Find out whether pinto beans are good for weight loss so you don’t slow down your results with suboptimal food choices.
Pinto beans are generally relatively low in calories, high in fiber, average in protein, and high in vitamins and minerals.
The result is that adding pinto beans to your diet will likely fill you up and help you eat less of foods that are worse when trying to lose weight.
In turn, it is fair to say that pinto beans are typically good for weight loss.
At the same time, you still need to make these other changes in your diet.
There is a small chance that if you just add pinto beans on top of your existing diet, you won’t see too many results.
That being said, while not number one, pinto beans are still one of the best beans for weight loss.
Calories in pinto beans
The number of calories in pinto beans is not everything when trying to lose weight but it does offer some helpful information.
To start off, 100 grams of cooked pinto beans contain about 143 calories (1).
In turn, 1 cup of cooked pinto beans (171 grams) contains about 245 calories. 1/2 cup of pinto beans contains around 122.5 calories.
Due to their higher carb count pinto beans are generally not keto.
While certain food groups like vegetables and fruits tend to do even better, it is fair to say that pinto beans are relatively low in calories.
This tends to be helpful when trying to lose weight since it becomes easier to start using up body fat as energy (although there are ways of overdoing it with the deficit too).
At the same time, it can still be interesting to see what macronutrients these calories in pinto beans mainly come from.
Fiber in pinto beans for weight loss
When it comes to plant-based foods like pinto beans, the amount of fiber is very relevant when trying to lose weight.
Before noting why this is, boiled pinto beans contain around 9 grams of fiber per 100 grams (1).
This is an extremely high amount compared to many food groups.
One of the first reasons for this is that fiber is relatively filling without really adding a lot of digestible calories to your diet.
Many people will like to hear this since hunger and cravings are common issues when trying to lose weight.
Fiber is also often good for your gut health which can in turn benefit weight loss. However, this area needs more research to make bigger statements.
In short, pinto beans are very high in fiber which is generally good for weight loss.
You do want to keep in mind that it tends to be smart to only gradually increase fiber intake to give your gut time to adapt.
Protein in pinto beans for weight loss
While pinto beans are not the biggest source of protein, with about 9 grams per 100 grams, the extra amounts are still welcome when trying to lose weight (1).
Similar to fiber, protein is a relatively filling source of calories.
On top of that, eating enough protein is important for preserving and building muscle.
In turn, this extra muscle will help you burn some extra energy throughout the day (on top of the other valuable benefits).
Something like salmon (around 25.4 grams of protein per 100 grams) would be even better (2).
However, pinto beans are high in protein when it comes to beans and they do make it easier to hit your daily goals.
This can benefit your weight loss results.
Vitamins and minerals in pinto beans
How much the vitamins and minerals in pinto beans influence your weight loss will be hard to say.
This is partly because how much you already get from the rest of your diet is an important detail (and the human body is complicated in other ways too).
At the same time, it is generally smart to consume enough vitamins and minerals. Even if it is just to improve your general health.
100 grams of boiled pinto beans contain the following vitamins and minerals (1):
- Folate: 43% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Manganese: 23% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 15% of the DV
- Thiamin: 13% of the DV
- Iron: 12% of the DV
And a variety of vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
Pinto beans contain great amounts of vitamins and minerals which tends to be slightly beneficial for weight loss and good for general health.
Are pinto beans good for losing weight?
Overall, pinto beans are reasonably low in calories, high in fiber, high in vitamins and minerals, and nice in terms of protein.
In turn, eating more pinto beans will likely make you feel full enough to eat less of foods that are worse for weight loss.
They could also make it easier for you to hit your protein intake goals which is beneficial while losing weight.
In short, it is fair to say that pinto beans are generally good for losing weight.
On the other hand, you do want to know that it is theoretically possible to eat more pinto beans on top of your regular diet.
This would likely keep your weight loss results small.
At the very least, pinto beans are typically not fattening.
