Canned vegetables and beans are a great way to include cheap nutrient-dense foods to your eating pattern. However, many people think they are bad. Why is this?
Sodium! Many canned foods have sodium in them because it helps preserve the food for the shelf. In just a couple of steps, you can reduce the sodium of your canned beans (and other canned vegetables). The best way to reduce the sodium is to:
- rinse the beans for about 10 seconds under lukewarm water1 and then
- drain the beans for about 2 minutes1
Even though you are reducing sodium, other vitamins and minerals are not lost during rinsing and draining!2 So go ahead and buy the canned beans from your local grocery store if you are short time!
1. Jones JB, Mount JR. Sodium reduction in canned bean varieties by draining and rinsing. Presented at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting; June 6–10, 2009; Anaheim, CA. 2009.
2. Haytowitz DB. Effect of draining and rinsing on the sodium and water soluble vitamin content of canned vegetables. Nutrient Data Lab, USDA-ARS-BHNRC; FASEB Journal, 25:609.3, 2011.
