martes, 23 de abril de 2013

Lentil Stew and Your Health


Mankind has been eating lentils for thousands of years. So much so that the Bible makes his first reference to the lentils in the book of Genesis. The story says that Jacob gave E′sau bread and lentil stew, and he went to eating and drinking. Then he got up and went his way. So E′sau despised the birthright (Genesis 25:34.)

I’ve often pondered how this stew tasted– it must have smelled delicious for Esau to consider selling his birthright.


This is how we know that this food is very old. It can be very interesting to ponder what our ancestors knew about lentils that we don't.

Lentils and barley were particularly important in the Biblical diet. In Eat and Be SatisfiedA Social History of Jewish Food, author John Cooper speaks of the importance of lentils in the ancient Israelite diet, as well as how they were cooked:

"Bread was in the biblical phrase the staff of life, but next in importance in the diet of the biblical age was pulsed, such as lentils, beans, and peas, which could be made into a pottage or used to supplement bread in a variety of ways… Lentils, which are mentioned four times in the Bible, appear to have been domesticated in the Near East, where carbonized seeds have been discovered."


Today, thanks to the many studies that have been done on lentils we know many interesting things about them.

For starters because consume lentils, and other legumes improves control of blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the latest issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

What are the properties of lentils?

1. Proteins & Calories
This is probably the most known and widespread property of lentils. Many individuals who do not eat meat, vegetarian, vegan or macrobiotic, eat lentils whish have high levels of protein in place of animal meats. After the soybean is a food containing larger percentage of protein component.
One cup of cooked lentils has 225.8 calories, most of which -- 157.5 -- are from carbohydrates. Fat contributes 6.3 calories and protein 62. That is just over 11 percent of a 2,000-calorie diet. It takes 48 minutes of moderate walking to burn the calories you get in this serving of lentils.

However, a difference includes: lentil's proteins are more readily absorbed and e digested, compared with animal protein.


2. Diabetes

Legumes produce an interesting reaction in our body. These dump glucose into the bloodstream, gradually, due to the progressive metabolism of carbohydrates.
People who suffer from diabetes, require the body to integrate the level of sugar in food in a controlled and regular. Moreover, this property helps maintain satiety in the body, which is why it is very common that nutritionists integrate legumes, among other reasons, in overweight patients.

3. Minerals
One cup of cooked lentils provides 37 percent of the daily intake for iron, 17 percent for zinc, 25 percent for copper, 49 percent for manganese and 8 percent for selenium. These are trace minerals your body needs in small amounts. Additional minerals in lentils are calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and sodium. Calcium strengthens the bones and regulates your weight. Zinc facilitates physical and cognitive development and is a component of many enzymes.



4. Obesity
Continuing from the previous property, lentils are an important food that helps control levels of overweight. Despite the high power of calories in this food, well above the rice, for example, the feeling of fullness that cause lentils help not to eat a lot of food for the rest of the day, and eliminate the remaining water, which the body does not need.

Lentils Nutritional information (per 100 g. Uncooked)
11gr water
Energy 338kcal
Folio 454mg
28.6 g protein
19.5 g of carbohydrates.
10mg sodium
20g of fiber.
0.3 g fat
107mg magnesium
1.4 mg Manganese
51 mg. Calcium.
8.2 mg selenium
Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6 and Ac. Folic.
6.2 mg vitamin C
0.33 mg vitamin E
0,852 mg copper
8 mg. Iron.
3 mg. Zinc.
710 mg. Potassium
2.6 mg niacin


There are a variety of lentil recipes on the Internet you might to get.



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