Tag Archives: pulses

Food, health, pulses

WHO is saying to eat pulses?

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I’m so sorry. I will try to avoid that in the future. But yes, the WHO, the US and Canada are all pushing to eat more pulses. The UN actually made 2016 the ‘Year of the Pulse’ to try and get more people to eat them.

Yes, another post about how important it is to get more pulses into your diet. Because it simply can’t be emphasized enough that pulses are cheap, so affordable to everyone around the world, not just to trim a food budget; highly nutritious, so they can reduce malnutrition in poverty stricken countries, and add nutrition to the food rich but nutrition poor diets of many western countries; healthy, for digestive systems, hearts, blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and many other lifestyle issues; good for the environment, because pulses add to the biodiversity of the soil they are grown in, contributing to healthier soil a healthier environment, and reducing the need for fertilizer; and good for the environment because they mitigate climate change and put less waste into our environment.

There are simply no reasons to not add pulses to your diet, or replace some proteins in your diet with them and many many reasons to do it. Of course, this is assuming you do not have one of the rare problems where you simply cannot digest pulses.

So you are sold, and you want to add more pulses to your diet? You are in luck, because one thing I have is a wide range of pulse meals to share.

Food, health, pulses

Why do I love Pulses?

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It’s obvious that I do from my first post on the subject. But why do I love them? Because they are healthy, cheap, taste good and quite often easy.

They are cheap. You can still find them in supermarkets for under $1 a pound for dry beans, which can be up to 16 servings. Even canned beans are incredibly cheap per serving compared to any other form of protein. Both canned and dried beans will last in a pantry for ages, so they are a worthwhile investment. You really can’t beat the price, and adding a pulse based meal or two to your menu will reduce your shopping budget substantially. There’s a reason why financial experts say you need to eat beans and rice while getting debt under control.

The easiest way to make a pulse is to pop open a can, rinse, and top with your favorite vinaigrette. You can’t get much simpler than that.

They taste good. There are so many ways to cook them even if you or your family professes to hate them, you’ll find one or two recipes everyone will love. And there are so many varieties of pulses, you may find one or two types that make all the difference.

And they are healthy. You’ve heard that before, I am sure. They are one of the highest fiber foods easily available, and fiber is key to weight loss, digestive health, reducing certain cancers, controlling blood sugar, and more. And with most first world countries saying people need to eat 25-38 grams of fiber a day, beans (with 7-14 grams of fiber per serving) are a good way to get extra fiber in.

In addition to fiber, beans are full of complex carbohydrates, which provide long term energy and reduce strain on your insulin level (they have a low glycemic index). A breakfast or lunch with beans will keep you going through the day better than one full of sugars.

Beans are also a protein and nutrient dense food. Canadian researches have learned that Canadians who eat more pulses have more nutrient rich diets overall.

And while you may have heard that protein in beans ‘isn’t complete’, in our modern world it is both not necessary to have complete proteins at every meal, and it is quite simple to ‘complete’ a pulse’s protein. You just add nuts or grains. Most cultures already have a grain accompaniment to traditional bean dishes, and that’s an easy addition.

Food, pulses

BEANS! (or pulses)

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I love beans whoo hoo hoo

I love beans how ‘bout you?

High in fiber low in fat-

Hey I bet you didn’t know that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZWQMvHNOnI

And Brax sums up how I feel about beans. Well, pulses, actually, pulses being the dried forms of peas, beans, lentils and chick peas (the fresh versions being slightly different).

And I am not the only one who loves pulses. The World Health Organization and the governments of both Canada and the USA want people to eat more beans, every week. There is currently an active challenge to add pulses to your diet — three ½ cup servings a week.

Three servings a week.

That is a pretty reasonable goal. My family would have to drop our beans every week to reach it, but if you want to add more pulses to your diet, I will be happy to share with you my love of pulses.