As if there weren’t already loads to love about beans, these tasty and oh-so-satisfying legumes are looking even more appealing thanks to a headline-grabbing new report. Eating beans regularly knocks down high blood sugar, lowers blood pressure and cuts the risk of heart disease by a respectable 8 percent — a healthy boost for more than 100 million North Americans who have diabetes, prediabetes or a related health risk called metabolic syndrome. (Other legumes, like peanuts and green beans, are also good for you, but they’re not the beans we are talking about here.) Beans are high in protein and can help flatten your belly and reduce belly (omentum) fat — the toxin-filled flab that threatens your vital organs.

That’s a stellar payday from a versatile food you can serve cold as a salad, room temp as a party dip, warm as a comfort-food side dish, baked into muffins or piping hot as a hearty main dish!