Legumes, beans and lentils

Are you including Legumes?

By Dr Sara Grafenauer

20/07/2019

Legumes include beans, peas and lentils and seem to be the forgotten food group! Australians reporting consumption of as little as 4g/day.

No wonder the latest Australian Dietary guidelines suggested we could increase our consumption from this food group by as much as 470%.

Many Aussies struggle with their weight, cholesterol level and blood sugars. Legumes have been shown to help with management of cholesterol and blood sugars and at higher levels of intake can reduce the incidence of diseases like heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. A study of three countries, including Australia suggested that each 20g/day could even lengthen life expectancy*!

OK, so I can hear you all saying that sometimes these foods have unpleasant side effects… Well studies show that if you persist, these side effects settle. And in any case, the gas that is produced is a sign that you’re feeding the good bacteria in your bowel for a healthier gut flora!

Try adding legumes to your favourite chilli beef – it makes the meal go further; pop chicken tenders in the oven with sweet potato and canned chickpeas (Donna Hay has a great recipe for this); add an extra vegetable to your plate using a can of cannellini beans with a little olive oil, black pepper and garlic grated on a micro-plane grater. If you want to use dried legumes, try red lentils and de puy lentils as these cook the fastest. Cooking up legumes from dried and freeing portions works well in our house, but research shows, as long as you rinse canned varieties you remove 40% of the salt (sodium).

Winter is the perfect time to get into legumes. See the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council website www.glnc.org.au or Instagram @grainslegumesNC for more recipes!

*Darmadi-Blackberry et al (2004) Legumes: the most important dietary predictor of survival in older people of Different ethnicities. Asia Pacific J. of Clin. Nutr.