Beans for weight loss

What the research on beans & weight loss shows

Do beans actually help you lose weight?

Start with fullness. A 2014 meta-analysis of nine feeding trials in the journal Obesity found that meals containing pulses (beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas) produced 31% more satiety than comparison meals with the same calories. The same review found they didn't reduce how much people ate at their next meal. So the fullness is real, but it doesn't automatically cut the day's calories. The authors also note small samples and a narrow range of participants.

Then body weight. A 2016 meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition pooled 21 randomized trials with 940 participants. Diets that included about one serving of pulses a day (a median 132g) produced 0.34kg more weight loss than comparison diets over a median of six weeks.

Two things to hold onto there. First, the size: 0.34kg is about three-quarters of a pound, and the trials were short, so nobody can say what happens over a year. Second, the conditions: the weight loss appeared both in calorie-restricted diets and in diets meant to maintain weight. That's what makes the result interesting. Part of it came from adding a food, not from eating less on purpose.

Beans also compare well with meat for fullness. In a 2016 University of Copenhagen study of 43 healthy young men, those who ate a high-protein bean-and-pea patty meal ate 12% fewer calories at their next meal, three hours later, than after a veal-and-pork patty meal with the same calories and protein. The bean meal had far more fiber, which is where the researchers point. It was a single meal in normal-weight men, so treat it as a signal rather than a promise.

For more on how fiber helps with fullness, see our guide to dietary fiber.

Bean nutrition compared

Which beans give you the most for the calories?

Common beans sit close enough together that taste and price can decide it. Here's how they compare at a half cup, cooked without salt, from USDA FoodData Central:

Half a cup of cooked beans, no salt added, rounded from USDA FoodData Central

Lentils have the most protein and cook in 20 to 30 minutes without soaking. Navy beans have the most fiber. Chickpeas are a little higher in calories because they carry more fat, about 2g per half cup.

Seven or eight grams of protein is a useful contribution to a meal, not the whole of it, which is why the meals below pair beans with chicken, turkey, tuna or eggs.

How many beans to eat for weight loss

How many beans should you eat a day?

The weight loss trials above averaged about one serving a day, so you don't need a big bowl to see the benefit. One serving in that review was a median of 132g, which is about three-quarters of a cup of cooked black beans.

Beans aren't free calories, though. Three cups over a day adds more than 650 calories. Measure for the first week or two, until you know what a half cup looks like in your bowl. After that, your eye is usually good enough.

Swap, don't stack. A half cup of beans added on top of everything else is 115 extra calories. The same half cup replacing the second scoop of rice is a more filling meal for about the same calories.

If you're not sure what your daily target should be, our calorie calculator can help.

Best time to eat beans

Does it matter when you eat beans?

No study we could find shows beans working better at one hour than another. What matters is that they replace something less filling, not that they're eaten at a certain time.

In practice, lunch is a good place to start. A bean bowl at midday tends to carry you through the afternoon, the window when most snacking happens. If evenings are when you overeat, put them in dinner instead.

Canned vs dried beans

Should you buy canned or dried beans?

Canned beans are already cooked, so they're ready after a rinse. Choose "no salt added" or "low sodium" cans, and rinse them anyway, since the canning liquid holds much of the salt.

Dried beans cost less per serving and have no added sodium, but they need soaking and an hour or more of cooking. A weekend batch, portioned and frozen, gives you dried-bean prices with canned-bean convenience.

How to reduce gas & bloating from beans

How do you cut gas & bloating from beans?

Beans contain oligosaccharides, sugars your gut can't digest on its own. Bacteria in the large intestine ferment them, and that makes gas. It usually eases as your body gets used to eating beans regularly.

The reputation is bigger than the problem. In three feeding studies where adults ate a half cup of beans daily for 8 to 12 weeks, fewer than half reported more gas from pinto or baked beans during the first week, and only 19% did with black-eyed peas. Between 3% and 11% reported more gas on the control diets with no beans at all. The authors' conclusion: the concern may be exaggerated, though people vary.

• Build up slowly. Start with a quarter cup and work up over a few weeks.
• Rinse and drain. Rinse canned beans, and discard the soaking water from dried beans before cooking them in fresh water.
• Try lentils first. Many people find them easier to tolerate than larger beans.
• Consider an enzyme. An alpha-galactosidase supplement such as Beano, taken before the meal, breaks down some of those sugars.

Our guide to increasing fiber without bloating has more on pacing.

Easy bean meals for weight loss

What are five easy meals to make with beans?

Each of these pairs beans with another protein or a vegetable base. They're starting points, so adjust the portions to fit your target.

Five bean meals and what goes in each

Refried beans are the one swap to watch. Traditional versions are cooked with lard or oil, so check the label or mash whole pinto beans with spices instead.

To put this into practice, pick one meal from the table and make it your lunch for the week. One new habit is enough. If the hard part is the cooking rather than knowing what to eat, that's a workload problem. Our Weight Loss Meal Plan has portion-controlled meals ready to heat, and you can find the macros for every meal on our nutrition page. To pick your own, filter Build A Meal Plan by High Fiber or Weight Loss.

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