Today, more and more people choose the right food, preferring healthy foods. Someone thus strives for longevity, someone wants to correct the figure, and someone needs it, such as, for example, people suffering from diabetes. Lentils are just the product that can bring great benefits to the body, saturate it without overloading with excess fats, and become a tasty addition to the regular menu.

Lentils, main characteristics

Lentils - a plant belonging to the legume family. This is one of the oldest cultures, whose homeland is West Asia. The territory of its cultivation today is enormous, including central Europe, Australia, Canada, Ethiopia and other countries of the world.

The main advantages of this bean product are nutritional value, rich vitamin composition, as well as the presence of trace elements, contributing to the fight against many ailments, including such a serious disease as diabetes. Ancient healers used lentil infusions for the treatment of nervous disorders, smallpox, and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Modern chefs invent many recipes based on lentils, which are not only very tasty, but also useful.

There are many types of culture, each of which has distinctive features in terms of external, taste, and method of preparation. Red grains are boiled faster than others, turning into nutritious aromatic porridge. Beluga variety is a small black grain resembling fish caviar.

The most fragrant black and green lentils are Puy (from the name of the French town where this variety was bred). It is cooked the longest, but it is exclusively suitable for salads, while maintaining its elasticity and spicy aroma.

Chemical composition and calorie content

The main advantage of this useful product is its rich composition, which includes almost the entire periodic table.

It contains many vitamins, useful trace elements, amino acids that have a positive effect, namely:

• vitamins of groups A, B, C, PP;
• micro and macro elements (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, sulfur, iron, boron, etc.);
• various kinds of amino acids.

The product contains soluble fibers that help stabilize blood sugar and fiber improves digestive processes. Lentil has a low calorie content, which makes it an excellent dietary ingredient.

Important! The advantage of lentils is a high content of magnesium, which perfectly blocks calcium channels. Daily use of the product helps to relax the vascular walls and improve blood flow to all internal organs.

Raw grains contain 106 kcal, boiled - 111 kcal, and fried - 101 kcal per 100 g of product. At the same time, the product practically does not contain fats (1.6 g), but it has a significant amount of proteins (25 g) and carbohydrates (46.5 g), which are easily absorbed, providing the body with the necessary amount of energy.

Useful properties and indications for use in diet

For diabetics, proper nutrition is very important. Here you need to consider many nuances, avoid unwanted foods and give preference to dietary food. The richest nutrient content of lentils gives her every right to be present as a healthy ingredient in the diet.

First of all, it is necessary to say about folic acid, in the portion of which the daily dose that a person needs is contained. By the way, this acid is no less useful for intrauterine development of the fetus, so it is also useful to eat legumes for pregnant women.

Did you know? The first people to cultivate lentils were the Egyptians. A stew was cooked from it, which was fed to the slaves who built the pyramids in order to give them efficiency and endurance.

This culture has the ability to significantly reduce blood glucose levels. The content of such components as fiber and phosphorus makes it possible to fully compensate for bread products and cereals.

It is also worth noting the benefits of lentils for weight loss, because it has a low calorie content. Due to the high content of amino acids that replace protein, you can completely abandon meat. In addition, the beans provide a fairly quick feeling of fullness, which avoids overeating.

Negative properties and contraindications

Like absolutely any product, lentils not only have useful properties, but can also cause harm if used improperly, even constitute a threat to life.

People who, in addition to diabetes, suffer from other serious illnesses, it is imperative to consult a doctor before enjoying meals with this ingredient.

• In particular, it is worth limiting the use in the following cases:
• with different forms of dermatitis, lentils can not be eaten for a long time, since it causes dry skin;
• with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, urolithiasis - the danger lies in the fermentation processes that can cause the use of boiled grains.

Lentils are contraindicated for people suffering from gout, diseases of the genitourinary system and joints.

Boiled Lentil Glycemic Index

Glycemic index - an indicator that indicates the rate of absorption of carbohydrates by the human bodycontained in a particular product and, accordingly, the rate of increase in blood glucose.

For lentils, it ranges from 25 to 41 units. The exact value depends on the variety of the product, its freshness. But even 41 units is a rather low indicator, therefore boiled lentil beans have a beneficial effect on the body of diabetics.

Important! GI level may increase depending on the time of preparation of the product — the longer it will be heat treated, the higher there will be an indicator.

The use of lentils in diabetes

There are two main groups of diabetes mellitus - 1st and 2nd. Each of them is distinguished by individual symptoms, causes and methods of treatment, however, for both there is clearly a question of controlling proper nutrition. Lentils, in this case - one of the most successful products, which is recommended to be included in the diet.

With type 1 diabetes

With type 1 diabetes, along with regular injections of insulin, careful monitoring of foods consumed is necessary., although the diet here is less demanding than in patients of group 2. For diabetics, lentils are more likely to be an auxiliary factor that contributes to the fight against the disease. At the same time, particular preferences for one or another variety are not given - in this case, all are good.

