Beneficial effects of Spanish beans varieties consumption in the management of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Researcher from the Department of Metabolism and Nutrition (ICTAN) participated with the Technological Agriculture Institute of Castilla and León (ITACyL), work coordinator, the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Tecnology (INIA) and the University Hospital Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda in the study of two Spanish dry bean varieties: ‘Almonga’ and ‘Curruquilla’. They were obtained in a breeding program to improve the common bean landraces of major interest in Castille and León, a central region in Spain. They were selected because of their high quality (sensorial and agronomic behaviour). We study these varieties from the seeds to the biological response in type 2 diabetics and the effect of their inclusion in diets for weight reduction, including the analysis of components associated with beneficial and adverse effects. Both varieties are similar in content of the nutritional (protein, fibre and carbohydrates) but not in the bioactive and in the antinutrional components, that were reduced or eliminated by cooking.

Both beans showed similar effects on blood glucose and insulin in a postprandial study (275g) in type 2 diabetics, with a slow decline in glycaemia and a short period in the insulin increment, which support the high relevance of bean consumption for the metabolic management of diabetes. With ‘Almonga’ a reduction in the triglyceridemic response was also rendered. In other study, beans consumption in a hypocaloric diet used for weight loss (440g cooked/week, 5 months), provoked a higher body mass index reduction compared to controls.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.5852/pdf

http://www.nutricionhospitalaria.com/pdf/6101.pdf

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