🫘BeanTok: The TikTok Trend That’s Got Everyone Passing… Trends 💨
By Chase Merfeld, MS, RDN, LN, CSR
Chasing Your Health.com
Picture this:
You’re scrolling through TikTok, minding your own business — watching comedian clips, getting unsolicited parenting advice, trying not to buy another kitchen gadget you’ll use twice and forget exists… when suddenly there it is.
A disturbingly cheerful person is dumping a can of beans into a bowl like cereal, spooning that glorious fiber in like it’s the secret to world peace… almost as if they’ve never heard that sacred childhood anthem:
“Beans, beans, the magical fruit…”
And as a dietitian, I immediately had three thoughts:
I love that people are finally eating fiber.
Bitch, dietitians have been preaching the power of beans for YEARS.
Damn, you’re gonna be gassy.
Welcome to BeanTok.
🫘 What Is BeanTok?
BeanTok is a viral trend where people eat up to two cups of beans a day for:
✔️ Gut health
✔️ Energy
✔️ Mood
✔️ A “microbiome glow-up”
✔️ Claims that beans cured everything except their student loans
And people on TikTok are now putting beans in everything:
Smoothies
Overnight oats
Brownies
Pasta
Waffles
Burritos
Random bowls that absolutely do NOT need beans
And sometimes just eating them straight out of the can — which, listen… more power to ya, but not my jam.
But here’s the best part:
You know who’s been telling you to eat beans long before TikTok turned it into a full production?
Dietitians.
We’ve been preaching the bean gospel since day one.
Welcome to the party, internet — glad you finally joined us.
🧠 Why Beans Actually Deserve the Spotlight
As a dietitian, I am THRILLED the internet has finally discovered fiber.
Beans are absolute nutrition powerhouses:
High in soluble & insoluble fiber
Packed with plant-based protein
Support blood sugar balance
Promote fullness
Feed your microbiome
Dirt cheap (your wallet will weep with gratitude — especially with grocery prices today)
If your gut could choose a best friend, it would pick beans.
💉 Beans & Diabetes: A Power Couple
Here’s the fun (and actually important) part: beans aren’t just trendy — they’re clinically powerful, especially for diabetes.
Beans are basically the slow-carb superheroes:
High soluble fiber = slower glucose absorption
Low glycemic index = fewer dramatic spikes
Fiber + protein = better fullness and fewer cravings
More stable post-meal sugars = better all-day energy
In short:
Beans don’t play games with your pancreas.
For people with diabetes, prediabetes, insulin resistance, or metabolic health concerns, adding beans can help:
✔️ Improve post-meal blood sugars
✔️ Reduce glucose spikes
✔️ Support gut health (which ties into metabolic health)
✔️ Reduce the “hangry rollercoaster”
Just don’t go from 0g fiber to BeanTok levels overnight — your blood sugar may thank you, but your digestive system might file a complaint.
💥 Where BeanTok Goes Off the Rails
Just like most viral wellness fads, the internet loves extremes.
People go from:
“Maybe I should increase my fiber.”
to
“Let me eat two cups of beans raw and unseasoned on camera.”
If you jump from 5 grams of fiber/day to 30 grams overnight, your gut bacteria wake up like:
🪩 “TONIGHT… WE FEAST.”
And then:
Gas happens.
Fermentation skyrockets.
Pets flee.
Relationships are tested.
Spouses start sleeping with the windows open in January.
Start.
Slow.
🚦 How to Try BeanTok Without Becoming a Human Airhorn
✔️ Start with ½ cup
Don’t give your gut an existential crisis on day one.
✔️ Rinse your canned beans
Less sodium + fewer “surprises.”
✔️ Drink water
Fiber only works if it has fluid to move through.
✔️ Put beans in meals
Don’t sit there eating a solo bowl of pinto beans like you’re doing a TikTok punishment challenge.
✔️ Rotate your beans
Different fibers = happier microbes.
🔬 Why Beans Make You Gassy
Beans contain oligosaccharides — carbs your small intestine looks at and says:
“Absolutely not, you figure it out.”
So they head straight to your colon, where your gut bacteria greet them like:
“FINALLY, REAL FOOD!”
They ferment.
They celebrate.
They create… audio.
This is normal.
This is biology.
This is BeanTok.
⚠️ Who Should Take It Slow
As both a renal dietitian and someone who cares about your dignity:
People with IBS
Those with sensitive guts
Anyone with advanced CKD who needs to watch potassium
Anyone sharing a confined space with others
…should pace themselves.
🏁 Final RD Thoughts
Beans are amazing.
I am very pro-bean.
Your gut loves them.
Your heart loves them.
Your wallet loves them.
Just remember:
Start slow, stay hydrated, and don’t shock your digestive system with a shit ton of fiber when you’ve been eating processed foods for 20 years.
Your gut — and your significant other/pets — will thank me later.
True Story of Young RD Chase
When I was brand new in my career, I wanted to save every single person I met. I had all this knowledge from college and my internship, and I would just… unleash it all in one visit. The patient would leave fully converted to the Church of Fiber.
What I didn’t realize then was… when you push a ton of fiber on someone who isn’t used to it? You hear about it on visit #2.
This time they bring their unhappy spouse — armed with air freshener — and an even more unhappy patient who had to sprint to the bathroom every five minutes.
Moral of the story:
Fiber is amazing — but it’s a slow burn, not a shotgun blast.