Black bean beauty

Perhaps they are not the sexiest of foods, but black beans certainly deserve a spotlight for their services to human nutrition and deliciousness.

Black beans are full of goodness, but fibre is probably one of the greatest assets of this awesome legume, given that the benefits to our digestive system are second to none. From one cup of cooked black beans your body gets around 15g of fibre, which is well on the way to the recommended daily intake of 25–30g per day for adults.

More specifically, although all legumes contain a certain amount of starch, black beans contain a large proportion of resistant starch. Resistant starch is a form of starchy fibre that can’t be digested in the small intestine, and passes through to the colon where it is then fermented by bacteria. This process of fermentation produces metabolites, shortchain fatty acids, gases and small amounts of organic acids and alcohols. These metabolites, particularly the short-chain fatty acid butyrate, are important food and energy sources for our enterocytes — the cells that line the gut wall, thus enabling them to perform at their best.

Not only that, these metabolites seem to have protective effects against DNA damage to the cells and the development of colon cancer, help to regulate metabolism, optimise the secretion of hormones and reduce the pH of the large intestine.