It’s rare for nutritionists to recommend a single food to everybody. These days, we’ve come to understand that nutritional needs are personal, healthy eating is about balance, and individual foods all have their pros and cons.
However, nutrition experts are overwhelmingly pro-bean. That’s because these lovely legumes are bursting with health benefits and each variety boasts its own cocktail of goodness.
That might come as a surprise if beans just make you think of the playground rhyme “Beans, beans, good for the heart. The more you eat, the more you fart.”
Beyond flatulence, here’s why nutrition experts want you to add beans to your shopping lists – and which to reach for first.
Beans are a great source of fibre
A key reason why beans are so healthy is their fibre content. Fibre is a nutrient that most of us are missing in our diets, and that all beans have in common.
One of beans’ biggest advocates is Dr Emily Leeming, a dietitian and nutrition scientist at King’s College London who specialises in gut health.
“Beans are a winner from so many different standpoints,” she says. “They’re really amazing – but particularly for fibre; 96 per cent of us in the UK aren’t getting enough fibre.” The stats are almost identical in the US, at 95 per cent.
“Beans are such an easy way to get more fibre,” says Leeming. One half-cup serving of beans will provide around 7-8g of fibre, along with a similar amount of protein.
She says: “That’s a significant shift towards that 30g of fibre that you need per day.”
This advice doesn’t apply to absolutely everyone. Some people already eat enough fibre, and there are some groups, such as individuals following a low-FODMAP diet, for whom extra fibre could be harmful.
But for the vast majority of those eating Western diets, the research shows that the fibre from beans could supercharge our gut health and metabolism.
This fibre could help us feel fuller, support diversity in our gut microbiomes, and lower the risk of several diseases, including type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
And, like the famous rhyme suggests, fibre is also “good for the heart”. Dr Megan Rossi, a dietitian and gut-health scientist known as The Gut Health Doctor, explains why.
“The heart health benefits of beans come from their high fibre content, which can help reduce some of the bad cholesterol in our blood,” she says.
Too much LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol can increase our risk of heart disease, by encouraging the build-up of plaque inside our blood vessels.
But studies have consistently shown that eating more beans can help reduce our blood levels of LDL cholesterol, and in turn improve our heart health.
“The fibre can help bind to the cholesterol, so we poop it out instead of it being reabsorbed into our blood circulation,” explains Rossi.
Apart from cholesterol, the other part of the heart-health equation is inflammation – and beans can help with this too.
Chronic inflammation can increase the risk of several diseases – from diabetes to arthritis – and it can damage our blood vessels.
But beans are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds called phytochemicals (‘phyto’ means ‘plant’). These can help calm chronic inflammation, and protect our hearts.
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Beans are cheap and sustainable
Beyond their impressive health benefits, beans also have an environmental and economic edge – and here, it’s not just about what they add to our diets, but what they replace.
As a whole-food source of plant-based protein, you can swap some of the meat in your diet with beans to save money and make your diet more sustainable.
A recent study also found that men who swapped out some of the red and processed meat in their diets with beans both lost weight and reduced their LDL cholesterol levels.
And the United Nations has specifically recognised beans as playing a crucial role in reducing the environmental impact of the global food system.
That message is echoed by the 2025 EAT-Lancet report, which sets out how to make the food system more nutritious and sustainable by urging people in countries like the UK and US to eat more plant-based protein and less meat.
It was a major collaborative effort from a whole range of experts. So, it’s not just nutritionists that want us to eat more beans; climate scientists, economists and agriculturalists do too.
Which bean is best?
It’s pretty clear that beans are great – for our health and the planet – but not all beans are made equal. So, if you’re looking to restock your personal bean collection, which should you invest in first?
Black beans
While no bean can be objectively the best, black beans come quite close, as they are a great source of anti-inflammatory compounds called polyphenols.
Rossi says: “Black beans are one of the highest sources of polyphenols within the legume family.”
In particular, she explains, the beans contain a type of polyphenol known as anthocyanins. “That’s why they have that rich black colour.”
Anthocyanins are potent phytochemicals found in a range of red, purple, blue and black foods. Some research has suggested they might help reduce our risk of a host of diseases, including cancer, dementia and heart disease, because of their anti-inflammatory properties.
Rossi also adds that one portion – around 100g or half a cup – of black beans contains 15 per cent of your daily magnesium needs.
