“Italian - White Bean and Kale Soup”

This hearty stick to your ribs soup will warm the soul on cold winter days… and will please everyone sitting around the table. With the healing goodness of lots of beans, garlic, kale, onions, and tomato this wonderful meal will sooth away hunger and heal the body, plus it’s quick and simple to make… check out this tasty recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 - Cups of Dry Organic White Beans
1 - Cup of Dry Organic Brown Rice - makes the soup thicker
1 - Large Organic Onion Chopped
5 - Cups of Organic Kale Chopped
12 - Cloves of Organic Garlic Minced
1 - Tablespoon of Organic Garlic Powder
4 - Tablespoons of Organic Tomato Paste
Enough Organic Veggie Stock to Cover Everything Plus a Little More
6 - Medium Organic Potatoes - Cut into Medium Pieces
2 - Tablespoons of Organic Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
A little Paprika for Garnish on Top

Start out by sautéing the onion in a large pot with the olive oil, then add the dried beans, rice, garlic, garlic powder, tomato paste, potatoes, and enough veggie stock to cover everything and a little more. Then bring everything to a boil and then simmer until the beans are tender. Then turn off the heat and allow to cool and then add the kale because we don’t want to kill the live enzymes in the greens. Then salt and pepper to taste and serve. Also garnish with a little paprika for a little added color.

The Health Benefits of Beans

Beans have lots of great soluble and non soluble fiber that help lower cholesterol and triglycerides thus preventing heart disease, strokes, and cancer. Beans lower LDL or bad cholesterol. Because beans don’t contain fats that are found in other types of protein like animal products, and beans can lower blood pressure. And they don’t cause the inflammation associated with animal protein that produces high blood pressure. And studies show that people who eat beans on a regular basis have lower blood pressure.

Beans have lots of antioxidants, and kidney beans have more antioxidants than blueberries. – It’s true! This means beans can boost up our immune system and help prevent diseases such as auto-immune disease, colds, flues, cancer and more.

Beans contain 9 to 12 grams of fiber per serving – that’s a lot of fiber. And fiber is needed for creating a good environment for our colon. Beans have lots of wonderful fiber that boost your immune system by creating a place for probiotic bacteria to grow. Thus keeping good bacteria working to keep us healthy and preventing bad bacteria from taking over and creating disease. Good colon health = good health… and eating beans can reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer.
Beans contain protease inhibitor enzymes that prevent cancer. Thus eating beans on a regular basis is very important for cancer prevention. Beans contain phytonutrients such as coumenstrol, cinnamic acid, and secoisolariciresinol which all help to prevent cancer. And eating beans at least 2 to 4 times a week can lower our risk of breast and prostate cancer by almost 25%.

A study at Tulane University shows that eating 4 servings of beans a week lowered the incidents of heart disease by more than 20%. Plus beans have lots of potassium and magnesium that help relax blood vessels and thus lower blood pressure… and help with water regulation too.

And soybeans contai
Nattokinase which actually can open up clogged arteries just as well as some of the enzymes that doctors use for heart attacks. And beans lower homocysteine levels thus lowering inflammation, thus preventing heart attacks. And beans contain phytonutrients (These nutrients are also found in chocolate, berries, and wine) that prevent the clumping together of platelets in the blood thus preventing heart attacks.

Studies with beans show the more beans we eat the easier it is to control our blood sugar. Beans stabilize our blood sugar because beans have a low glycemic index, that means they break down into sugar very slowly… and that makes them wonderful food for weight loss and diabetics. And because beans lower blood pressure, that means they also help prevent renal disease, because high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of kidney failure.

A study was done with wheat bran and beans, with two different groups, at the end of study it was found that those who ate wheat bran lowered cholesterol and blood sugar. But the group that ate beans lowered blood sugar, cholesterol, and also lowered blood pressure too! That was an unexpected result making beans very important for health… especially for diabetics. Beans have good carbs that provide lots of energy over long periods of time.

People who eat beans have a much lower incidence of food allergies and food intolerances. Because beans contain lots of fiber which is not soluble it provides bulk that allows food and waste to move through your digestive system correctly, and people who eat beans weekly are rarely constipated. Beans are a low glycemic index food with lots of fiber that fills us up so we don’t get hungry. And meat breaks down quickly in the GI tract while beans take a long time to break down so again we don’t get hungry… thus we lose weight.

Enjoy this Wonderful Italian White Bean and Kale Soup

Dr. Paul Haider - Master Herbalist