Close your eyes and imagine just one single bean. Perhaps it’s a smokey, speckled pinto. A creamy red bean of “red beans and rice” fame. A cannellini partially submerged in a broth, looking like a miniscule beluga whale. Don’t let us tell you what kind of bean to envision. It’s your imagination.

Okay. Show’s over. We hope that bean visualization has you eager to learn more about beans. 

Beans of all varieties are nutritional powerhouses, full of protein and fiber. When canned or dried, they’re non-perishable, so they’re the perfect pantry staple. Sodium-related concerns often associated with some canned foods can be avoided by purchasing low- or no-sodium beans, or with a quick rinse. And they taste great added to realistically any even slightly savory dish.

But before we turn this blog into a thousand-word ode to canned beans, let’s take a step back and ruminate on several more bean-related topics. Namely: What are beans? Are there fresh beans? Why do beans even come in a can? Nutritionally, how do various beans stack up? Questions of that nature. 

Defining beans

If you feel like this section’s exercise is beneath you because you’re some sort of bean scientist, feel free to keep scrollin’, pal. For the bean curious, let’s proceed.

Also occasionally called “pulses,” beans are the seeds of plants in the legume family, which are definitionally used for feed for livestock or eaten by us humans. (Legume plants are able to fix Nitrogen from air and into soil.) Confusingly, some legumes like peanuts and (most confusing of all given “bean” is right there in the name) soybeans, are not considered by some in the bean business to be pulses, due to their higher fat content. Meanwhile, certain non-beans, like green peas, chickpeas, and lentils, are considered pulses. It’s a whole square-versus-rectangle thing. Anyway… back to beans.

There are thought to be over 400 varieties of edible beans out there, but according to the good folks over at the U.S. Dry Bean Council, at your average supermarket you’ll have access to maybe 20 bean types, canned or dried.

Structurally, all beans are made from the same components, but the most easily identifiable and nutritionally relevant are: 

• The hilum, that little dot on the side of the bean—it’s where the bean was formerly connected to its pod

• The seed coat, the waxy outer layer that might peel off during the cooking process 

• The cotyledon, the stored food and meaty core of the bean

Nearly all beans are consumed once removed from the pods in which they grow, and… yes, that’s right. Beans come from pods! They aren’t naturally dried out or canned. You know what? Let’s talk about fresh beans.

Of course there are fresh beans

While our modern food system is in many ways a complete marvel, the industrialization of agriculture has also severed the average person’s relationship to the origins of just about every plant-derived food they eat. It’s easy to forget the crisp, ripe apple you’ve added to your shopping basket had a long, arduous journey to get to that point, and that journey began with a tree! 

In the context of pulses, it sure doesn’t help that when we’re making a shopping list and writing in enormous bold text BEANS, we’re almost always planning to purchase a few cans of beans, or a bag full of dried beans.

So perhaps it’s helpful to note that beans aren’t that dissimilar from a lot of the fresh produce we routinely purchase at the store. Remember: they’re seeds that grow bunched together in pods. And woo boy: they are gorgeous! However, if you learn one thing from this blog, it’s that we don’t consume beans in this form—raw—because they can be toxic when eaten uncooked.

(Next time you’re at the farmers’ market and are so taken by the beautiful beans before you that you simply must bring some home, please do not poison yourself by popping a raw pinto into your mouth.)

Beans-still-in-the-pod are a feast for the eyes. And unlike dried beans, when cooking fresh beans, they don’t require a long simmer or pre-soak as they’re not dehydrated, so they’re theoretically a quicker feast for the tastebuds as well. So while you may have to shuck them from the pod, fresh beans are still a speedier—and often more flavorful—option than dried.

However, just like any plant food, unless preserved in some way, fresh beans have a limited shelf life. And dried beans can take hours to cook. That’s not even taking into consideration the typical pre-soak they’ll need to soften up before going on the stovetop. But worry not, bean lover, because it’s time to give the humble, hardworking can of beans its flowers.

