This Is Dan Buettner's Favorite Type Of Bean For Longevity, In Case You're Curious

Dan Buettner has a thing for beans. If you're familiar with the National Geographic fellow and founder of Blue Zones, chances are you've heard about his affinity for the longevity-enhancing staple once or twice. "My main cabinet, it's almost all beans," he says on the mindbodygreen podcast. "I have about 10 kinds of beans." 

Different-colored foods boast different types of antioxidants—for example, most red-hued foods (bell pepper, pomegranate, et al.) contain anthocyanins, a class of anti-inflammatory flavonoids that has been shown helpful against cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and more1. 

As for black beans: "The same pigment that makes beans black is the pigment that makes blueberries blue, and that pigment carries a lot of antioxidants," notes Buettner. In fact, many experts (Buettner included) believe darker-colored foods denote more nutrient density—the fruit or veggie is brimming with nutrients, and that's what makes the pigment so deeply hued. 

As Deanna Minich, Ph.D., IFMCP, a functional nutritionist who studies plant-based pigments, once told us, "If I had to be on a desert island and somebody said, 'Deanna, I'm either giving you blueberries or blackberries to survive,' I would choose the blackberries." Nothing against the shade of blue, of course, but the theory is the darker the fruit or veggie, the more phytonutrients it likely contains.