Move Over Quinoa: This Is The Fit Food Everyone’s Going To be Eating In 2016

We don’t know about you, but we ate our fill of quinoa in 2016, loading it into everything from salads to desserts, but despite all of its many health benefits there’s a brand new fit food on the block, that might just knock it off its spot on the health food store shelf.

The healthy food you’re going to be nomming all year long? It’s pulses, which have just been declared the UN’s international food of the year.

Right then, so what exactly are pulses? Well, there’s a whole lot that falls under the pulse bracket, namely dry peas, lentils, dry beans and chickpeas. That includes things like kidney beans, lima beans, mung beans, garden peas, red and green lentils, garbanzo beans and soy beans to name a few.

And there are a tonne of advantages to eating them. For one, they’re already a major protein source among vegans and vegetarians, with a 100g serving of chickpeas packing in a hefty 19 grams of protein. They’re also loaded with complex carbohydrates, rack up loadsa dietary fibre and have a low glycemic index. Not too shabby, huh?

Want to add more pulses into your diet? Nutrition experts recommend eating one and a half cups of pulses a day, as part of a 2,000 calorie diet.

Here are a few recipes to get you started…

Chickpea hummus

Super easy to make and mega tasty too, we’re loving this quick homemade hummus recipe. Keep a tub in your office fridge and team with raw veggies. Our faves are carrot sticks or celery.

Tomato spinach and black bean pizza

Er, did somebody say pizza? An easy way to up your pulse intake, is to simply add them into your fave-o foods. This veggie pizza might be pretty high on the calorie count, but it packs in an ample amount of protein and fibre, cos, y’know, balance.

Chilli Con Carne

Already one of our favourite homemade dishes, you can simply up the pulse content of this recipe with an extra handful or two of kidney beans and chickpeas. Sorted.

Tags:

• diet
• food
• health
• nutrition
• Pulses