By: MARY-JO SAWYER | Special Correspondent Published: February 29, 2012 Updated: February 29, 2012 - 12:00 AM

Beans, beans, the magical fruit! The more you eat, the more you can improve your nutrition, increase protein, lower your cholesterol and control your blood sugar. I bet you were expecting another description, but whatever their reputation, dried beans and peas are inexpensive nutrition dynamos.

Beans and peas are really vegetables and include kidney, pinto, black and lima beans, chickpeas, split peas, black-eyed peas and lentils. They come frozen, canned or dried.

They're rich in iron, zinc, folate and potassium, nutrients often low in many American diets. White beans, black-eyed peas, black beans and lentils are good sources of iron.

Dried beans and peas are protein foods, too. A half cup cooked is equal to 2 ounces of meat. Save money on your grocery bill by having vegetarian entrees, such as vegetable chili or beans and rice, several times a week. Add protein to your meals with refried beans, or toss a few into your salads or meat chili.

A half cup of cooked beans contains 6 to 8 grams of fiber, both soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber promotes healthy digestion, and may be linked to reducing colon cancer. The soluble fiber helps reduce high cholesterol levels.

Control your weight with dried beans and peas. They're naturally low in fat and calories. A half cup has less than 1 gram of fat, and 100 to 120 calories. Their added fiber and protein at meals can help you feel fuller and more satisfied so you'll eat less.

Don't avoid these higher carbohydrate veggies if you have diabetes. Their fiber and complex carbohydrate cause a slower rise in blood sugar than some other starches. Carbohydrate varies among beans at 16 to 22 grams per half-cup.

Three Bean Salad is a delicious low-fat recipe with 15 grams carbohydrate, which counts as one serving of carbohydrate in a diabetes meal plan.

Part of the carbohydrate in beans is a complex sugar, which can't be broken down by the human digestive tract. It results in the gassy reputation of these beans; some are gassier than others.

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Practical Nutrition: Benefits of beans