• zergtoshi@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Beans shouldn’t be much more pricey, give you less worry about arsenic and contain a fair amount more protein than rice.
    If affordable, I’d pick beans over rice any day.
    Big bags of dried beans it is!

    • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 days ago

      Also, for variety, there are a lot of kind of beans, plus there’s chickpeas and lentils which can be made in the same way.

      For even more variety, one can eat beans with rice 😁

      • zergtoshi@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Agreed! Pulses in general allow for a healthy and affordable diet.
        I’m not a proponent of rice mainly for the way it gets produced (lots of water needed and methane emitted in the process) and the fact it’s a hyperaccumulator of arsenic. About all these things I don’t need to worry when picking pulses.
        But each to their own and some variety rarely is a bad idea.

        • howrar@lemmy.ca
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          2 days ago

          How much of a concern is arsenic? A lot of Asian cultures have rice with every meal and they have some of the healthiest people on the planet.

          • zergtoshi@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            Dunno. What I can say is that it’s not no concern.
            https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/15/health/arsenic-cadmium-rice-wellness
            Add the methane production and use of water to the equation and beans or pulses in general look quite a bit better in terms of environmental or individual health.
            And last but not least rice contains very little protein whereas pulses are rich in protein.
            But because pulses typically are low on some protein like methionine and cysteine, grain is a indeed a good addition to a diet based on pulses.
            Yet I’d pick oats over rice for that part.

    • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Beans are also fantastic. More expensive and more work than rice though, so my cheap and lazy ass usually went for the white stuff. Didn’t even know arsenic was a concern… nor would I probably have cared when I was that broke - all I really cared about was price.

      But 100% beans will keep you full without breaking the bank!