Is black bean water great for weight loss? Understand the opinions of Chinese and Western medicine experts at once!

Can you easily eliminate excess body fat by drinking black bean water every day? Recently, it has been widely rumored on the Internet that drinking black bean water can inhibit fat production and help lose weight, but is this really the case? The following will be explained by a nutritionist and a Chinese medicine practitioner from the perspectives of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine respectively.

Nutritional perspective: Anthocyanins help prevent fat production, but does black bean water contain enough anthocyanins?

The Food and Drug Administration consulted with Chien Yi-wen, associate professor of the Department of Health and Nutrition at Taipei Medical University, who mentioned that in some cell and animal experiments, it was found that consuming black beans rich in anthocyanins can reduce the activity of fat production and the risk of obesity, improve abdominal fat accumulation, increase energy metabolism and reduce weight. According to human studies, taking black bean extract combined with a high-fiber, low-cholesterol diet has a positive effect on preventing abdominal obesity.

However, there is no research on the ingredients of black bean water to verify how much anthocyanin it contains, or other ingredients that are beneficial for weight loss. Even the potassium ions rich in black bean water have a very limited effect on weight loss, and more research is needed to support this.

Studies have found that taking black bean extract combined with a high-fiber, low-cholesterol diet has a positive effect on preventing abdominal obesity.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine: Drinking black bean water to help lose weight is not as effective as eating black beans directly!

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, Dr. Wu Jiandong said bluntly: "Drinking water can help you lose weight!" He said that although black bean water has diuretic, dehumidifying and edema-eliminating effects, when actually used in the human body, not only is the effect of eliminating edema quite limited, but its effect on weight loss is also "a drop in the bucket." Moreover, "eliminating edema" and "reducing body fat" are two different things. Even if drinking black bean water can improve edema-type obesity a little bit, it does not mean that you can overcome excess fat in the body.

Long-term high-calorie diet can easily lead to overweight or obesity.

"Instead of drinking black bean water, it is better to eat black beans directly." Chinese medicine practitioner Wu Jiandong said that black beans are a kind of soybean plant, rich in dietary fiber and protein that can increase satiety, which helps to further reduce the intake of starchy foods and avoid obesity due to eating too many calories. As for the claim that black beans can nourish the kidneys, it is mainly rooted in the TCM theory that "black enters the kidneys". However, because the medicinal properties of black beans are far inferior to those of herbs such as Rehmannia glutinosa and Polygonum multiflorum, their kidney-tonifying effect is limited and they are not often used directly in clinical practice.

There is no shortcut to losing weight! Implement 3 principles to lose weight

To stay away from obesity, the most important thing is to find out the "cause of obesity" first! The Food and Drug Administration said that a high-calorie diet is usually associated with high fat and low fiber intake, and a long-term high-calorie diet can easily lead to overweight or obesity. The principle of weight control is to achieve a negative calorie balance, so that calorie intake is less than calorie expenditure. Therefore, behavior modification is very important. If you want to lose weight healthily, you should implement the three principles of "eat smartly, exercise healthily, and weigh yourself every day" in your daily life.

1. Eat smartly: Pay attention to a balanced and diversified diet, with less oil, sugar, salt and high fiber.

2. Healthy movement: Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, combining aerobic and strength training to build muscle and lose fat.

3. Weigh yourself every day: Pay more attention to your weight and body composition (muscle and fat content) to avoid becoming a "puff person" unknowingly.