Introduction: As summer arrives and the weather gets hot, it's also a great time for health preservation. So, what should you eat for summer wellness? Experts believe that for summer health, one should eat less meat and more beans. Different types of beans offer various nutritional benefits. Below, we introduce ten types of beans that are most suitable for consumption in the summer.
1. Red Bean
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, red beans clear heat, remove dampness, reduce swelling and detoxify, calm the mind, and nourish the blood. They also supplement the body with nutrients like potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium. Red beans can be added to soups and congee or made into summer desserts. Besides stimulating the appetite, they can replenish potassium ions, preventing summer-related hypokalemia. Towards the end of summer, people tend to sweat more and urinate less, especially the elderly with poor heart or kidney function, who are more prone to edema in the lower limbs. A soup made with red beans and carp or mackerel has a good diuretic and swelling-reducing effect and is also a dietary remedy for beriberi, ascites, and fatigue and listlessness. However, it should be noted that those who urinate frequently should avoid consuming red beans, mainly because red beans have a diuretic function.
Honey Red Bean
2. Broad Bean
Summer is the season for fresh broad beans to hit the market. Fresh broad beans can boost energy, strengthen the spleen, and promote urination to reduce swelling. They are nutritious, with 100 grams containing 9 grams of protein, 19 grams of carbohydrates, and rich in dietary fiber, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin B, carotene, and other beneficial nutrients. In traditional Chinese medicine, broad beans are considered sweet and slightly pungent, affecting the spleen and stomach meridians. They are used to treat conditions like a weakened spleen and stomach and edema.
The texture of broad beans varies, and so do the cooking methods. Fresh broad beans can be boiled or stir-fried briefly with a little oil for a tender and delicious taste. Older broad beans can be made into a soft paste or cooked into soups with eggs for a smooth and delicate texture. In southern regions, there is a tradition of cooking broad beans with rice or congee to increase the protein content and reduce nutrient loss.
Fennel Broad Bean
3. Mung Bean
Mung beans are sweet in taste and cold in nature. They are not only an important folk food for beating the summer heat but are also rich in nutrients. The saying "small size, big内涵 (inner substance)" fits mung beans perfectly. The amino acids in mung bean protein are relatively complete, especially when cooked with grains, the amino acids can complement each other, enhancing their nutritional value.
Mung beans can be boiled into soup or cooked with rice into congee, which can relieve summer heat and clear internal heat when consumed in summer. Stewing mung beans with lean pork can treat wind-fire toothache; cooking mung beans with lotus leaves and adding rock sugar can relieve heat-induced sores and redness and stop prickly heat. Another important medicinal value of mung beans is detoxification. Eating more mung bean soup in daily diet has a certain effect of removing lead toxicity. Moreover, mung bean powder has a significant lipid-lowering effect. Mung beans contain a globulin and polysaccharide that can promote the decomposition of cholesterol in the liver into bile acids in the body, accelerate the secretion of bile salts in bile, and reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the small intestine.
Mung Bean, Lily, and Lotus Seed Soup
4. Green Bean
Green beans are also known as snap beans. Modern medical analysis suggests that green beans also contain unique components such as saponins, urease, and various globulins, which can enhance the body's own immune system, improve disease resistance, activate T lymphocytes, and promote the synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Green beans are mainly consumed as tender pods or beans. Tender pods contain about 6% protein, 10% fiber, and 1-3% sugar. Dry beans contain about 22.5% protein and 59.6% starch. Fresh, tender pods can be eaten as a vegetable, or dehydrated and canned.
Before cooking, the stringy parts of the beans should be removed, as they affect the texture and are difficult to digest. The cooking time should be long enough to ensure the beans are thoroughly cooked, otherwise, poisoning may occur. To prevent poisoning, green beans should be pre-treated before consumption. They can be blanched in boiling water or stir-fried in hot oil until the color changes and they are fully cooked before being safely eaten.
Ham Stir-fried Snap Beans
5. Kidney Bean
Kidney beans are nutritious, and fresh beans are rich in vitamin C. In terms of nutritional content, their protein content is higher than that of chicken, their calcium content is more than 7 times that of chicken, their iron content is 4 times higher, and their B-vitamin content is also higher than chicken's. According to research, every 100 grams of kidney beans with skin contain up to 349 milligrams of calcium, nearly twice that of soybeans. Kidney beans are also rich in dietary fiber, and their potassium content is higher than that of red beans. Therefore, eating kidney beans in the summer is a great way to supplement minerals.
However, it should be noted that kidney beans are not easy to digest, so they must be thoroughly cooked before consumption. Cooked kidney beans can be used to make snacks, such as spiced kidney beans, or can be stewed with pork ribs to add flavor and richness.
Preserved Plum Kidney Beans
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