How to Include Legumes in Your Weight Loss Diet

Explore this Article

parts

1Including More Legumes in Your Diet

2Learning How to Buy, Prepare and Cook Legumes

3Understanding How Legumes Impact Weight Loss and Health

Other Sections

Tips and Warnings

Related Articles

References

"Legume" is a general term used to describe plants that produce pods with seeds inside and include common edible types such as beans, soybeans, peas, chickpeas, lentils and peanuts. Incorporating more legumes into your diet is not only a healthy strategy (as they typically contain lots of vitamins, minerals and fiber) — they can also be beneficial as part of a weight-loss diet. Legumes are versatile and can be prepared in many different ways to suit most palates.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Including More Legumes in Your Diet

1. 
   1
   Add legumes to soups and stews. Cooked legumes, such as lentils, red kidney beans, split peas, chickpeas, fava beans or black beans make a tasty and healthy addition to soups and stews. Due to their protein content, they also make an excellent substitute for meat/chicken/fish, particularly if you're a vegetarian.

   • Make sure to soak beans and peas before adding them to soups and stews, so the potentially harmful compounds get leached out.
   • Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo or ceci beans to some people and are the main ingredient in hummus. Fava beans are sometimes referred to as broad beans because of their flattened shape.
   • Another name for black beans is turtle beans.
2. 
   2
   Use legumes on salads. Many types of legumes also go well with salads, particularity lentils, black-eyed peas, edamame beans and Lima beans. Sprinkle whole beans, peas or lentils on top of an iceberg lettuce salad, or add them to a cold potato salad. Remember that black-eyed peas and lentils don't need to be soaked beforehand.

   • Legumes go well with a variety of salad dressings, including creamy ones and oil and vinegar-based types.
   • Soy nuts (roasted soybeans) make tasty and healthy garnishes for most salads.
   • Edamame is also known as green soybean and often eaten directly out of the pod after being cooked and salted.
   • Lima beans are also sometimes called butter beans or Madagascar beans.
3. 
   3
   Substitute wheat flour with finely ground legumes. When making cookies, muffins and breads, substitute about 10% of the wheat flour with finely ground legumes, such as lupin, garbanzo or fava bean flours. They will give your baked goods more fiber and protein, and might be easier to digest and tolerate if you're sensitive to gluten — which is in wheat and many other grains.

   • Consider adding pureed beans or lentils to your brownies and cupcakes, but just don't tell your kids! Black beans make excellent gluten-free brownies.
   • Use a coffee grinder and set it on "fine" or "espresso" to grind beans and peas into flour before cooking/baking with it.
   • You can puree cooked beans in an ordinary blender or food processor if you don't want to gunk up your coffee grinder.
4. 
   4
   Serve legumes as dips for chips and veggies. Some legumes can be whipped up (pureed), combined with a little vegetable oil and made into tasty dips for chips, breads and veggies — hummus is a good example and made from blended chickpeas. Hummus is a low-fat, high-protein dip that you can spread on bread or serve with vegetable sticks, such as carrots, celery and zucchini.

   • Hummus and other legume-based dips are very common in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
   • Re-fried bean dip is very popular in Mexico and South American countries and used for taco chips and in burritos.
   • Try a spicy edamame dip and serving with pita chips and veggies.
5. 
   5
   Try making homemade veggie burgers with legumes. Another great idea for vegetarians or people who want to reduce the red meat in their diet is veggie burgers made from legumes. Ground up lentils or chickpeas make a great base for vegetable patties, although they have a tendency to fall apart if you grill them like hamburger patties. Ground up legumes also combine well with mushrooms to make veggie patties.

   • Instead of grilling, add a little vegetable oil to a pan and lightly fry or sauté the veggie patties for a few minutes before adding them to a bun.
   • Adding cheese to veggie burgers can be tasty, but sometimes people who have trouble digesting beans are also lactose intolerant — so it can be a "double whammy."
6. 
   6
   Consider legumes in desserts. Although it may sound strange to most Americans, beans and other legumes have long been staples in sweet treats in other cultures, especially Asian societies such as Japan, China and Vietnam. Good examples of sweet desserts include Vietnamese bean pudding and Japanese adzuki bean ice cream.

   • Japanese adzuki beans, also called field peas or red beans, are made into a sweet bean paste in Japan and China and spread on rice and crackers.
   • These beans are not inherently very sweet, so sugar must be added to them.
   Advertisement

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Learning How to Buy, Prepare and Cook Legumes

1. 
   1
   Opt for fresh legumes instead of canned varieties. Buying fresh dried beans and other legumes from your local grocery store is the best idea because they tend to be less expensive, tastier and more nutritious (depending how you cook them) compared to canned varieties. Many dried beans (black, navy, kidney beans) are found in mainstream grocery stores, although you may have to go to outdoor markets or specialty health food stores to find more obscure types, such as certain types of lentils.

   • If you can afford it, buy organic legumes (beans) from the bulk bins of food stores — they tend to have higher turnover rates, which keeps them fresher.
   • Buying canned legumes eliminates the need for soaking them prior to eating, but you should still rinse them thoroughly to get rid of the excess sodium and preservatives from the canning liquid.
2. 
   2
   Sort through your dried legumes before storing or soaking them. Before storing, soaking or preparing your dried legumes at home it's best to spread them out on a clean counter and quickly check for any spoiled, discolored or shriveled ones first. Spoiled beans can cause others to go bad quicker, so if you find any, throw them out — preferably into a composting container or heap. You may also find some unwanted debris, such as small stones or twigs, that you'll have to remove before storing or preparing them.

