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Healthy Diet Plans >>  Calories >>  Calories In Pulses And Lentils

 

Nutritional Facts Lentils And Lentils Salad For Everyday Meals

Pulses are basically dried edible seeds obtained from plants. A good source of proteins, they are a staple food in many parts of the world. In the tropical areas especially, pulses are one of the most important food groups after cereals. In fact, pulses are a good source of nutrition as they have significant quantities of both proteins and calories.

Black gram, green gram, red gram, lentils, dried peas and beans are all of similar chemical composition, which is high in proteins.

They provide the same amount of calories as cereals, which are staple food all over the world. If you take 100 g of dry pulses, it would contain about 350 Kcal of energy.

Pulses Ingredients And Nutritional Value Of Pulses

About 25% of pulses are made up of proteins. The amount of protein therefore in pulses, is more than double than that present in cereals. Since pulses are abundantly grown, they are very economical too. Pulses are especially nutritious when they are sprouted.

Since pulses are nothing but seeds, any of them can be sprouted. Green Gram however, is the most popular sprouted pulse. The sprouts are rich in riboflavin, thiamine and niacin. They also have good amounts of vitamin B, C and iron. The whole pulses are also very rich in natural fiber that is not really a nutrient, but is helpful in digestion.

Following is a list of some of the commonly available pulses, along with their nutritional value.

Pulses and legumes
Energy (Kcal)
Fibre (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Protein (g) Fat (g)Minerals (g)
Calcium (mg)
        
 Gram 372   
 1.2   
 59.8   
 20.8   
 5.6   
2.7    
56
 Green gram
 348   
 0.8   
 59.9   
 24.5   
 1.2   
3.5   
75
 Green gram whole
 334   
 4.1   
 56.7   
 24   
 1.3   
3.5   
124
 Kidney beans 346   
 4.8   
 60.6   
 22.9   
 1.3   
 3.2   
 260
 Moth beans 330   
 4.5   
 56.5   
 23.6   
 1.1   
 3.5   
 202
 Peas
 315   
 4.5   
 56.5   
 19.7    
 1.1   
 2.2   
 75
 Red gram
 335   
 56.5   
 19.7   
 1.1   
 2.2   
  73
 Soya bean 432   
 1.5   
 57.6   
 22.3    
 1.7        
 4.6   
 2450
 Whole gram
 360   
 3.7   
 20.9   
 43.2   
 19.5   
 3   
 202
 Black gram 347
 0.9
 59.6
 24
 1.4
 3.2   
 154

Since pulses are so nutritious, they are included in a balanced diet. However, since they also are a good source of calories, if you are looking to lose weight, pulses should be consumed in moderation. There are many health benefits of the food groups though and some of these are:

  • Both beans and pulses have been observed to be instrumental in reducing blood cholesterol.
  • The amounts of lipids stored in the blood serum can also be reduced by increasing your intake of dried beans.
  • Due to the roughage in the whole grams, acids and faecal elimination is aided.
  • Pulses also help control and even reduce blood sugar.
  • Sprouted pulses or legumes are not only fibrous, but also have many enzyme inhibitors and are therefore recommended for those who have diabetes
Submitted on January 16, 2014