Eat Beans, Live Longer

I have been very interested in the Paleo diet for a while.  Indeed, the Crossfit movement is hooked on it for good reason.  When people eat Paleo, they lose fat, gain muscle and their performance improves.  This large-group experience is hard to ignore.

(My current opinion is that most people leave their bad-carb lifestyle and trade it for organic fruits and vegetables, and relatively-clean organic, grass-fed meat - this will give a huge boost in performance.)

Loren Cordain is a highly educated Anthropologist (not nutritionist) but when reading his book, I had a bone to pick with him.  Namley: his take on beans.  He says don't eat any beans!

Performance is one thing and survival is another.  When modern ethno-biologists study lifespan of humans and health, BEANS are a major component to living long.  (Google: BLUE ZONES and get some more on this.)

A study was done several years ago that I really like that hits this point home.  Put simply, the more beans you eat the less chance you have of dying.  (Obviously, there is an upper limit to this and the study did not attempt to answer this question.)

The short version: in a study of  785 people over a 3 year period, for every additional 20 grams of legumes a day was associated with an 8% drop in risk of death.  This was consistent even when other lifestyle factors and ethnicity was taken into account.

To quote the researchers:
"The significance of legumes persisted even after controlling for age at enrolment, gender, and smoking. Legumes have been associated with long-lived food cultures such as the Japanese (soy, tofu, natto, miso), the Swedes (brown beans, peas), and the Mediterranean people (lentils, chickpeas, white beans)".


Enjoy,
Brian, TheDailyFit