Common beans.

Common beans

Common bean is an annual herbaceous plant of the legume family, up to 3 m long. The stem is climbing. The leaves are alternate, three-lobed, with leaflets located on long petioles.

Blooms in July - August. The flowers are white or violet, moth-like. The seeds are large, of different lengths and colors. Ripen in August - September.

The common bean originates from South America. In our country it is grown everywhere, with the exception of the northern regions.

Beans are a valuable food product. It is used for preparing various dishes and canned food. Bean grains contain a large amount of easily digestible protein, similar in composition to animal proteins.

There are grain and edible beans. Cereals include those varieties in which ripe grains are used for food. For vegetables - with sugar beans. They are used for food unripe.

The medicinal raw materials are bean pods and bean seeds. The pods are harvested after threshing, dried, cleaned of impurities and stored in bags for 2 years.

The grains contain amino acids (tryptophan, lysine, arginine, tyrosine and methionine), carbohydrates, fats, B vitamins and vitamin C, a large amount of salts and phosphorus. In bean pods, in addition to the listed amino acids, monraminobutyric, hydrocyanic, salicylic and phosphoric acids, saponins, betaine and hemicellulose were identified. By copper content. and zinc, beans are superior to many vegetables.

Bean preparations have hypoglycemic, diuretic and antimicrobial effects. Beans are recommended as food for gastritis with low acidity. Due to the fact that it contains a large amount of potassium (up to 530 mg per 100 g of grain), it is prescribed for atherosclerosis and heart rhythm disorders. The sugar-lowering effect of beans is associated with arginine, an insulin-like substance.

To prepare the infusion, pour 4 tablespoons of crushed pods into 3 cups of boiling water, keep in a closed enamel container in a water bath for 15 minutes, cool for 45 minutes, filter through three layers of gauze, squeeze, bring the volume to the original volume with boiled water. Take 3/4 cup 3 times a day with meals.

To enhance the sugar-lowering effect, beans are combined with blueberry leaves (preferably mountain). In this case, 2 tablespoons of the mixture are poured with 2 cups of boiling water. Take the infusion 1/3 cup 4-5 times a day with meals.

A decoction of beans is effective for edema of renal and cardiac origin, inflammatory diseases of the bladder, rheumatism and gout. To prepare it, pour 1 tablespoon of beans into 1 glass of hot water, boil in a water bath for 30 minutes, cool for 10 minutes and filter while hot. Take 2 tablespoons 3-4 times a day after meals.