Now we’ve been in Central America for over a month and we’ve had black beans every single day, if not twice a day. The kids often even asking for 2ndor 3rdhelpings. I figure that between all those black beans, cilantro and avocado our iron and omega-3 values must be through the roof! So I take advantage of this little post to answer one of the most common questions I get when I tell people that we are a mostly plant based family, namely about how do we get enough iron? (the other one being about protein, but that’s for another post….) This way I can hopefully also spread the word a bit about just how fabulous the original Central American diet actually is (in fact, the Nicoya count as one of the world’s “blue zones”, i.e. with a population that lives the longest, the key reasons identified as a high fiber, plant heavy diet and intricate social structures) before the big corporations came in and flooded the market with cheap sodas and chips – now the majority of the population especially in Guatemala is already obese at the youngest age….
Here some fun nutrition facts (at least I think they re fun!J
Black Beans vs. Ground Beef face off on a per 100g basis:
130 kcal 270 kcal
0 g of total fat 18 g of total fat
0 g of saturated fat 7 g of saturated fat
0 mg of cholesterol 80 mg of cholesterol (and not the “good” HD kind)
8 g of fiber 0 g of fiber
2.9 mg of iron 2.3 mg of iron
Those of you with whom I’ve talked a lot about food choices know that I am a big advocate for fiber – it is not just an essential nutrient for digestion but it is more and more scientifically linked (something our ancestors across the world already knew without the microscopes to tell them) to the prevention of some of our biggest ailments from heart disease to cancer. Besides helping to detox, keep blood sugar levels down, boost healthy hormone levels etc etc. the list just goes on!
Sopa de frijoles – a family favourite 
Beans in all variations 
Gallettes with beans 
Rellenito – a delicious Guatemalan dessert of banana “beignet” filled with….black beans!
But the fun fact about black beans in particular is that the iron levels really are sky high. Some people will question things like “bio available vs. not bio available” iron, because plant based iron is non-heme iron and animal based iron is heme iron. That means that, indeed, in itself, the heme iron is more easily absorbed and to a high degree on a like for like basis BUT only when it is taken with vitamin C (shout out to plants here!) and it also comes with a major drawback: it oxidizes fast, for example cholesterol with free radicals, thus creating major aggressive radicals that need to be fought (many of these linked to dangerous cell mutations, arteriosclerosis and cancer). There’s a reason more and more professional athletes are going plant-based…. Also, while non-heme iron in itself may be a bit harder to absorb, this is actually not a bad thing. First, when it is combined with vitamin C such as when it is cooked with dark leafy greens, like all iron its bioavailability increases, BUT when the body has enough iron, it regulates absorption down. However, the body for some reason can only do this with plant based, i.e. non heme iron. Heme iron overload cannot be down regulated by our body, thus creating overload in the organs which can lead to high level inflammation.
So ok, I might need to actually train for the Ironwoman, but at least on the blood levels we should beat out the competition!