Magnesium is an ‘essential mineral’, so-called because we need to get it through our diet; the body can’t make it by itself. It’s crucial for heart, nerve, muscle and bone health.
Lima beans
Lima beans, also known as butter beans, are another great source of micronutrients. Specifically, one portion of butter beans contains a fifth of your daily manganese needs.
Manganese is another essential nutrient involved in keeping the brain and nervous system healthy.
“From a cooking perspective, I love that butter beans are really creamy,” adds Rossi. “So, I think they’re a good substitute for butter in some recipes, without the saturated fat.”
Too much saturated fat in the diet can encourage LDL cholesterol to build up in the blood, so lima beans are a heart-healthy swap.
Leeming says that she likes to mash butter beans and add them to potatoes for extra creaminess and fibre.
Red mung beans
A less famous bean in the UK and US, Rossi is a fan of red mung beans, otherwise known as adzuki beans.
“In Japan, they’re used in both sweet and savoury dishes,” she explains. “One portion provides nearly 20 per cent of your daily zinc needs.”
Another essential nutrient, we need zinc for both our immune systems and metabolism. Zinc also has anti-inflammatory properties.
“Red mung beans are a decent source of polyphenols, specifically flavonoids, which have been linked with better skin health,” says Rossi.
Haricot beans
From a lesser-known bean to a fan favourite, we come to haricot beans, famously the type used in British baked beans. But haricot beans are also nutritionally powerful.
“A lot of people don’t realise that baked beans are haricot beans,” says Rossi. “But one portion provides nearly 20 per cent of your daily thiamine needs, or vitamin B1.”
Thiamine is an essential vitamin, which we need to help the body turn food into energy, and to support a healthy immune system.
Some honourable mentions
Other top-tier beans include cannellini beans, black-eyed peas and pinto beans, all favourites of Rossi. She says that black-eyed peas contain 40 per cent of a non-pregnant adult’s daily folate needs, while pinto beans are rich in an anti-inflammatory compound called kaempferol, which is associated with lower cholesterol levels.
Meanwhile, Leeming mentions kidney beans and chickpeas (otherwise known as garbanzo beans), as varieties that are particularly high in fibre. Plus, she adds: “Chickpeas are always going to be a winner because they’re delicious.”
Don’t forget green beans
All the beans we’ve mentioned so far usually come tinned or dried, but Leeming says fresh and frozen beans are worth remembering too.
“We don’t want to forget about things like broad beans, green beans, runner beans,” she argues. “They might not give us as much fibre – probably half the amount in dried beans – but they’re still some of the highest fibre veggies that you can get.”
Within that category, too, is the humble pea. Leeming says: “Peas are an understated fibre hero, cheap and affordable.”
Go for all of them
But, if you’re serious about bean-ifying your diet, Rossi and Leeming say it’s not really about choosing the best one. Instead, we should aim for diversity.
“There isn’t one super bean,” says Rossi. “Diversity is king. Each bean can provide the body with different types of nutrients.”
That’s because all those anti-inflammatory phytochemicals have a different effect on the body.
“People who eat different types of plants seem to have a more diverse range of gut bacteria, because each type of bacteria thrives on different phytochemicals,” Rossi explains.
“That’s why switching up between pinto, butter beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, and so on, is worth it, from a gut health perspective – to get that variety of phytochemicals.”
But it’s not just diversity that matters when picking our beans. Leeming says the best beans are the ones we want to eat.
“We shouldn’t be nitpicking about beans too much,” she argues. “They are all such nutrient powerhouses, and they all bring something slightly different to the table.
“If something tastes delicious, you’re more likely to eat more of it, so it’s about making things fit in that dish.”
For example, that might mean using kidney beans in a chilli, chickpeas in a curry, butter beans in a creamy garlic dip, haricot beans in spicy homemade baked beans, peas on the side of fish and chips – or however you like your legumes.
For Leeming, the important thing is to just eat more beans. A 2024 study on the diets of 1000 people in the UK, from 2008-2019, found that 40 per cent of participants weren’t eating any beans or pulses whatsoever, except for peas.
The situation isn’t as dire in the US, where legume intake seems to have steadily increased in the 2010s, from 8lb (3.6kg) per person in 2014 to 11.7lb (5.3kg) by 2017.
But it’s not enough for Leeming, who wishes that beans were included in national nutrition guidelines.
“We know how great they are for your health,” she says. “We know they’re affordable. If you’re going to add one thing into your diet, make it beans.”
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