Fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants, compounds that help prevent and repair damaging oxidative stress. Diets that are rich in antioxidants have been linked to lower risk for cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. But while berries and brightly-colored vegetables get most of the attention for their antioxidant content, red beans, like kidney and pinto beans, are the true antioxidant stars. One study found that three of the top five antioxidant-rich foods were beans and that small red beans provide more antioxidant power than either wild or cultivated blueberries. It’s just one more reason why eating beans is a powerful way to reduce your risk for chronic disease.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15186133

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ed01/3958192d8918b56ca83ece3cdad5dff44ca7.pdf