Friday, July 13, 2012

Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) health benefits


Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) have a delicious nutlike taste and buttery texture. They provide a concentrated source of protein that can be enjoyed year-round.n some parts of the world (for example, parts of India), garbanzo beans are eaten daily in large amounts and on a year-round basis. But a recent study has shown that we can obtain health benefits from garbanzo beans even when we eat much smaller amounts over a much shorter period of time. In this study, it took only one week of garbanzo bean consumption to improve participants' control of blood sugar and insulin secretion. Equally important, only one-third cup of the beans per day was needed to provide these blood-sugar related health benefits. Garbanzos are a food you definitely want to keep on your "digestive support" list - especially if you are focusing on the colon. Between 65-75% of the fiber found in garbanzo beans is insoluble fiber, and this type of fiber remains undigested all the way down to the final segment of your large intestine (colon). Recent studies have shown that garbanzo bean fiber can be metabolized by bacteria in the colon to produce relatively large amounts of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic, propionic, and butyric acid. These SCFAs provide fuel to the cells that line your intestinal wall. By supporting the energy needs of our intestinal cells, the SCFAs made from garbanzo fibers can help lower your risk of colon problems, including your risk of colon cancer.Researchers have recently determined that many of the antioxidants present in garbanzo beans are especially concentrated in the outer seed coat that gives the beans their distinctive color. Darker-colored "desi-type" garbanzo beans appear to have thicker seed coats and greater concentrations of antioxidants than the larger and more regularly shaped cream-colored garbanzos that are regularly found at salad bars and in canned products. Of course, it is important to remember that antioxidants can be found in both types of garbanzo beans and you'll get great health benefits from both types. But if you have previously shied away from darker-colored or irregularly-shaped garbanzo beans, we want to encourage you to reconsider and to enjoy all types of garbanzo beans, including the darker-colored and irregularly-shaped ones. 

2 comments:

  1. Cool, thank you!!! My stomach has been bothering me somewhat like an annoying headache that just won't go away. The other day, I happen to just eat one chickpea from the can I was using for dinner and thought, "wow, that's pretty good!...new healthy snack perhaps!". So, this morning my bothersome stomach I was wanted to heal and headed to the kitchen cupboards trying to figure out what to have...tea, no not right now...a salad, yuck too early...chickpeas, hmmm...could be a nice balance to starchy feel/cracker effect that usually calms my tummy. So, I opened the can, strained out a couple of scoopfuls went to the computer and googled 'chickpeas natural healing' and found this site. Thank you God and thank you Sally!!!

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  2. Thank you so much for your comment, I'm really glad you found it and it helped you. Please feel free to share my blog with friends and family.

    Sally

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