With type 2 diabetes

For people with diabetes of this type, legumes provide invaluable assistance in helping to replace illegal foods such as flour products, meat and, in part, cereals. Fiber facilitates the digestive process, and amino acids help improve metabolism.

Sprouted grains are especially useful, as they significantly increase the level of substances such as biotin, vitamin B, ascorbic acid. Using daily at least 2 tbsp. l boiled product, you can normalize the metabolism, strengthen the immune system, reduce weight and improve blood formation.

Proper lentil preparation for diabetics

From lentils you can cook a wide variety of delicious and hearty dishes.. When choosing a variety, you should rely on what kind of dish you are going to cook. For example, for stews, the green variety is more suitable, which has an elastic shell and retains its shape better. If you plan to cook soup or mashed potatoes, you can stop at the red and yellow varieties, which are cooked for no more than 30 minutes.

Did you know? Lentils have the ability to cleanse themselves of toxins. When purchasing a product, you don’t have to worry about the area in which it grew — Beans will always be environmentally friendly, without harmful elements.

Lentils go well with boiled chicken, rabbit meat, as well as rice and vegetables. It is worth observing the rule: you can eat such dishes in portions that do not exceed 200 g at a time, and no more than 2 times a week.

Stew with lentils and chicken

Taking into account the fact that lentils are in perfect harmony with vegetables and meat, you can stew excellent stew from these ingredients. Cooking such a gourmet dish will take some time, but the result will fully justify the effort.

The following ingredients will be required for preparation:

• green lentils - 250 g;
• chicken thighs - 500 g;
• carrots - 200 g;
• onions - 150 g;
• garlic - 3 prongs;
• lemon - ½ part;
• tomato - 1 pc.;
• olive oil - 50–70 g;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• water - 400 ml;
• sour cream - 50 g;
• soy sauce - 2 tsp;
• ground paprika - 1 tsp.

The preparation of this delicious dish includes the following processes:

1. Make a marinade from sour cream, soy sauce, 2 garlic cloves (transferred) and paprika. Soak the hips in it and leave for half an hour in a cool place.
2. Pour oil into a deep frying pan, add chopped clove of garlic (you can replace it with young shoots by season, cut them into 2 cm slices) and fry the trail to spread the aroma.
3. Add carrots and chopped onions into large skillet. Bring to a mild heat over low heat.
4. Put pickled hips on top of vegetables.
5. After washed and infused for half an hour in cold water, put the lentils on top of the meat.
6. Form the top layer of sliced ​​tomato and lemon.
7. Pour water (you can use chicken stock), salt.
8. Bring the contents to a boil, cover tightly and leave to simmer on low heat for 1 hour.

At the end of cooking, the dish must be wrapped with a blanket or towel and left for half an hour. Best consumed in hot.

Soup "Fax"

Soup "Fax" - a dish from the Greek menu. This is a kind of thick stew, surprising with wonderful taste and great benefits for the body. The set of ingredients for cooking includes simple, affordable products, and the combination of lentil beans with tomato and spices gives the dish a special piquancy.

Ingredients:

• grains of lentils - 300 g;
• tomato paste - 2 tbsp. l .;
• fresh tomatoes - 2 pcs.;
• olive oil - 6 tbsp. l .;
• water - 1.5 l;
• salt - 2 tsp;
• bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
• celery - ½ bunch;
• garlic - 1-2 cloves;
• parsley;
• juice of 1 lemon;
• onions - 1 pc.

Video: Fax. Greek Lentil Soup

Cooking method:

1. In a non-stick deep frying pan, fry chopped onions in butter until golden brown.
2. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and garlic.
3. Mix everything, add water, salt and add lentils.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, removing the resulting foam.
5. Put bay leaf, celery.
6. Boil the soup on low heat for about 25 minutes, adding as much water as the lentils will pull in during cooking.
7. Leave the finished soup on the stove turned off for 5-10 minutes.
8. Add lemon juice.

Serving the dish, you can sprinkle the dish with herbs - so it will look fresh and appetizing. This Greek soup can be eaten hot or cold. By consistency, it resembles a soup puree, therefore, combines the qualities of the first and second dishes.

Infusion

Not only legumes are good for diabetes. If the patient has insulin resistance, it is useful for him to drink an infusion of lentil stems. This is a natural medicine that helps to normalize glucose.

The cooking method is quite simple: a tablespoon of crushed dry stems is poured with boiling water and covered with a lid. Content should be infused for 1 hour. Then the solution is filtered and take the medicine for 1 tbsp. before meals 3 times a day.

Lentils - a product with a unique nutritional and vitamin composition. Undeservedly forgotten over the past decades, today it is appreciated as the most successful ingredient in the diet of healthy people, as well as those suffering from diabetes.