|  | Diet Nutrition | Nutrition

Fava-Beans Nutritional Information

The fava bean is a light-green legume often served as a side dish. It is commonly used in a number of cuisines, including Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern and Chinese cooking. Also known as broad, Windsor, horse and pigeon beans, fava beans contain a number of important nutrients.

  1. Protein

    • Containing roughly 78 percent of the daily recommended requirements for protein in only one cup, fava beans are often used as a protein source for vegetarians.

    Vitamins

    • One cup of fava beans contains over 159 percent of the daily requirement for folate, a vitamin necessary for healthy fetal development during pregnancy and the production of red blood cells. One serving of fava beans also provides more than 20 percent of the day's requirements for thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and Vitamin B6, reports NutritionData.com.

    Minerals

    • One serving of fava beans contains 122 percent of a day's supply of manganese, a mineral needed for healthy bones and muscles. One serving of fava beans also provides more than 20 percent of the daily requirement for magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc and copper, according to NutritionData.com.

    Benefits

    • A 2002 study at the the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Rehovot, Israel, published in "The British Journal of Nutrition," found that the nutritional benefits of fava beans helped lower harmful LDL cholesterol levels.

    Considerations

    • When canned, fava beans often contain added sodium, which may be harmful to people on a specialized diet for the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure). In fact, one cup of canned fava beans contains almost half of the daily requirement for sodium, according to NutritionData.com.

Nutrition - Related Articles