Beans for breakfast? Of course. Beans are a popular breakfast food in Latin America, Africa, and Great Britain. Huevos rancheros are typically made with eggs, tortillas, beans, and salsa. A 2021 study in The Journal of Nutrition had people with high cholesterol eat either a cup of beans, a half cup of beans, or a cup of white rice every day for four weeks. When the people ate a full cup of beans every day, their total cholesterol levels were significantly lower after four weeks than when they ate white rice. They also lowered their LDL cholesterol.
The study said that the high fiber in beans binds to the bile salts that are made from cholesterol and removes them from the body. Your liver then uses the cholesterol in your blood to make new bile salts. Beans also have resistant starch, which is broken down by the good bacteria in your gut. As a result of this fermentation process, these good bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids that reduce your body’s cholesterol production.