Pinto Bean Nutrition Information

Pinto beans are spotted brown beans that turn a pale pink-red color when cooked. These are the beans most often chosen to make refried beans and burritos. The pinto bean (translated as "painted bean") has a long history along the Texas, New Mexico and Mexico border as a staple food, and it's also as a staple in the Southeast.

Nutritional Profile

Pinto beans are high in fiber and a good source of protein. High in molybdenum, pintos also provide manganese, folate and vitamin B1. The minerals phosphorus, potassium, copper, iron and magnesium are also found in pinto beans. Small amounts of selenium, zinc and calcium add to its nutritional value. One cup of cooked pinto beans generates approximately 234 calories; eight of those calories are from fat.

Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber (a combination of insoluble and soluble fiber) keeps your digestion moving. A cup of cooked pinto beans provides more than 58 percent of the required daily intake of fiber. One of the jobs of the pinto bean in the digestive tract is to bond with bile, which is filled with cholesterol, and carry it out of the body.
Pinto beans can help prevent constipation, diverticulitis and irritable-bowel syndrome just by aiding regularity.

Lowering Blood Sugar

Because of its high-fiber content, the pinto bean can assist in balancing blood-sugar levels. This makes the pinto a very good choice for those with diabetes, hypoglycemia and insulin resistance. Unlike empty carbohydrates that burn quickly and produce spikes in blood sugar, the pinto bean provides a steady, reliable source of energy and stabilizes blood sugar.

Preventing Heart Disease

A study reported by the Journal of The American College of Nutrition, and conducted by the Department of Nutrition, at Arizona State University-Polytechnic, highlights one of the benefits of pinto beans: the reduction of biomarkers that accompany heart disease. According to the report, consuming one-half cup of pinto beans a day lowered serum TC (total cholesterol) and LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), which helps lower the risk of chronic heart disease.

Using Pinto Beans

The benefits of pinto beans increase when they are combined with a whole grain. One cup of the cooked legume will produce 14 grams of protein; combining the bean with a whole grain creates a quality protein that's equivalent to that received from dairy products or red meat. Plus, there is less saturated fat, lower calorie intake and the benefit of blood-sugar stabilization with pinto beans.