Super Foods for Your Healthy Lifestyle!
We gave you the basic scoop on peas. We explained the difference between a legume and a pulse and a pea and a bean. Now, we are going to talk about why peas, lentils, and chickpeas are so good for your body.
5 Reasons Why You Should Eat Them!
- High in Fiber
- High in Protein
- Low Glycemic Index
- High in Folate
- Antioxidants
Why is Fiber so Important?
Why is Protein so Important?
What does low glycemic index mean?
What types of antioxidants are provided by peas and lentils?
What do they taste like?
How much should you consume?
Where can I buy Lentils and Chickpeas?
Dry Peas Nutrition Facts
Lentils Nutrition Facts
Chickpeas Nutrition Facts
Fiber is Essential for Regulation
One-half cup of cooked peas or lentils provides more than 10 grams of dietary fiber. Vegetables average 5 grams, and grains average 3 grams. A high fiber diet may help prevent heart disease and some cancers.
Fiber-rich foods tend to contain various types of fiber. Peas, lentils, and chickpeas contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber aids digestion and adds bulk to stool, hastening the passage of fecal material through the gut, thus helping to prevent or alleviate constipation. Fiber also may help reduce the risk of diverticulosis, a condition in which small pouches form in the colon wall (usually from the pressure of straining during bowel movements). People who already have diverticulosis often find that increased fiber consumption can alleviate symptoms, which include constipation and/or diarrhea, abdominal pain, flatulence, and mucus or blood in the stool. Because insoluble fiber is indigestible and passes through the body virtually intact, it provides few calories. And since the digestive tract can handle only so much bulk at a time, fiber-rich foods are more filling than other foods--so people tend to eat less.
Soluble fiber traps carbohydrates to slow their digestion and absorption, helping prevent wide swings in blood sugar level throughout the day. This is especially helpful to those that have been diagnosed with diabetes. Soluble fiber also binds to dietary cholesterol, helping the body to eliminate it. This reduces blood cholesterol levels, which, in turn, reduces cholesterol deposits on arterial walls that eventually choke off the vessel. There also is some evidence that soluble fiber can slow the liver's manufacture of cholesterol, as well as alter low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles to make them larger and less dense. Researchers believe that small, dense LDL particles pose a bigger health threat.
Protein is Very Necessary
Dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas are protein rich foods, meaning they provide the body with all eight of the essential amino acids for humans listed below except methionine*. Adding grains, eggs, nuts, seeds, meat, dairy products, or eggs will provide a complete protein.
Phenylalanine
Valine
Tryptophan
Threonine
Isoleucine
Methionine
Lysine
Leucine
Low Glycemic Index Foods
Glycemic Index is the ranking scale of carbohydrate-rich foods based on their immediate effect on blood glucose-or blood sugar levels compared to glucose or white bread. Carbohydrate foods that break down quickly during digestion have a high glycemic index (index of 67 or higher). Their blood sugar response is fast and high. Carbohydrates that do not break down slowly or complex carbohydrates, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, have low glycemic index values (index of 55 or lower). Peas, lentils, and chickpeas are full of complex carbohydrates that release energy slowly to the body. This helps to maintain a consistent energy level. In contrast, sugars are broken down quickly within the body, causing it to "crash" or feel tired after the sugar has been used. By consuming foods with a low glycemic index, you can…
- Control your blood glucose levels
- Control your cholesterol levels
- Control your appetite
- Lower your risk of getting heart disease
- Lower your risk of getting type 2 diabetes
Antioxidant Highlights
Lentils, split peas, and chickpeas are good sources of important minerals like iron, magnesium, and zinc. Iron deficiency causes anemia while zinc is one of several nutrients necessary for fending off infections. Consumption of too many refined grains and cereals, and not enough fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds is likely to amount to a diet low in magnesium. Scientists think this may cause blood pressure to rise.
