Healthy Foods - Legumes Are Amazing Health Foods

What is a legume? Any food that develops a seed pod that will split on both of its sides when it is ripe is in the legume food group. Grasses, alfalfa and clover are legume foods that are fed to animals because of their high nutritional value. Legumes have two times more protein than grains; contain vitamin B and high iron content. These are easy foods for your digestive system and contain no cholesterol. We know them in our diet as lentils, peanuts, soybeans, beans and peas.

Prebiotics, which is a dietary supplement in the form of non-digestible carbohydrate that favors the growth of desirable microflora (plants that can be seen only under a microscope) in the large bowel, is found in legumes, as well as in bananas, asparagus, garlic, leeks, sunchokes, onions and the list goes on. Lentils which are legume have a naturally large quantity of dietary fiber and prebiotics. Instead of eating a lot of red meat in your diet which is very hard for your body to digest you can get high quantities of iron and protein by eating lentils especially when you cook them along with foods that are rich in vitamin C like tomatoes.

Yogurt without added sugar is also an excellent prebiotic. Like the legume, yogurt that has either active or live ingredients listed, especially if there is added fiber, is a culture that works wonders for your intestinal bacteria. This is good bacteria that promote health and immunity. Yogurt without added sugar promotes the growth of these good bacteria that aid digestion. Besides aiding the intestinal track these foods can also assist the body in absorbing important minerals like iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium.

The following is a detailed list of legumes:

Adzuki beans (Asian cooking)
Anasazi beans (Southwestern cooking)
Black-eyed peas
Butter beans
Chick peas or garbanzo beans
Green beans (snap or string)
Kidney beans
Lentils
Mung beans (sprouted beans that can be made into noodles)
Navy beans
Peas (dried or split)
Pinto beans
Soy beans
Licorice (Used to flavor or sweeten products, such as candies, beverages, and medicine)
Peanuts

Peanuts are legumes and actually are not technically nuts. They do come from a split pod and seed which is part of the leguminosae family of foods. The plant does bear flowers so there is a confusion of which family it should be classified as, the nut or the legume. The very name indicates there is a confusion, pea-nut. Bottom line, is the peanut has the nutritional values of the legume family of foods but is used in cooking like nuts, besides the flavor is nutty.

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