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r Lima Beans
See also Beans.Nutritional Profile
Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate
Protein: High
Fat: Low
Saturated fat: Low
Cholesterol: None
Carbohydrates: High
Fiber: Very high
Sodium: Low
Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin B 6 , folate
Major mineral contribution: Magnesium, iron, zincAbout the Nutrients in This Food
Lima beans are seeds, a good source of starch and very high in dietary fiber,
including insoluble cellulose and lignin in the seed covering and soluble
pectins and gums in the bean. The lima bean’s proteins are plentiful but
limited in the essential amino acids methionine and cystine. Lima beans
are a good source of the B vitamin folate, plus iron, and zinc.
One-half cup boiled large lima beans has 6.5 g dietary fiber, 7.4 g
protein, 78 mcg folate (20 percent of the R DA), 2.2 mg iron (12 percent of
the R DA for a woman, 31 percent of the R DA for a man), and 0.9 mg zinc
(11 percent of the R DA for a woman, 8 percent of the R DA for a man).
Raw limas contain antinutrient chemicals that inactivate enzymes
you need to digest proteins and carbohydrates (starches). They also con-
tain factors that inactivate vitamin A, and they have hemagglutinins,
substances that make red blood cells clump together. Cooking limas dis-
arms the enzyme inhibitors and the anti-vitamin A factors, but not the
hemagglutinins. However, the amount of hemagglutinins in limas is so
small that it has no measurable effect in your body.
Lima beans also contain phaseolunatin, a chemical that breaks down
into hydrogen cyanide when the cells of the lima bean are damaged or
torn and the phaseolunatin comes into contact with an enzyme in the
bean that triggers its conversion. Dark-colored lima beans and lima beans
grown outside the United States may contain larger amounts of phaseolu-
natin than the pale American limas. Since phaseolunatin is not destroyed