Peas, lentils, and chickpeas provide antioxidants such as Vitamin A and Vitamin C which bind with and destroy free radicals, reducing oxidative damage to cells.The presence of phytochemicals in legumes is another reason why we should eat legumes regularly. Plants use phytochemicals to protect themselves from insects, disease, drought, and radiation. The body uses phytochemicals to fend off disease. Lentils, especially have a high content of tannins, phytochemicals that prevent cancer growth, making them a good addition to any diet.
How Much Is Enough?
For the purpose of promoting healthier lifestyles among Americans, the USDA Food & Nutrition Service developed the new food guide pyramid below (mypyramid.gov). So, where do peas, lentils, and chickpeas fall into this food guide.
Peas and lentils are packed with so much fiber, protein, and other nutrients that the USDA recommends that legumes be consumed as both a meat and vegetable selection. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, an adult should consume 2 ½ cups of vegetables and 5 ½ oz of meat and beans every day. You can stock up on vegetables with peas and lentils and you can stock up meat with peas and lentils.
Where Can I Buy Them?
Peas, lentils, and chickpeas can be purchased at your local grocer in a 16 oz. plastic bag, as a bulk item, or as a canned product. Click here to get a listing of retailers.
Dry Peas
| Nutrition Facts - Serving Size 1/4 cup (35g) (boiled) | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories | 130 |
| Calories from Fat | 5 |
(% Daily Value) |
|
| Total Fat | 0.5g (<1%)
|
| Saturated Fat | 0g (0%)
|
| Cholesterol | 0mg (0%)
|
| Sodium | 0mg (0%) |
| Total Carbohydrates | 23g (8%) |
| Dietary Fiber | 10g (40%) |
| Sugars | 0g |
| Protein | 8g |
| Vitamin A - 0% Vitamin C - 2% Calcium - 1% Iron - 5% |
|
Dry peas, like their lentil cousins, have been around for thousands of years. Peas are a high protein food and a good source of potassium and the B-vitamins.
Peas, lentils, and chickpeas are also a good source of folate. This nutrient may help to stave off heart attacks and strokes.
Lentils
| Nutrition Facts - Serving Size 1/4 cup (35g) (boiled) | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories | 130 |
| Calories from Fat | 5 |
(% Daily Value) |
|
| Total Fat | 0.5g (<1%)
|
| Saturated Fat | 0g (0%)
|
| Cholesterol | 0mg (0%)
|
| Sodium | 0mg (0%) |
| Total Carbohydrates | 22g (7%) |
| Dietary Fiber | 11g (44%) |
| Sugars | 0g |
| Protein | 8g |
| Vitamin A - 0% Vitamin C - 2% Calcium - 2% Iron - 14% |
|
Lentils are packed with nutrients, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and folic acid. Lentils are a low calorie, low fat and cholesterol free food as well as being inexpensive.
Folic acid is one very important nutrient found in lentils. The U.S. Health Service recommends that all women of childbearing age consume 400 mcg of folic acid per day. Most women do not meet this guideline. One cup of cooked lentils provides 90% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA). Lentils provide more folic acid than any other unfortified food.
Lentils are also an important source of iron, especially for women, whose iron needs are greater. Eating lentils with foods rich in Vitamin C, such as tomatoes, green peppers, broccoli, and citrus fruits or juices, helps the body absorb iron more efficiently.
Chickpeas
| Nutrition Facts - Serving Size 1/4 cup (35g) (boiled) | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories | 115 |
| Calories from Fat | 5 |
(% Daily Value) |
|
| Total Fat | 1.75g (1%)
|
| Saturated Fat | 0g (0%)
|
| Cholesterol | 0mg (0%)
|
| Sodium | 0mg (0%) |
| Total Carbohydrates | 19g (7%) |
| Dietary Fiber | 11g (44%) |
| Sugars | 0g |
| Protein | 7g |
| Vitamin A - 3% Vitamin C - 2% Calcium - 5% Iron - 12% |
|
The Mediterranean diet has recently been rediscovered by nutritionists and doctors. Legumes, including chickpeas, are a main component on this healthy menu.
Chickpeas, lentils, and peas are among the select group of foods that provide protein as well as calcium and iron.