生素和矿物质、蛋白质、复合碳水化合物、纤维、抗性淀粉和抗氧化剂——每半杯煮熟的豆子通常含有大约 120 卡路里的热量。它们的脂肪含量也很低，用途广泛，而且价格低廉。 

Considered members of the legume family because they grow in pods, beans are incredibly beneficial for your health. “Because of their high concentration of health-promoting nutrients, consuming more beans could improve overall health and also decrease the risk of developing certain diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and many types of cancer,” says Julie Garden-Robinson, a professor and food and nutrition specialist at the North Dakota State University in Fargo.
豆类被认为是豆科植物的成员，因为它们生长在豆荚中，对您的健康非常有益。“由于它们含有高浓度的促进健康的营养物质，食用更多的豆类可以改善整体健康状况，还可以降低患某些疾病的风险，包括心脏病、糖尿病和多种类型的癌症，”法戈北达科他州立大学教授兼食品和营养专家朱莉·加登-罗宾逊说。

(Should you soak beans before cooking them?)
（你应该在煮豆子之前浸泡它们吗？

Eating beans may help with weight control, according to a study published in a March 2024 issue of Nutrition Journal. Previous studies have also found that regularly eating beans decreases total cholesterol and (harmful) LDL cholesterol and reduces the blood sugar spike that normally occurs after eating.
吃豆类可能有助于控制体重，根据 2024 年 3 月发表在《营养学杂志》上的一项研究。以前的研究还发现，经常吃豆类可以降低总胆固醇和（有害的）低密度脂蛋白胆固醇，并减少饭后通常发生的血糖飙升。

And yet, most people aren’t consuming the recommended amount of beans on a regular basis. “I think it’s because people don’t know more than one or two ways to use them or they think they don’t like beans because they’ve only had them one way,” says Chelsea Didinger, a nutritionist in Fort Collins, Colorado, and founder of A Legume a Day. “It’s easy to include them in so many different ways.”
然而，大多数人并没有定期食用推荐量的豆类。“我认为这是因为人们不知道一两种使用它们的方法，或者他们认为他们不喜欢豆子，因为他们只有一种方式，”科罗拉多州柯林斯堡的营养学家、A Legume a Day 的创始人 Chelsea Didinger 说。“以许多不同的方式包含它们很容易。”

Here’s a closer look at how various beans compare in terms of flavor and nutrients—and how to easily incorporate them into your meals:
以下是各种豆类在风味和营养成分方面的比较，以及如何轻松地将它们融入您的膳食中： 

Black beans 黑豆

Black beans have been dietary staples in Central and South American cuisines for more than 7,000 years, and in recent years, their popularity has grown significantly in the United States. When cooked, black beans have a creamy white interior, even as they retain their dark coats, and a meaty flavor.
7,000 多年来，黑豆一直是中美洲和南美洲美食的主食，近年来，它们在美国的受欢迎程度显着增长。煮熟后，黑豆内部呈乳白色，即使它们保留了深色外皮和肉味。 

Nutrients: Cooked black beans are a rich source of protein and fiber, plus they contain good amounts of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and folate, according to the USDA. They’re also a good source of choline, a lesser-known nutrient that your brain and nervous system use to regulate memory, mood, muscle control, and other essential functions.
营养素：根据美国农业部的数据，煮熟的黑豆是蛋白质和纤维的丰富来源，此外它们还含有大量的钙、铁、钾、镁、磷和叶酸。它们也是胆碱的良好来源，胆碱是一种鲜为人知的营养素，您的大脑和神经系统用它来调节记忆、情绪、肌肉控制和其他基本功能。

(Which this type of carb is so good for your gut health.)
（这种类型的碳水化合物对您的肠道健康非常有益。

Noteworthy health benefits: What’s more, research has found that eating cooked black beans has beneficial effects on blood vessels and vascular function and lowers harmful LDL-cholesterol concentrations, which could decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
值得注意的健康益处： 更重要的是，研究发现，吃煮熟的黑豆对血管和血管功能有有益的影响，并降低有害的低密度脂蛋白胆固醇浓度，从而降低患心血管疾病的风险。

How to get more in your diet: If your black bean consumption ends with black-bean dip or black bean soup, you’re missing out on so many possibilities. These earthy-flavored beans can be incorporated in chilis, tacos, quesadillas, stews, salads, and even some desserts.
如何在饮食中获得更多：如果您的黑豆消费以黑豆蘸酱或黑豆汤结束，那么您就错过了很多可能性。这些泥土味的豆子可以加入辣椒、炸玉米饼、油炸玉米饼、炖菜、沙拉，甚至一些甜点中。

“Including puréed black beans in brownie batter provides extra fudginess and a dose of nutrition,” says Jackie Newgent, a plant-forward culinary nutritionist based in Los Angeles and author of The Plant-Based Diabetes Cookbook.
“在布朗尼面糊中加入黑豆泥可以提供额外的软糖和营养，”洛杉矶的植物性烹饪营养学家、《植物性糖尿病食谱》的作者 Jackie Newgent 说。

Cranberry beans 蔓越莓豆

These brown-pink-red-and-beige speckled beans (a.k.a., borlotti beans) are featured in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese cuisines. When cooked, the specks disappear, giving way to a creamy texture and a nutty, slightly sweet flavor.
这些棕粉红和米色的斑点豆（又名 borlotti 豆）出现在意大利、西班牙和葡萄牙美食中。煮熟后，斑点消失，取而代之的是奶油质地和坚果味，略带甜味。

