With their high protein and antioxidant quotient, mung beans may aid in fighting diabetes and heart diseases. They can prevent heat strokes and fever as well. Studies also show the anticancer properties of these legumes.

1. Possess Antioxidant Activity

The proteins and polyphenols in the seeds, sprouts, and hulls of mung beans show potential antioxidant activity. They can scavenge free radicals – like peroxide and  superoxide ions – in your body. Vitexin and isovitexin are the major antioxidant components found in mung beans. Mung beans have the highest antioxidant effect when sprouting. The antioxidant activity of mung beans is said to be about 195% of vitamin C (100 g of mung beans = 1462 mg of vitamin C). Above all, mung bean extracts possess significantly higher antioxidant activity than soybean extracts. Therefore, they have the potential to prevent several chronic disorders (like cancer) induced by free radical accumulation.

2. May Prevent Heat Stroke

Heatstroke is characterized by dehydration and irritability. This could be a result of inadequate fluid intake and excessive loss of water/fluids through sweat. Another critical development during summers is the build-up of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in your body. This happens because the summer heat demands a high metabolic rate to meet the needs of your body and maximize energy yield. These events, ultimately, lead to a chemical imbalance. Mung flavonoids, including vitexin, eliminate chemical stress and reduce the levels of inflammation. This is why the Chinese commonly drink mung bean soup during summers.

3. May Maintain Cholesterol Levels And Heart Health

The proteins in germinating legumes help in controlling lipid metabolism. Mung bean sprouts and germinating seeds are packed with such proteins. These legumes reduce the total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in your system. Cooked and whole mung beans also showed similar lipid-lowering effects. They prevent lipid deposition/accumulation in the liver, heart, and blood vessels. The antioxidant effect blocks the free radicals from acting on accumulated cholesterol in these organs. Thus, mung beans may protect you from cardiovascular diseases (like atherosclerosis). Moreover, one cup of raw, sprouted mung beans has about 155 mg of potassium. That is why about 600 mg/kg of mung peptides could reduce systolic blood pressure in animal subjects. This study demonstrates how mung beans regulate hypertension and preserve heart health.