Why seasonal ‘black beans’ are especially good for menopausal women

Black beans, which are in season now, are a representative ‘black food’ with excellent antioxidant properties. As you know, bean soup or mixed grain rice with black beans, which we have been eating as a side dish for a long time, is a healthy food that prevents aging and various adult diseases. Healthy black beans are especially good for menopausal women. They not only prevent hair loss and obesity, but also prevent cancer and osteoporosis, which menopausal women are prone to. Find out about the benefits of black beans that make you healthier and younger the more you eat them.

◆ Prevents hair loss in middle age and helps with hair growth

Black beans are a food that helps prevent hair loss in middle age. This is because it contains a lot of cysteine, which is essential for hair growth. The sulfur-containing amino acid contained in proteins is cysteine. It helps hair and body hair grow well. Additionally, black beans are rich in lysine, which is essential for children’s development, which helps with growth and development.

◆ Black food with excellent antioxidant properties, black beans

Black beans are a representative health food ‘black food’ along with black sesame seeds and black rice. General terms for black beans include heuktae, seoritae, and seomoktae. Among the black beans we commonly eat, black beans are large and are used in bean rice or bean soup. Seoritae has a black shell, but the inside is green and the eggs are thick. Seomoktae is smaller than other black beans. It looks like rat eyes, so it is called ‘rat-eyed bean’. It has excellent medicinal properties and has been used as medicine rather than food since ancient times.

◆ Antioxidants that slow aging are 4 times that of regular soybeans.

The ingredients contained in the black skin of black beans enhance the health benefits. According to the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, black beans contain about 40% of essential amino acids. It contains four times more antioxidants that slow aging, such as vitamin E, carotenoids, saponins, and anthocyanins, than regular soybeans. In particular, anthocyanin, which produces black color, is a key ingredient that enhances antioxidant and anticancer effects.

◆ Helps lower neutral fat and cholesterol

Black beans lower triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood, which helps prevent the development of hyperlipidemia followed by arteriosclerosis, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, and cerebral hemorrhage. Compared to regular beans, it contains more anthocyanins, so its powerful antioxidant effect prevents obesity and is good for blood and blood vessel health, and the peptide component also helps lower blood pressure.

◆ Helps prevent cancer and osteoporosis in menopausal women

Black beans also contain a large amount of isoflavones (phytoestrogens), the main functional ingredient of common beans. It is rich in antioxidants, which promotes detoxification and strengthens immune function. It helps prevent and treat breast cancer, uterine cancer, and osteoporosis, which are major diseases of menopausal women. It also contributes to the prevention of prostate cancer, a cancer in men. Eating soybeans frequently along with diet control and exercise can help prevent diseases in middle age. Of course, these health effects vary greatly from person to person. Black beans can be used in a variety of ways, such as bean rice, bean soup, cheonggukjang, and bean soup.