Let’s appreciate canned beans

Canned beans are just beans that have been blanched—submerged briefly in boiling to prepare for further cooking—then sealed in a can with water and salt, and depending on the methodology, additives to preserve their appearance and texture. Once in the can, they are cooked more thoroughly via steam heat. That makes them safe to eat straight out of the fan, should you feel the urge while riding the rails stowed away on a freight train or sitting around a campfire with ranch hands.

In many respects, beans from a can were the first ever “convenience food.” Whoever the genius was that first preserved legumes in a tin cylinder is—regretably—lost to time, but we do know that the first large scale bean canning operation was set up by the Heinz Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, way back in 1895. Those first mass-produced canned beans were of the baked variety, delectable navy beans floating in a sticky sweet pool of molasses, and were marketed by Heinz as a luxury good. 

But as canned foods became a more common aspect of daily life, the perception of canned beans shifted as well, into something the layperson could regularly enjoy without breaking the bank, or sweating over a hot pot of beans for hours.

The world since the early days of canned beans has changed considerably. And yet, because canned beans boast a shelf life of up to five years in some cases, they still reign supreme on shelves and in pantries around the world. That and the fact that they’re tasty and good for us.

Beans: delicious and nutritious

We don’t need to tell you that beans are tasty. Just think back to a favorite bean-related memory, of which you undoubtedly have hundreds tucked away. Tucking into a bowl of baked beans at a family barbecue… spooning some refried pintos onto a fresh flour tortilla at a beloved Tex-Mex place… snacking on some roasted lupini beans at a neighborhood haunt with a dear friend… Ah… beans… a delectable addition to any occasion.

So let’s get into their nutritional value. Far be it from us to paint all beans with the same brush. Beans contain multitudes! But beans are all super nutritious foods. Per the lauded Bean Institute, a serving —½ cup of beans that have been cooked from the dry form and drained of cooking liquid—will provide you with 6-9g protein, 5-10g dietary fiber, and many types of beans are good sources of potassium. While a vegan or vegetarian diet tends to include plenty of opportunities to consume fiber, tastily adding almost 10g of protein to your plate when you don’t eat meat is nothing to sneeze at!

But is there a best type of bean?

Yes and no. Nutritionally, soybeans—which are often not even classified as beans—are truly powerful little legumes. We’re talking 31g of protein per dried cup of them. And there is no shortage of soybean-derived foods out there that taste great and pack a nutritious wallop, like tofu or tempeh.

If you are concerned about your saturated fat intake, perhaps it’s best to avoid going to town on a bucket of refried beans. But that’s not to say that refried beans are bad for you. They’re still a great source of fiber and protein. They just happen to typically be cooked with lard or cured pork that adds occasionally unwanted fats to their nutritional profile—even vegan refried beans will be higher in fat content. Of course, it’s important to remember that refried beans are delicious, and there’s room for all foods!

Debunking bean myths

Here at kencko we will not stand for bean slander. So to conclude, let us address two popular misconceptions about beans.

Beans do not make you fart anymore than other fibrous foods. Studies have shown that people who begin consuming beans experience increased gas initially, but after consuming beans regularly, the gas decreases. That’s true of any foods high in fiber—bloating and gas may accompany an increase in intake, but your body adapts and those sensations will level out with continued consumption.

And in recent years, pop nutrition has soured somewhat on beans, occasionally going as far as saying they contain “anti-nutrients.” To address these charges, we turn now to kencko’s Head of Nutrition, Mallory Gonzales, MS, RD:

Beans have gotten a bit of a bad reputation lately because of their supposed anti-nutrient properties. Beans contain compounds called lectins, and lectins can impact the absorption of calcium, iron, phosphorus and zinc. But rest assured that this is nothing to worry about. There is no evidence that the impact of lectins can actually lead to negative health outcomes, and the amount of the nutrients not being absorbed is unknown. What we do know is that the health benefits of legumes far outweigh any potentially negative nutritional outcomes from lectins.

On the path of the bean, there are no wrong turns. Just endless opportunities for adventure. So go forth and eat some dang beans.