What Are The Three Rules Of Eating Pulses? Rujuta Diwekar Explains – Hindustan Times

Healthy eating is one of the most important parts of leading a healthy lifestyle. The kind of food we consume, the way we consume and the amount we consume makes our way of living healthier, and reduces the risk of illnesses. Pulses are one of the most important ingredients of a quintessential Indian kitchen. Pulses form one of the basic dishes of our meals. Pulses are loaded with nutrients and helps in improving our health in great ways. However, there are certain rules that should be followed while eating pulses. Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar shared tips on how to acquire maximum health benefits of pulses, without letting the anti-nutrients take over.

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Rujuta wrote that there are three basic rules that should be followed while eating pulses. They are:

Soak and sprout the pulses before cooking them – Pulses, besides being loaded with nutrients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals, also contain anti-nutrients which often come in the way of the goodness of the nutrients. That further causes gas, bloating and indigestion in a lot of people. Soaking and sprouting the pulses before cooking them helps in reducing the anti-nutrients and enhance the effect of the proteins and micronutrients of pulses and legumes.

Improve the essential to non-essential amino acid ratio of pulses by mixing them with millets and grains – The combination of pulses with grains and legumes help in preventing greying, improving the bone mass, strengthening the bones, and enhancing the immunity of the body by accelerating the growth of antibodies.

Consume a wide variety of pulses – Rujuta Diwekar wrote that India has around 65000 varieties of legumes and pulses. She further added that at least 5 different types of pulses should be consumed in a week in different ways, such as dal, papad, pickle, idli, dosa, laddoo, etc. The variety of pulses help in getting the diet diversity needed for healthy gut bacteria.