Calories in Beans, Dry, Small White (0% moisture)

What makes beans so powerful?

Small white beans, commonly called navy beans, earned their military moniker as a dietary staple of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Their compact size and durable seed coat made them well-suited for long sea voyages—they stored compactly and cooked faster than larger white bean varieties like cannellini or great northern. Boston baked beans, one of America's oldest continuous culinary traditions, relies specifically on these small whites slow-cooked with molasses and salt pork, a practice rooted in Puritan Sabbath observance where beans were prepared Saturday night to avoid cooking on Sunday. At the molecular level, small white beans are dominated by phaseolin, the primary storage protein in Phaseolus vulgaris, which constitutes roughly half of the bean's total protein. Phaseolin is notably low in the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine, which is why combining beans with grains, seeds, or dairy yields a more complete amino acid profile. The beans also contain alpha-amylase inhibitors that slow starch digestion, contributing to their characteristically low glycemic response.