Amazing legumes

The chickpea – like all other members of the legumes family – offers a lot of proteins, minerals and fibre.  Just one cup of uncooked legumes delivers 14 to 20 grams of fibre, more than whole wheat. Nutrition experts nowadays recommend to eat at least 25 grams of fibre a day, a huge amount for most people.

Fibre helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, making chickpeas an excellent choice for diabetics and people with insulin resistance or hypoglycaemia. A 2012 study of people with type 2 diabetes has shown that eating one cup of legumes a day for three months lowered blood sugar and blood pressure.

Furthermore, fibre traps bile loaded with cholesterol in the digestive tract and helps bowel movement, preventing digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome. Eating legumes regularly also lowers bad cholesterol levels in the blood.

Legumes provide a wealth of minerals as well. For example chickpeas contain plenty of folic acid, manganese and iron needed for healthy bones and blood production. They contain large amounts of the trace mineral molybdenum that flushes out the preservative sulphite from our bodies.

Legumes are also rich in various antioxidants and phytonutrients. At the moment, scientists continue to discover new varieties of these substances all the time. Antioxidants fight free radicals, atoms that miss an electron in their outer shell. In their search for missing electrons they grab them where they can get them and damaging healthy body cells. Free radicals are a normal by-product of our digestion. Smoking, drinking and pollution increase the amount of free radicals in our bodies. Antioxidants neutralise free radicals by providing them with missing electrons.

Go for red beans

Red beans detoxify your body

Red beans, also called Rajma, kidney and Pinto beans are known as ‘Phaseolus vulgaris’, which means ‘common beans’. They all trace their origin to a common ancestor bean in Peru. Spanish explorers brought them to Europe in the 15th century and Portuguese traders introduced them to Asia.

Beans are not only a cheap source of good protein; they also contain plenty of cholesterol-lowering fiber. A cup of cooked kidney beans provides almost half of the recommended daily intake for fiber. This fiber prevents blood sugar levels from bouncing up and down after a meal, making beans easy digestible for people with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.

Furthermore they supply us with the trace mineral molybdenum which helps our bodies getting rid of sulfites. Sulfites are preservatives found in many industrial foods. Big amounts of folate, magnesium, manganese, iron and niacin (Vitamin B1) make red beans an excellent ingredient for any healthy diet. These minerals and vitamins support a healthy heart, improve your memory, help keep your heart healthy, boost your antioxidant defense and provide plenty of fat-free energy. If you want to lose weight, eat plenty of beans.

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Homemade Jerky, Beef or Chicken

Jerky, a snack packed with proteins











 

Ingredients (for 8 servings):

• 1 kilogram lean beef or chicken breasts
• ½ cup soya sauce
• ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 5 tablespoons honey

Method:

• Cut the meat into thin stripes not thicker than 5 mm.
• Mix the soya sauce, the Worcestershire sauce and the honey in an airtight container.
• Add the meat stripes to the marinade.
• Let it marinate for at least one day. Also two or three days in the marinade don’t hurt.
• Now comes the tricky part: Cover a cookie sheet well with aluminum foil. Spread the meat stripes over a rack.
• Place the rack into the oven with the aluminum covered cookie sheet under it. Marinade and meat juices will drop down and burn. Without the foil, you would have to clean up a really bad mess.
• Turn on the heat as low as possible.
• Keep the oven door ajar with the help of two wooden spoons. You just need it a slit open so the humidity can escape and the heat does not build up too much.
• Dry the meat stripes for at least two hours. Don’t be alarmed by a burnt odor in the beginning. This is the marinade dripping down and burning off on the aluminum foil.
• Let the jerky cool down and keep it in an airtight container.

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