Green Beans: For Heart Disease Prevention and Bone Health

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Green beans contain plenty of health benefits. These are a good source of vitamins A, C, and K, fiber and folic.

If you are on the look-out for a vegetable with huge amounts of flavonoids and , green beans certainly fit the bill. From helping in preventing many types of disease and supporting your digestive health, green beans is a great vegetable to add into your daily diet. This is because green beans are one of the best high-antioxidant foods.

Health Benefits of Green Beans:

1. Bone Health

A low intake of vitamin K is linked with a higher risk of bone fracture. Adequate vitamin K consumption can help in improving bone health by improving calcium absorption, modifying bone matrix proteins and reducing urinary excretion of calcium.

Just 1 cup of green beans provides 14.4 micrograms of vitamin K, or about 20% of the daily requirement, 4% of an individual’s daily need for calcium.

It is not an individual’s minerals, vitamins or antioxidants alone that make vegetables such green beans an important part of ones diet. It has been reported that isolating these healthful nutrients in its supplement form will not provide the same result. It is best to eat them as part of a healthy and varied diet.

2. Cancer Prevention

Green beans supports various areas of the body. One of its most heavily researched benefits is its ability to help prevent and fight the spread of various cancers throughout the body.

One of these reasons is its high antioxidant content, which help scavenge free radicals in the body, that is responsible for many diseases. Also, several nutrients that are present in green beans contain cancer-fighting properties.

Lutein, one of the types of antioxidants known as carotenoids, is present in large quantities in green beans. It is suggested that individuals who consume high quantities of dietary lutein have a lowered risk of colon, breast, lung and cervical cancer. Green beans is ranked number 8 on the list of foods highest in lutein.

Vitamin C, which is also a known anticancer vitamin, as it has been known, in large doses, to treat cancer. Many medical practitioners also use vitamin C to supplement chemotherapy drugs, as this vitamin helps the drugs target only the cancerous cells, rather than the entire body. Just 1 serving of green beans have over a quarter of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C.

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Also, the amount of vitamin K present in a serving of green beans provides over half of the recommended intake per day as well. Vitamin K has had reported success in reducing the risk of colon, prostate, nasal, stomach and oral cancer.

3. Diabetes

Green beans have been shown to help regulate and manage diabetes symptoms in many patients. Certain studies have reported a definitive hypoglycemic influence on patients with diabetes.

Diabetes is a condition that requires constant maintenance of blood sugar levels at a normal level, so that your body can perform necessary tasks. Natural regulators of diabetes are not common, therefore the connection of beans and similar plants to the early prevention of diabetes is good news.

4. Eye Health

Some specific carotenoids that are present in green beans can help in preventing macular degeneration, which is a decrease in eye function and vision. Zeaxanthin and lutein are focused at the macula on the eye, and play an important role in preventing any stress to the inner workings of the eye.

Remember to ensure that these carotenoid levels stay strong to prevent deterioration of vision. This is one of the important benefits of including green beans in your diet.

5. Heart Disease

Green beans can help in reducing the risk of heart disease because of their high levels of flavonoids. Flavonoids are polyphenolic antioxidants that are most commonly found in vegetables and fruits.

These vegetables contain high levels of flavonoids and these antioxidants contain certain anti-inflammatory properties. Test participants that have high flavonoid levels experienced anti-thrombotic results, thus preventing blood clots in their veins and arteries.

Strokes, heart attacks and cardiovascular disease are most commonly caused by thrombotic activity, which means that a healthy amount of flavonoids and green beans in your diet can help prevent some of these conditions.

Read More:
1. Astounding Health Benefits of Asparagus
2. How to Have a Healthy Body with Broccoli
3. Health Benefits of (Malunggay) Moringa and Juice Extracts from Leaves

photo credit: pixabay

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