Editing Pinto bean (section)

==Nutrition==
A nutrient-dense legume, the pinto bean contains many essential nutrients. It is a good source of protein, phosphorus and manganese, and very high in dietary fiber and folate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Beans, pinto, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt|url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4430/2|website=Nutrition Facts|access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref>

Rice and pinto beans served with cornbread or maize tortillas are often a staple meal where meat is unavailable. This combination contains the [[Essential amino acids#Essentiality in humans|essential amino acids]] necessary for humans in adequate amounts:<ref>[http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/organic/essam.html Essential Amino Acids]. phy-astr.gsu.edu: "Tillery points out that a number of popular ethnic foods involve such a combination, so that in a single dish, one might hope to get the ten essential amino acids. Mexican [maize] and beans, Japanese rice and soybeans, and Cajun red beans and rice are examples of such fortuitous combinations."</ref> maize complements beans' relative scarcity of [[methionine]] and [[cystine]] and beans complement maize's relative scarcity of [[lysine]] and [[tryptophan]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Maize in human nutrition|date=1992|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0395e/T0395E00.htm|chapter-url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0395e/t0395e0c.htm|chapter=Chapter 8 - Improvement of maize diets|author=Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations}}</ref>

Studies have indicated pinto beans can lower the levels of both HDL and LDL [[cholesterol]].<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=17951475 | volume=137 | issue=11 | title=Pinto bean consumption changes SCFA profiles in fecal fermentations, bacterial populations of the lower bowel, and lipid profiles in blood of humans |date=November 2007 | journal=J. Nutr. | pages=2391–8| last1=Finley | first1=J. W. | last2=Burrell | first2=J. B. | last3=Reeves | first3=P. G. | doi=10.1093/jn/137.11.2391 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/26/3/243 |title=Pinto Bean Consumption Reduces Biomarkers for Heart Disease Risk |publisher=Jacn.org |access-date=2012-01-14}}</ref> Pinto beans have also been shown to contain the [[phytoestrogen]] [[coumestrol]], which has a variety of possible health effects.<ref name =Bhagwat>{{cite book|last1=Bhagwat|first1=Seema|last2=Haytowitz|first2=David|last3=Holden|first3=Joanne|title=USDA Database for the Isoflavone Content of Selected Foods|date=September 2008|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture|location=Beltsville, Maryland|edition=Release 2.0|url=http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/80400525/Data/isoflav/Isoflav_R2.pdf|access-date=10 March 2015}}</ref>