Benifits of chickpeas (chana):
The chickpea or chick pea (Cicer arietinum) is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are high in protein. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes, and 9500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East.
Kala chana is the literal Hindi name for the Indian (desi) variety of black chickpeas or desi chana. The Hindi word kala in English means black, and chana is the Hindi word for chickpea . When shopping for dried kala chana, you may come across a variety called black kabuli chickpea.
“Chana” is chickpeas, and “dal” is split lentils, peas, or chickpeas. Therefore, chana dal is split chickpeas in soup or curry form! For this dish, chickpeas are split and polished, resulting in a different texture and feel than whole chickpeas,while maintaining the same health benefits.
Soaked chana is better than boiled chana.
But why soak chana, you may ask? Well, that's because soaking black chana improves the nutritional quality of proteins, vitamins, and also makes them easy to digest.
Sprouts can be made from many seeds, grams and beans, though most people prefer moong sprouts or chana sprouts.
Germination of chickpeas:
Sprouting improves protein digestibility, although at a lower level than cooking. Germination degrades proteins to simple peptides, so improves crude protein, nonprotein nitrogen, and crude fiber content. Germination decreases lysine, tryptophan, sulphur and total aromatic amino acids, but most contents are still higher than proposed by the FAO/WHO reference pattern.
Oligosaccharides, such as stachyose and raffinose, are reduced in higher amounts during germination than during cooking. Minerals and B vitamins are retained more effectively during germination than with cooking. Phytic acids are reduced significantly, but trypsin inhibitor, tannin, and saponin reduction is less effective than cooking.
Health benifits of chickpeas sprouts:
(1) Nutrient dense food:
Chana sprouts are packed significantly with more protein than other sprouts and are loaded with These are super living food.
Chana Sprouts are high in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and heart-healthy fat. Sprouts are high in vitamins A, B6, C, and K, as well as minerals such as fiber, manganese, riboflavin, copper, protein, thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Sprouted chana have more protein than other sprouts.
(2) Great for bone strength:
Sprouted gram can be very beneficial for strengthening our bones. Due to the many types of vitamins and minerals in it, they are considered very beneficial for our bones as well as tooth health. By consuming gram sprouts daily, you can strengthen the bone.
(3) Keep digestive health:
If you have constipation, acidity or flatulence then you can get relief from this problem by taking sprouts. Grams are rich in fiber, so they are considered very beneficial for your stomach. Soaking chickpeas can also be relieved from constipation problem.
(4) Beneficial in controlling high blood sugar level:
Sprouted gram can help in controlling the amount of blood sugar in our body.The carbohydrates in kala chana are digested slowly, which reduces the blood sugar levels. This contributes to insulin resistance, thereby reducing the risk of getting type-2 diabetes.Therefore, a diabetic patient should consume sprouted gram. Due to the high amount of fiber in soaked sprouted grams, it can be very beneficial to control blood sugar level.
(5) Gram sprouts are beneficial in controlling weight:
Chana sprouts can help with weight loss, because in just a cup of sprouts, you get weight-loss friendly elements like protein, fiber, enzymes, and less amount of calories. But it's essential not to go overboard and eat sprouts throughout the day.
Chanas contain a significant amount of fiber. This keeps our stomach full for a long time and we do not feel hungry, which keeps our weight under control and does not increase obesity. Sprouts are also found in good amount of protein and they are low calorie. Therefore, they can also be included in their weight loss diet. Chana Sprouts can also be very beneficial for weight loss, the high fibre and protein content in chickpeas promote weight loss. A weight-loss study shows that people who consumed chickpeas regularly were 53% more likely to fit within a lower body mass index.
(6)Reduce risk of heart disease:
Improve Heart Health:
Including sprouts in your daily diet may also have benefits for your heart. That's mainly because sprouts may reduce risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood cholesterol levels.Daily consumption of around 3/4 cup of chickpeas helps to decrease LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol triglycerides.
(7)Slow aging:
It contains a good amount of antioxidants, which can relieve symptoms of aging.
(8) Beneficial for hair and skin:
By eating sprouted gram, our skin and hair are also very healthy. These contain nutrients that can help promote hair growth and skin shine.
(9) High fiber and high protein are the ingredients slow down your digestion and increase satiety levels.
(10) Choline helps in running of brain and nervous system smoothly.
(11) Anti inflammatory properties:
Legumes such as chickpeas are also known for their anti-inflammatory properties. They contain phytonutrients that help lower CRP (an inflammatory protein), making them a great addition to an anti inflammatory diet.
(12) Chickpeas protects against Arthritis and Alzheimer's:
Chickpeas (garbanzo) are a good source of vitamin K which helps the body absorb nutritional calcium while also helps protect against arthritis and Alzheimer's.
The disadvantage of chana:
Chana, if had too much, may cause the following side effects:
May cause allergy in some people. Bloating, intestinal gas, cramps and diarrhea may happen. Dysentry may be caused by chana.Chickpeas do cause bloating and gas:
Beans, lentils and chickpeas are notorious for their ability to cause bloating and gas, thanks to their high fibre content. Despite this, you may not need to avoid them altogether.
•Procedure for Sprouting Chickpeas:
Chickpea sprouts are easy to make and take about 2 days to sprout Clean and wash chana in running water.Then soak in boiled and cooled water for 6 hours in closed bowl or container.Tie in clean muslin cloth and allow to sprout for two days.Wash and dry
Boiled Sprouted chana is better than raw sprouted chana:
Sprouts cook quicker than legumes and whole vegetables as the soaking and sprouting processing softens them. Sprouts are better when cooked as they contain harmful bacteria that can cause illness.Cooking destroys the bacteria causing food poisoning.The raw sprouts contain irritating substances, which are destroyed by cooking.
Nutritional profile of chickpeas:
Chickpeas boast an impressive nutritional profile. They contain a moderate number of calories, providing 269 kilocalories per cup (164 grams). Approximately 67% of these calories come from carbs, while the rest comes from protein and fat.
They're great for vegetarians and vegans.” In addition, chickpeas are also brimming with vitamins and minerals.
These include choline, which helps your brain and nervous system run smoothly, as well as folate, magnesium, potassium and iron. For good measure, chickpeas are also high in vitamin A, E and C.
Chickpeas are a nutrient dense food, providing rich content (20% or higher of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, folate, and certain dietary minerals, such as iron and phosphorus in a 100 gram reference amount Thiamin, vitamin B6, magnesium, and zinc contents are moderate, providing 10–16% of the DV.
Compared to reference levels established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and WHO ,proteins in cooked and germinated chickpeas are rich in essential amino acids such as lysine, isoleucine, tryptophan, and total aromatic amino acids.
A 100-gram reference serving of cooked chickpeas provide 164 kilocalories of food energy. Cooked chickpeas are 60% water, 27% carbohydrates, 9% protein and 3% fat .75% of the fat content is unsaturated fatty acids for which linoleic acid comprises 43% of the total fat.
Genome sequencing of Chickpeas:
Sequencing of the chickpea genome has been completed for 90 chickpea genotypes, including several wild species. A collaboration of 20 research organizations, led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), sequenced CDC Frontier, a kabuli chickpea variety, and identified more than 28,000 genes and several million genetic markers.
Information compiled by:
Dr. Bhairavsinh Raol
