Fava beans health benefits and nutrition facts
Have you ever had the Egyptian dish fūl medames? It's a flavourful hummus-like stew made of fava beans. These broad beans are quite popular during springtime when they are harvested. One of the oldest known foods, fava beans have been cultivated and consumed for centuries across civilizations. Let's get to know these broad beans a little better.
What are fava beans?
Also known as faba bean, this tan, rather flat bean resembles a huge lima bean. It comes in a large pod that, unless very young, is inedible. Vicia faba is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae.
Fava Bean is a stiffly erect, annual plant 0.5 to 1.8 metres tall, with two to four stems that are square in cross-section . This legume is very common in Southern European, Northern European, East Asian, Latin American and North African cuisines. The most famous fava bean preparation is the Egyptian
Fava beans can be purchased dried, canned and fresh. Dried Fava beans are often used to make soups, stews, pastes, and falafel. Fresh beans are sautéed, boiled, steamed, roasted, or fried. They can be added raw to salads or pestos, or lightly cooked and tossed with other veggies to make any meal healthy.
Nutrition Facts of Fava Beans
Following is nutrition information for 100 grams of Fava Beans:
Nutrient
| Measure
|
Calories
| 88
|
Total Fat
| 0.7 g
|
Protein
| 8 g
|
Total Carbohydrate
| 18 g
|
Sodium
| 25 mg
|
Potassium
| 332 mg
|
Vitamin C
| 6%
|
Iron
| 8%
|
Vitamin B6
| 5%
|
Magnesium
| 8%
|
Calcium
| 3%
|
Health Benefits of Fava Beans
Fava beans are a nutrient-rich food, which contains high amounts of proteins, complex carbohydrates, dietary fibre, choline, lecithin, phenolics and minerals. These beans should be ideally consumed with rice and other cereals. Fava beans are rich in essential amino acids lysine and arginine, which complement the low levels found in cereals.
It also contains levo-dihydroxy phenylalanine, a precursor of dopamine, which could benefit people suffering from Parkinson's disease. Studies also show that fava beans in the diet can also be beneficial in dealing with hypertension, renal failure and liver cirrhosis.
- May help prevent birth defects
- Beneficial for bone health
- May improve symptoms of anaemia
- Improve high blood pressure
- Aid weight loss
- Help lower cholesterol
- May help with Parkinson's disease symptoms
Lowers blood pressure: Fava beans are loaded with magnesium and potassium that may help relax blood vessels and decrease high blood pressure.
May benefit people with Parkinson's disease: Fava beans contain levo-dihydroxy phenylalanine, which the body converts into dopamine. People who suffer from Parkinson's may benefit from eating fava beans as the disease causes a scarcity of dopamine in the body, leading to tremors and loss of motor functions.
Lowers cholesterol levels: Fava beans are high in soluble fibre that can bind to and remove cholesterol from your body. This type of fibre has also been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels.
Boosts immune health: Including fava beans in the diet strengthens the immune system. Studies say that fava beans contain compounds that could enhance the antioxidant activity of human cells.
References:
Kumar, A., Nidhi, Prasad, N., & Sinha, S. K. (2015). Nutritional and antinutritional attributes of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) germplasms growing in Bihar, India. Physiology and molecular biology of plants : an international journal of functional plant biology, 21(1), 159–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-014-0270-2
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