 Hey guys, this is Dr. Ahmet Ergin. I am an endocrinologist and a diabetes educator. So today we are talking about the beans. So I know a lot of you love beans and there's some noise out there that says, oh don't eat beans, it raises your blood sugar. Well, let's talk about this if that's correct. Okay guys, so beans are delicious. You know everybody loves beans, not everybody. A lot of people do. Especially if you have a Hispanic heritage, you probably cannot live without beans, right? And I am Turkish, we love beans too. It's a part of Mediterranean diet and it's very healthy. Now, does it spike your blood sugar? Yeah, well if you eat a lot of it, in anything with a lot of it will spike your blood sugar. But why beans are actually not a bad food for diabetes and what are all the health benefits? Let's talk about that. So the beans are good because it is a great source of protein and there's no fat in it pretty much. So I mean there's no saturated fat at least in it. So when you're eating red meat, you're having a lot of saturated fat that comes with it. There are some carcinogenic factors that comes with red meat, especially the processed red meat. Versus with the beans, you're getting a lot of protein, you're getting a lot of fiber as well. Remember, fiber is very important to slow the digestion and prevent the blood sugar spike or at least slow the absorption of carbohydrates and prevents a rapid spike in your blood sugar. Now, of course, let's talk about the nutrition facts a little bit. One third cup of beans is typically around 15 grams of carbs. So what I want you to do, go and get a one cup in US measure. I don't know how you guys measure in other countries that you're watching, but I can only give you an example of US measurement. One cup. See how much of one cup is. What is one third of it? Because if you're having a whole cup of beans, you're getting 45 grams of carbs that pretty much puts you at maximum limit of carbohydrates for your meal. If you're having beans and no rice, that's acceptable, that's fair enough. But if you're putting your beans on top of rice, that's going to spike your blood sugar. If you're having bread with your beans, that's going to spike your blood sugar. So you have to be careful about what you're having your beans with. Now, in Mediterranean countries, they actually cook beans and they basically season it with olive oil and with some spices. It goes great actually next to red meat as well. So instead of having your potato, having some beans next to your meat, maybe a great alternative as well. Now, the glycemic index is not that high. It's good. But again, glycemic load can be high if you're eating like more than one cup of it. So what are the vitamins and minerals that are in the beans? There's a lot of folate, iron, copper, manganese, potassium, and vitamin K. So again, you're getting a lot of vitamins and minerals, a lot of fiber, good amount of protein when you have beans at a reasonable amount. There are a lot of studies also showing that eating beans can reduce the risk of colon cancer. Now, as you know, diabetics have high risk of cancer of pretty much any cancer. So definitely having high fiber foods in your diet such as beans will help reduce the risk of colon cancer as well. So what is the downside of the beans? Well, if you're not used to it, you will have a lot of flotulence and gas, and that may be annoying, especially in the beginning. So if you're not a bean eater and you just get pumped up and you want to go get some beans today, oh, well, you may want to start slowly because those beans can create even abdominal cramps if you're not used to it. So start with, as I said, one third cup of beans. And if you want more later, if you're not affected as much, you can definitely have more up to one cup of beans next to your maybe healthy meat. So I hope that helps you guys. And if it does, remember to give a thumbs up, share, comment, and we will see you in the next video.