Due to its unique composition, Bengal gram is not only a useful and nutritious food, but also a health-beneficial one. Let us discover all of its magnificent properties!
Are Chickpeas Good for You?
Chickpeas, or so-called garbanzo beans, are legume plant mostly growing in the Near East. Beans come in different colors – white, black, red, green, brown. Chickpeas, just like lentils, are an excellent dietary product. It has an oily structure, nutty taste and a pleasant aftertaste.
Garbanzo beans strengthen immunity, improve the work of nervous system and contribute to the development of energy in your body.
Garbanzo beans are good for cardiovascular system. They help reduce blood cholesterol, normalize blood pressure, strengthen and improve the elasticity of the walls of veins and arteries, prevent the development of inflammation and blood clots, reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Chickpeas also stabilize the level of sugar in blood.
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Bengal gram has a beneficial effect on digestive system. Due to the content of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber, the pea cleanses your body, helps to get rid of constipation, prevents the reproduction of harmful bacteria and the development of putrefactive processes. Thus, chickpea prevents the risk of cancer developing in intestine.
Bengal gram improves metabolism and helps to reduce weight.
This legume has a diuretic effect and, together with wastes, removes bile from body. It is able to dissolve gallstones as well. Garbanzo beans are beneficial for the work of liver, gall bladder and spleen.
Chickpeas are particularly beneficial for women, as they need a lot of iron during menstruation, pregnancy and breastfeeding periods. These beans stimulate the production of hemoglobin and prevent the development of anemia, which is why they are useful during lactation.
Garbanzo beans can fight the development of skin diseases. They help with pains in back and cure dropsy, jaundice and lichen. Chickpeas are recommended for those who has inflammation of gums and dental diseases.
There are various eastern recipes of masks and ointments made with chickpeas.
They help treat burns, scabies and skin inflammations. Bengal gram flour is used in cosmetology as well. It makes skin soft, supple and silky.
What are Chickpeas Good for?
Let us make a short list of garbanzo beans benefits that will sum up everything we have mentioned. Chickpeas are extremely beneficial for your whole body.
There are some reasons you will need consuming it the most, such as:
- Heart failure, since chickpeas contain a lot of iron.
- Anemia, leukemia, hemophilia and other blood diseases as there is no cholesterol in garbanzo beans. Moreover, they contain useful proteins, needed for blood vessels.
- Problems with digestion, because there is a lot of calories in Bengal gram, but almost no fat.
- Problems with endocrine system. Chickpeas help liver, gall bladder and spleen work well.
- Female diseases, as garbanzo beans stimulate the hormone production and contain a lot of iron.
- Skin problems (it is good to both eat it and use as masks).
- Cancer prevention. Bengal gram stimulates your immunity and helps your body work well, meaning it can prevent tumors development.
Black Chickpeas Benefits
Black Bengal gram is a unique sort of this legume, mostly cultivated in India. Its content is rather different from a white one, which is mostly used worldwide. There are not much vitamins, but more calcium, magnesium and some other elements.
Therefore, you cannot say that black garbanzo beans are better than white or green ones. They are just different. Considering their carbohydrates content is almost the same, you would rather eat white chickpeas to get the most vitamins. However, if your diet requires some particular elements, it is a good idea to consume some black Bengal gram.
Are Chickpeas Good for Diabetics?
If you have diabetes, you should know that almost any legumes are good for you. Chickpeas are no exception. In garbanzo beans, there is a large amount of protein. Thus, you can make a full dish only with it, and such dish will contain both carbs and amino acids. That is particularly important for diabetics, since it is hard to get enough energy per day with a limited list of allowed products.
We have mentioned before that garbanzo beans help prevent digestion problems. In addition, these legumes cleanse blood from excess sugar.
A nice plus to chickpeas benefits for those who suffer from diabetes is the absence of cholesterol. Moreover, there is a low amount of fat in Bengal gram. And even for this low amount, it is only vegetable fats.
Are Chickpeas Good for Weight Loss?
Despite the high caloric value of garbanzo beans, they are widely used for losing weight. As we have said before, chickpeas normalize the work of digestive tract and cleanse intestines, which, of course, affects figure.
Bengal gram is popular among vegans for being nourishing, but containing almost no fat. The thing is, even with all those carbs in its composition, chickpea does not lead to fat deposition. There are no tough carbohydrates, like lactose or galactose from milk.
Of course, there are many different diets with garbanzo beans. For example, you can use a short one that last only one week. This diet allows you to consume vegetables, fruits, beef, chicken breast, veal, cereals and rye bread. In addition, once a day you need to eat a special soup with chickpeas.
200 g of chickpeas should be soaked overnight in cold water with a pinch of salt. Then pour 4 liters of water and cook it for about an hour. Chop some onion, carrot and two red peppers. Add the vegetables to the soup and cook until done. At the end of the cooking, add six cloves of garlic, a little tomato paste and a bunch of chopped cilantro.
There is another option – a long diet. You can follow it for 10 days. You may eat all low fat and not very sweet foods. It is necessary to exclude cakes, fried and spicy dishes. The point of the diet is that you should adhere to proper nutrition and include a small amount of chickpeas in the menu. Soak it overnight and then make a puree. Add a couple of teaspoons to your regular meals every day.
Garbanzo beans are extremely beneficial for health. They contain a lot of necessary vitamins and minerals, while being highly-calorized. However, these calories are taken only by useful carbs and almost no fats, meaning you can lose weight by eating chickpeas. There are various diets with this product included. Tell us if you have your own!
