Diet gun

The lentil is one of the first plants that man began to systematically cultivate.

It is an annual bushy plant and is known for its fruits and is sold as a dry legume.

There are many varieties, the best known are the Brown Spanish pardina, the French green Le Puy, the black beluga, the green Eston, Richlea and Laird, the peeled Petite Golden and Petite Crimson, the Mexican yellow Macachiados.

The fruits of the lentil, lentils, are usually eaten cooked as a soup, with the addition of carrot, onion, garlic and herbs such as bay leaf.

100 grams of cooked lentils without the addition of oil and vegetables give us 115.6 calories which come from:

8.4 grams of protein

0.8 grams of lipids

18.7 grams carbohydrates

Lentil proteins are deficient in two essential amino acids, methionine and cysteine.

The combination of lentils with rice (which has large amounts of methionine and cysteine) helps to create a complete protein with all the essential amino acids, without the need for the simultaneous intake of animal protein.

This combination is common in the Mediterranean, South and West Asia.

The combination of lentils with rice is well known to those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, because it covers what is usually missing in this type of diet, the presence of complete protein (protein with all the essential amino acids) in one meal.

Lentils are also rich in fiber that helps reduce cholesterol and prevent constipation, they are rich in folic acid and magnesium that help the cardiovascular system.

The carbohydrates, in addition to fiber, that lentils contain are low levels of Readily Digestible Starch, high levels of Slowly Digested Starch and resistant starch, making them a very good slow-release carbohydrate food ideal for people with diabetes because it does not raise blood glucose levels quickly. For this reason, they are also a very good choice for weight loss diets.

Lentils also contain vitamin C, D, B6, B12, calcium, iron and magnesium.

Lentil soup is also an excellent food for winter when we need warm, nutritious liquid food.


Tips

If you want to avoid intestinal gas after eating lentils, try cooking them without onions. Usually, onions combined with lentils (and all legumes) create more gas than the legume alone.

Vegans, in addition to meals (vegan moussaka, vegan gumbo, vegan lentil Bolognese) or the various soups they make from lentils, also eat them as a salad, simply soaking the lentils to soften them, that is, raw, and adding them to green vegetables along with separately boiled rice.