More fiber than brown rice! Lentils are a new favorite for weight loss

Eating grains helps you lose weight, and lentils become the new favorite! Weight loss has always been an undefeated topic among modern people when they are chatting over tea. Lentils once caused heated discussions due to the support of Korean artist Lee Hyori! Nutritionists say that lentils not only have the high fiber content of grains, but also contain a variety of amino acids. Replacing part of rice with each meal can indeed help cleanse the intestines and lose weight.

Thanks to the support of South Korea's "sexy goddess" Lee Hyori and comedy star Liang Hailin, lentils have become a hot weight loss ingredient in recent years.

Lentils' Key to Weight Loss: High Fiber

Lentils are native to southwestern Asia and the Mediterranean region. An American health magazine once listed them as one of the world's five healthiest foods, along with Spanish olive oil, Japanese natto, Greek yogurt, and Korean kimchi. In recent years, lentils have become a popular weight-loss ingredient due to the promotion of Korean "sexy goddess" Lee Hyori and comedy star Liang Hailin.

Huang Shuhui, a nutritionist at the Postal Hospital, said that the high dietary fiber content is the main key to lentils helping people lose weight. Dietary fiber can not only promote gastrointestinal motility and help clean the intestines and remove stool, but also delay glucose absorption and stabilize blood sugar, thus preventing obesity, constipation, and diabetes. It can also lower blood cholesterol levels and thus prevent metabolic syndrome.

Compare the fiber content! Lentils beat brown rice

The recommended daily intake of dietary fiber for adults is 25 to 35 grams. Many people believe that vegetables are the best choice for supplementing fiber. However, the dietary fiber content in cereals may be higher than most people imagine. Nutritionist Huang Shuhui estimated based on data from foreign food nutrition databases that soaked and cooked lentils contain an average of about 6 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams; while ordinary vegetables such as cabbage contain only about 1.3 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams, a huge difference. Therefore, when people plan their weight loss menu, they must not follow the "starch-free weight loss method" and abandon grain fiber.

Soaked and cooked lentils contain an average of about 6 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams, making them a low GI food.

Among all types of grains, lentils have the highest fiber content, with an average of 6 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams. This is 10 times the 0.6 grams of dietary fiber in white rice of the same weight, and much higher than the 2.5 grams of dietary fiber in cooked barley and the 2.4 grams in brown rice. By replacing white rice with 1/3 or 1/4 lentils every day, you can easily get more dietary fiber and make losing weight easier.

What’s more special is that lentils are also a rare grain that contains diverse amino acids. Nutritionist Huang Shuhui said that, generally speaking, cereal ingredients do not contain much protein, but lentils are very similar to the coix seeds commonly found in Taiwan and the chickpeas found in Central and South America. They are cereals with a high starch content, but they also have the characteristics of protein foods. They contain a complete range of amino acids and can meet the protein nutritional needs of some human bodies.

Don't be greedy for too much dietary fiber, as excessive intake may cause abdominal pain

There are many health benefits of eating lentils, but you should also avoid excessive amounts. Lentils are high in dietary fiber, but eating too much can easily cause abdominal pain and hinder the intestines' absorption of minerals such as calcium, zinc and iron.