Chipotle Black Beans Nutrition

There is a simple way to save money and calories in your daily food budget. Chipotle black beans are an easy, inexpensive, healthful food item to add to your diet. Black beans are available dried or canned. Chipotle is a smoky, dried jalapeno pepper of Mexican cuisine. It is available whole or canned. Add garlic, onions and green pepper to chipotle black beans to create a wonderful flavor and a nutritionally sound meal or side dish.

Protein

• Chipotle black beans with rice and corn tortilla together are a complete protein.

  All beans are a good source of protein. Unlike animal protein, beans have no fat and no cholesterol. The body doesn't store protein in the same way it stores extra fat in fat cells and extra carbohydrates in the liver and muscles. The body uses protein most efficiently when it is eaten daily in six, small meals versus two or three large meals. Chipotle black beans must be eaten with another protein source, such as corn or rice, to be a balanced protein.

Fiber

• Black beans are a tasty, fibrous food.

  Fiber is an important part of your daily diet. Black beans contain about 3.6 g of fiber per cup. Dietary fiber, both insoluble and soluble, comes only from plants. Fiber swells and creates a feeling of fullness before it gets to the large intestine. Feeling full may actually cause you to cut back on the amount of food you consume. This is effective if you are trying to cut calories.

Vitamins

• Vitamins are essential in tiny amounts.

  Vitamins are essential to good health. Vitamins are organic particles that are required in the diet in tiny amounts, totaling less than 1/8 tsp. a day. Canning reduces vitamins by half or more, so dried black beans are a better choice. Cooking reduces vitamins but not as much as canning. Chipotle black beans contain riboflavin, niacin and folic acid.

Complex Carbohydrates

• Beans are a starchy food, laden with complex carbohydrates -- as opposed to sugars, which are simple carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the body's main energy source. Beans, as all carbohydrates, are readily digested and converted into the blood sugar glucose, which fuels the brain and muscles. Without carbohydrates, your body relies on fats and protein for energy.