Weight loss is more than just cutting down on your diet. It’s also about eating the right types of food. One of these foods is beans, where incorporating just a single serving can improve your daily diet and weight loss efforts.

Though it isn’t clear how beans help people shed pounds, it is known their content of slowly-digested starches may help you feel full longer. Beans may also affect the way the body metabolizes fats according to research at Colorado State University. These investigators found that feeding beans to rats caused reductions in visceral fat. This is the “deep” fat that accumulates around organs and is associated with a higher risk of chronic disease.

They may not be the whole answer to permanent weight loss, but growing evidence points to benefits of adding beans to your diet if you’re hoping to shed a few pounds.