According to a national dietary survey, those who eat beans tend to be healthier and have less obesity risk, lower body weight, and smaller waist sizes.2304 This finding has been used to explain what’s known as the Hispanic paradox: Despite higher poverty rates and disparities in health care and education,2305 Hispanic Americans tend to live longer than everyone else.2306 Hispanics have a 24 percent lower risk of premature death, thanks to lower risks of nine of the fifteen leading causes of death, including notably less cancer and heart disease.2307
