Veganism and opting for less meat in our diets is becoming more popular and there added benefits to having more items like pulses and lentils in our diets with more micronutrient density.
Pulses and lentils are a great way to add protein and slow releasing carbohydrate to your diet that help aid in recovery and provide slow releasing energy for training, particularly great if you’re having a training session 2-4 hours after eating them.
Why 2-4 hours?
They are low GI carbohydrates so they’re digested a lot slower and so need time allow for that release of energy which is important if you’re wanting to focus on performance.
100g of cooked chick peas will provide you with;
164Kcals
9g protein
27g carbohydrates (8g fibre)
3g fat
16% your RDA of Iron
The quality of protein is dictated by the amount of amino acids that food contains and the bio-availability (how we digest them). Very few vegetable sources contain a complete amino acid profile meaning sometimes we need to combine foods together to make them complete.
Why is this important?
All nine of the essential amino acids are needed to promote “muscle protein synthesis” or the creation and stimulation of recovery and growth in muscle.
The protein of pulses is high in certain amino acids and low in others whereas grains are the opposite being high in what pulses are low in. Combining them provides all the essential amino acids needed to stimulate muscle protein synthesis.
This is really important to know if you’re a vegetarian/vegan.
Here is an awesome recipe of mine that you may enjoy
RECIPE: Roasted vegetable and lentil soup
Ingredients:
- 1 tin mixed beans (can be in a sauce)
- 1 tin mixed pulses or chick peas
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes
- 1 onion & bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves – minced
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1/2 tsp chilli,
- 1tsp smoked paprika
- Salt & Pepper
- 1tbsp Worcester sauce
- Fresh Coriander to garnish
CHOP onion and bell pepper and fry in pan till golden
ADD rest of ingredients and bring to a simmer
LEAVE to cook for 15-20mins and reduce
DONE
SERVE in a big tortilla wrap with some fresh coriander and some sour cream