Beans are a great addition to your diet, available in multiple colours and sizes. While it may seem like they are just a side dish or an add on to your food, these small energy houses play a very big role in your palate. Some of the most popular kinds, which are used all over the world, are kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, navy beans, and chickpeas. Not only are they high in protein, but are also packed with fibre. Native to Central and South America, black beans are not just versatile, but also inexpensive, according to the Cleveland Clinic. You can thank the amazing fibre content in black beans for many of their benefits. Just one cup of these beans provides a whopping 15 grams of fibre, which is over half of what you need for the entire day but the goodness of black beans goes beyond just helping your digestion.Components of Black Beans That Make Them Healthy According to the Plant Fibre in Foods journal, black beans have the highest amounts of soluble fiber. The soluble fibre they contain is fantastic for preventing heart problems by helping to lower your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels. This means less of that harmful cholesterol is circulating in your blood. Because black beans are so high in fibre, they also help to slow down the digestion process. This is great because it prevents your blood sugar from spiking too quickly after you eat a meal. Benefits Of Adding Black Beans To Your Diet? According to 2023 research publised in the Journal of Functional Foods, their dark black colour comes from special compounds called anthocyanins. These are powerful antioxidants, and black beans have more of them compared to lighter-colored beans. These phytochemicals offer extra help in managing your blood sugar and keeping your heart healthy. Experts have found that the phytochemicals found in the skin of black beans can have a big impact on blood sugar. When they gave extracts from black bean peels to diabetic lab animals, it helped lower their blood sugar, reduced inflammation and stress, and improved how their bodies processed cholesterol and fats. The peel of the black bean also seems to support healthy bacteria in the gut, which plays an important role in our overall metabolic health.How Does It Lower Your Risk of Diabetes? Eating more beans in general can help lower your chances of getting type 2 diabetes. While not all studies focus just on black beans, research has found that people who eat the most beans have a significantly lower risk of developing this condition. A lot of the power of black beans against diabetes seems to be in their outer skin. If you really enjoy eating rice but want to avoid the big blood sugar spike that can sometimes happen, try adding black beans to your meal. According to the Nutrition Journal, when people with type 2 diabetes eat rice mixed with beans, their blood sugar doesn't rise as much compared to when they eat rice on its own. Among different types of beans, black beans and pinto beans seemed to be more effective at lowering blood sugar than red kidney beans.