   • Once sorted, store the dried legumes in airtight containers in a cool, dry place that doesn't get any direct sunlight.
   • In general, most dried beans and other legumes can be stored for about a year if done properly. Canned varieties typically last much longer, a few years or more.
3. 
   3
   Soak most legumes before you eat them. Dried legumes, with the exceptions of black-eyed peas, split peas and lentils, need to be soaked in water prior to eating or cooking them because it rehydrates them and helps remove some harmful compounds that cause digestive problems. Kidney beans, for example, can be quite toxic if eaten raw and unsoaked. You can slow soak or quick soak legumes depending on how much time you have to prepare meals.

   • To slow soak: put 1 pound of dried legumes (such as beans) with 10 cups water in a pot and cover in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
   • To quick soak: bring 1 pound of dried legumes and 10 cups of water to a boil in a pot, then cover and let simmer for one to four hours at room temperature.
   • Compounds that cause digestive problems in legumes include phytic acid, lectins and saponins. Soaking dry legumes can help extract these compounds out.
4. 
   4
   Learn how to cook beans and other legumes. After soaking beans or other legumes, rinse them first before adding them to a stockpot. Cover the beans (or other legumes) with about three times their volume of water and then add any herbs or spices that you like before bringing the pot to a boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer the beans uncovered for at least 45 minutes, stirring them occasionally, until they're tender. Cooking times depend somewhat on the type of bean or legume.

   • Add salt or acidic ingredients (vinegar, tomatoes) to the beans once they are cooked and tender. Adding salt too early can make beans tough and increase cooking times.
   • You know beans (and most other legumes) are properly cooked when they can be easily mashed with a fork.
   Advertisement

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Understanding How Legumes Impact Weight Loss and Health

1. 
   1
   Eat legumes for their high fiber content. Legumes such as beans, peas and lentils are high in soluble fiber (and some insoluble fiber), which tends to fill you up quicker and reduce the desire to overeat. The result is that eating foods high in fiber is good for losing weight. For example, some studies suggest that regular consumption of beans is associated with lower BMI (body mass index), smaller waist size and reduced risk of obesity.

   • A single serving of legumes can assist in weight loss through their effect on decreasing hunger for up to four hours.
   • Research indicates that people who eat about 3/4 of a cup of legumes every day lose almost a pound more weight each week compared to those who don't eat legumes.
   • One cup of black beans or lentils contains about 15 g of fiber, which is 60% of the recommended daily minimum.
2. 
   2
   Consume legumes to get more protein. Legumes are also a good source of protein, which is important for filling you up at meal times too, but it's also needed to build and maintain muscles and connective tissue. Legumes are among the best plant-based sources of dietary protein and are good alternatives to meat, which can be high in cholesterol and saturated fat. The body can also use protein for energy when carbohydrates are scarce.

   • One cup of cooked lentils or black beans provide about 18 g of protein, which is about 35% of the recommended daily amount for non-athletic adults.
   • Protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates (especially refined sugary types), so it makes you feel fuller for longer and doesn't get stored as fat if you overindulge.
   • As a protein source, legumes are much less expensive than meat/poultry/fish, so including them in your diet and replacing some animal-based sources can save you money on grocery bills.
   • Keep in mind, however, that most legumes are not complete proteins, meaning they do not contain all nine essential fatty acids necessary for your health and dietary needs. To make sure you meet your protein needs, add a small helping of grains with your legumes (try some brown rice or quinoa, which is a complete protein).
3. 
   3
   Add legumes to your diet to reduce the risk of diabetes. The fiber and carbohydrates in legumes have a low glycemic index, which means they are broken down slowly and don't cause spikes in blood sugar and insulin release.

   • Type 2 diabetes is much more common in people who are overweight. Legumes not only help to manage blood sugar, but they help to prevent unhealthy weight gain to begin with.
   • Diabetes, which is defined as chronically high blood sugar, is destructive to smaller blood vessels and nerve fibers, making heart disease more likely.
4. 
   4
   Benefit from lower cholesterol levels by eating legumes. The soluble and insoluble fiber in legumes, such as beans and peas, is also helpful for lowering blood cholesterol levels, particularly the "bad" kind called LDL cholesterol. The soluble fiber, such as lignans, sticks to cholesterol in the bloodstream and pulls it out of circulation, which may reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases — heart attacks, stroke and atherosclerosis (clogged arteries).

   • Legumes are also very low in saturated fat and don't contain any cholesterol.
   • Related to lowering blood cholesterol levels, eating legumes regularly can also lower high blood pressure (hypertension).
   Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

• Legumes are also a great source of antioxidants, most B vitamins, iron and many trace minerals.
  Thanks

  Helpful0Not Helpful0
• Canned legumes are good additions to dishes that don't require lots of simmering, but always drain and rinse the canned legumes before adding them.
  Thanks

  Helpful0Not Helpful0
• If you can't find or don't have red kidney beans on hand to make chili or stew, pinto or black beans make good substitutes. for red kidney beans.
  Thanks

  Helpful0Not Helpful0

Show More Tips

Advertisement