Do you also know that among the good foods for weight loss, Pulses stand out?
In a recent study published in the journal Obesity, which was carried
out by researchers at the University of Toronto, it was noted that, 90% of
diets fails or results in weight regain simply because of hunger and food
craving.
In the study, the researchers found out that people who ate around 160
grams of pulses daily felt 31% fuller than those who did not.
Feeling satiated/full means eating less snacks and other junk foods, and
this results in weight loss.
Pulses include edible beans (excluding
green beans which are counted as vegetable and not pulse), peas, chickpeas (aka
garbanzo beans) and lentils. Pulses are rich in fibre and protein and they are
also very low in fat. Pulses also contain high levels of minerals like phosphorous,
folate, B-vitamines iron and zinc.
Pulses includes the following:
- black-eyed peas
- garden peas
- chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- red, green, yellow and brown lentils
- baked beans
- runner beans
- broad beans (fava beans)
- kidney beans, butter beans (Lima), cannellini beans, flageolet beans, haricots, pinto beans and borlotti beans
By making pulse a part of your daily diet, you will not only benefit
from their variety of minerals but also, enjoy their unique ability to reduce
the glycaemic index of your entire meal process, and as well enjoy less risk of
heart disease and type 2 diabetes due to the high fibre present in pulses.
In addition to this, pulses are a good alternative to people who do not
get protein from meat since excess consumption of meat has recently been linked
to colorectal cancer.
The group led by Dr. John Sievenpiper in the research which involved 126
participants also found that eating on average one serving of peas, beans,
lentils or chickpeas daily can reduce bad cholesterol by 5%, thereby lowering
the risk of cardiovascular disease.
How much Pulses should you eat?
This brings us to the question, How much pulse should you eat daily?
Researchers recommend that we get at least 5 daily portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables of which pulses is a portions.
Combining pulses with different plant-based protein sources, like cereal
grains (e.g. rice or wheat), or corn, or tubers (e.g. potato or cassava) is a
good way to derive a more balanced supply of protein and carbohydrate.
You can add some beans or lentils to your rice, salad, and you may
replace one third of your beef with kidney beans and use lentils to bulk up
your soup.
If you keep cooked pulses in the fridge, eat them within two days.
Pulses are bought either canned or dried. Canned pulses have already
been soaked and cooked, thus you only need to heat them up or add them straight
to salads if you are using them cold.
Dried pulses require that you soak and cook them before they will be
consumed.
So, if you wish to lose weight without starving yourself or resorting to
exclusion diets, make sure you add pulses to your daily diet. Pulses are not
only rich in fibre and proteins, they also serve as a good alternative to meat
which has recently been linked to colorectal cancer.
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