Like many Latinos, I grew up eating rice and beans. And then when I moved out of my parents’ house and had to make my own meals, things got complicated.
Rice and beans were the foundation of many vegetarian diets … so from that lens it seemed healthy. But it was hard to reconcile this with what I was hearing from the low-carb crowd, which suggested rice should be eliminated completely and beans should be looked at with suspicion.
As I was getting my Masters degree in nutrition I started to see how traditional food combinations like rice and beans have been supporting people’s health for thousands of years.
So yes, rice and beans is healthy. In fact, there are some unique nutrition benefits to this food combination!
Want to learn more? Keep reading! We’ll talk about the health benefits of rice and beans, and discuss the importance of rice and beans for sustaining people worldwide. I’ll also share tips on how to get the most nutrition out of your rice and beans.
Protein comes from plant sources as well as animal sources. Beans and rice are among the oldest foods known to humankind. Both are easy to grow, plentiful, and filling. The combination of beans and rice creates a complete protein.
Tips for a healthy rice and beans meal:
By now you should feel confident that rice and beans is a healthy meal. But there are still some things you can do to get the most nutrition out of your rice and beans.
Tips for healthy rice and beans meals:
Health benefits of rice and beans
Rice and beans separately have their own nutrition benefits.
Rice is an efficient way of providing energy. Fortified rice is common in the United States. This may explain why eating rice is associated with higher intake of folic acid and iron in the United States (1).
And beans, of course, are a great source of fiber and lean plant-based protein. They’re also an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. For a more complete look at the health benefits of beans, check out this blog post.
But for today’s post, let’s focus on the health benefits we get when we combine rice and beans together.
Proteins are made up of amino acids. There are 9 essential amino acids that humans have to consume via food.
When a protein has all 9 essential amino acids, it’s called a complete protein. Most animal proteins are complete proteins, while most plant proteins are not.
All 9 essential amino acids can be found in the plant kingdom, just usually not all in the same plant.
This means that vegetarians need to eat a variety of plant-based proteins to get all their essential amino acids.
Enter the concept of complementary proteins. Complementary proteins are foods that provide all 9 essential amino acids together, but not separately. Rice and beans are complementary proteins.
So when you eat rice and beans, you are getting all 9 essential amino acids, which you might not if you only ate one or the other*.
(*Note: this doesn’t mean you have to eat them at the same time to get all 9 essential amino acids. More like on the same day. But there are other health benefits to eating rice and beans at the same time. More on that below.)
It’s easy to think that because both rice and beans have carbs, that eating both of them would be bad for your blood sugar. But this isn’t true.
Several studies have demonstrated that eating rice and beans together is better for your blood sugar than eating rice alone (2, 3).
This means adding beans to your rice can be an effective way to include white rice in your diet while managing your blood sugar.
Say Goodbye To Boring Rice And Beans (3 Recipes)
FAQ
What is the effect of eating rice and beans?
Do beans and rice digest well together?
Can you cook rice and dry beans together?
What is rice and beans together called?
What happens if you eat rice and beans together?
When consumed together, each provides the amino acids that the other lacks. Rice doesn’t have enough lysine, but beans do. Meanwhile, rice has high levels of the amino acid methionine, which beans lack. Together, rice and bean dishes become complete protein examples.
What should I use to mix in boiled rice?
Adding veggies like carrots is a good way to vary it up. In addition to making the dish more beautiful and colorful, you enjoy the benefits of vegetables.
Can you eat rice and beans together?
This is where rice and beans come in. Rice and beans are, separately, both incomplete proteins; but when they’re eaten together, they’re considered complementary proteins, according to the FDA. When consumed together, each provides the amino acids that the other lacks. Rice doesn’t have enough lysine, but beans do.
What is rice with beans?
Not only is rice with beans adored the world over (see: gallo pinto, khichdi, hoppin’ John and Caribbean rice and peas), it even has its own Wikipedia page. This deeply flavored rendition is inspired by these comforting traditions and a desire to wash as few dishes as possible: The rice cooks with the beans and the starchy liquid they’re canned in.