Nutrients: Besides being excellent sources of protein and fiber, these beans contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and folate.
营养素： 除了是蛋白质和纤维的极好来源外，这些豆类还含有钙、铁、镁、磷、钾和叶酸。

Noteworthy health benefits: Additionally, research has found that cranberry beans are rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals that have anti-inflammatory properties. Antioxidants may prevent or slow damage (a.k.a., oxidative stress) to your cells from unstable molecules called free radicals.
值得注意的健康益处：此外，研究发现，蔓越莓豆富含抗氧化剂和具有抗炎特性的植物化学物质。抗氧化剂可以防止或减缓称为自由基的不稳定分子对细胞的损害（又名氧化应激）。

How to get more in your diet: They are used in pasta e fagioli (an Italian stew), as well as other stews, soups, casseroles, salads, and rice or quinoa dishes.
如何在饮食中获得更多：它们用于意大利面 e fagioli（一种意大利炖菜），以及其他炖菜、汤、砂锅菜、沙拉和米饭或藜麦菜肴。

Kidney beans 芸豆

These kidney-shaped beans, which come in dark red or light red varieties, have a firm texture. They are widely used in Central American and Caribbean cuisines, as well as Spanish and Portuguese dishes and North Indian curries. The lighter colored kidney beans have a more mild flavor, while the dark ones are more intense, Newgent says.
这些肾形豆子有深红色或浅红色品种，质地坚硬。它们广泛用于中美洲和加勒比美食，以及西班牙和葡萄牙菜肴以及北印度咖喱。纽金特说，颜色较浅的芸豆味道更温和，而颜色较深的芸豆味道更浓郁。

By contrast, white kidney beans (a.k.a., cannellini), which have a soft texture and mild flavor, are commonly used in Italian cuisine.
相比之下，白芸豆（又名 cannellini）质地柔软，味道温和，常用于意大利菜。

Nutrients: Not only are these beans loaded with protein and fiber but they also contain lots of micronutrients, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, folate, and selenium.
营养素：这些豆类不仅富含蛋白质和纤维，还含有大量微量营养素，包括钙、铁、镁、钾、磷、叶酸和硒。

Noteworthy health benefits: Similar to black beans, consuming cooked red kidney beans has been shown to have positive effects on blood vessel function—and also decreases blood pressure.
值得注意的健康益处：与黑豆类似，食用煮熟的红芸豆已被证明对血管功能有积极影响，还可以降低血压。

How to get more in your diet: Red kidney beans can be used in soups, stews, chilis, casseroles, and salads. White kidney beans can be used in pasta dishes, soups (such as Tuscan ribollita soup), and salads. 

Navy beans and great northern beans

Both navy beans and great northern beans are oval-shaped white beans that have a delicate, mild flavor. Great northern beans play a starring role in cassoulet (a French bean and sausage stew), while navy beans are famously used for Boston baked beans and navy bean soup. (Fun fact: Navy beans derive their name from being included in the U.S. Navy diet during the second half of the 19^th century, Garden-Robinson notes.)

Nutrients: When it comes to their nutritional value, great northern beans provide lots of protein and fiber and significant amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and folate. The same is true of navy beans, which are also good sources of choline. Interestingly, iron bioavailability—the proportion of the nutrient that is digested and absorbed—is higher for white beans than others, Didinger says.  

Noteworthy health benefits: As with black beans, consuming navy beans has been found to be good for your intestinal health—improving both the beneficial microbes that reside there and the integrity of the intestinal barrier. And research suggests that consuming compounds in great northern beans reduces vascular inflammation and oxidative stress.

How to get more in your diet: Both types of white beans can be used in many other dishes—such as soups, chilis, salads, and dips—and they can be puréed and used in smoothies or dressings. Newgent recommends her DIY white bean salad: Place a cup of cooked great northern beans in a jar with two teaspoons of white wine vinegar or lemon juice and one to two tablespoons chopped fresh basil, shake it up, then add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. A go-to dish for Abbie Gellman, a registered dietitian and chef based in New York City: White beans on toast with pesto and a fried egg.

Pinto beans

Commonly used in Mexican and Spanish cuisine, these brownish beans have an earthy flavor when cooked.

Nutrients: In addition to being loaded with fiber and protein, pinto beans are good sources of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, folate, and choline, and even have traces of vitamins E and K.

Noteworthy health benefits: Research from Arizona State University found that when adults consumed a half cup of cooked pinto beans daily for eight weeks, they experienced significant reductions in their total and LDL cholesterol, whereas those who consumed black-eyed peas every day didn’t reap the same effects. 

How to get more in your diet: Pinto beans are famously used to make refried beans, says Gellman, but also can be incorporated into rice dishes, chilis, burritos and burrito bowls, soups, tacos, quesadillas, and more.  

Given all these benefits, uses, and flavor profiles, it’s worth experimenting with different beans in your home-cooked meals to see which ones you like. “People sometimes ask me what’s the healthiest bean?” says Didinger. “My answer is whatever bean you’re going to eat more of is the healthiest bean for you because they’re all incredibly healthy.”