Healthier Alternative to Chickpeas!?
cocolu98
Posts: 2 Member
So I've just got back into clean eating (after losing 10kg then gaining it all back...)
I am an avid chickpea lover and have them at almost every meal if I can. I assumed they were a better carb alternative but after doing a bit of research, I have decided they're probably no better. I have cut out processed carbs as much as possible. I was just wondering if anyone could think of something else I could have that is filling but also very low in carbs? (I use chickpeas to make salads, curries, flatbread etc). I have tried cauliflower but it's really hard to keep and cook with.
Thanks! x
I am an avid chickpea lover and have them at almost every meal if I can. I assumed they were a better carb alternative but after doing a bit of research, I have decided they're probably no better. I have cut out processed carbs as much as possible. I was just wondering if anyone could think of something else I could have that is filling but also very low in carbs? (I use chickpeas to make salads, curries, flatbread etc). I have tried cauliflower but it's really hard to keep and cook with.
Thanks! x
7
Replies
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How about just trying eating at a calorie deficit, eating foods you enjoy?
What is wrong with carbs or chickpeas?!25 -
I'm not sure what's healthier than a bean??20
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Beans are pretty healthy. I can't see what's wrong with them.13
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Look into sprouted lentils. Sprouting changes them.
Edit: added for the wooer. This is the live strong link explaining the difference between sprouted and dried lentils:
https://www.livestrong.com/article/536676-differences-in-nutrients-for-sprouted-lentils-vs-dried-lentils/
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I've never ever thought that chickpeas could be considered unhealthy.22
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I wasn't aware that chickpeas were unhealthy.11
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musicfan68 wrote: »I wasn't aware that chickpeas were unhealthy.
I wouldn’t consider them unhealthy at all, but they have about 260 calories per cup, so that’s a little high is she is looking for something she can volume eat. Not everyone can eat just a little. Peanut butter is healthy, but it adds up also.10 -
Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »musicfan68 wrote: »I wasn't aware that chickpeas were unhealthy.
I wouldn’t consider them unhealthy at all, but they have about 260 calories per cup, so that’s a little high is she is looking for something she can volume eat. Not everyone can eat just a little. Peanut butter is healthy, but it adds up also.
There was no mention of volume eating or calories...12 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »musicfan68 wrote: »I wasn't aware that chickpeas were unhealthy.
I wouldn’t consider them unhealthy at all, but they have about 260 calories per cup, so that’s a little high is she is looking for something she can volume eat. Not everyone can eat just a little. Peanut butter is healthy, but it adds up also.
There was no mention of volume eating or calories...
You are right. She just says that she uses them for a lot, and it looks Iikes she’s new and might not know the jargon. I didn’t say she was volume eating. I said they could get a little high calorie if she is.5 -
OP, can you be more specific? You're using buzzwords that mean different things to different people. I think beans are one of the healthiest things I eat - balanced macros, full of fiber, really filling.
What exactly are you trying to avoid by cutting back on chickpeas? Most non-root veggies will be lower carb, but have less protein and fat. Beans are kind of unique nutritionally, you might need to find different subs for different uses.
"Filling" can be pretty individual. I actually find carbs and legumes to be the most filling things to me, so I can't help you there!6 -
I think if you find yourself labeling legumes "unhealthy," you need to rethink your ideas about healthy and unhealthy foods. It's one thing to say they have more carbs than fit easily into your goals along with whatever else you're eating. It's another to think they're unhealthy.15
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I just checked the nutritional data on my dried chick peas. Sure enough, half a cup is 364 calories. Wow! Try edamame (which is high in protein and filling). Half cup serving is only 120 calories.7
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Chickpeas are super healthy, but if you're looking for a lower carb (presumably meat-less) protein to add to stuff look into tofu, tempeh, seitan... try other kinds of beans too, just to make sure you're eating a variety.7
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I just checked the nutritional data on my dried chick peas. Sure enough, half a cup is 364 calories. Wow! Try edamame (which is high in protein and filling). Half cup serving is only 120 calories.
You're comparing mature, dried legumes of one type to semi-mature, fresh or frozen legumes of another type. It doesn't work that way. You're not going to eat the chick peas dried, are you? After you rehydrate them through soaking and cooking, a half cup serving of chickpeas will be roughly the same as the half cup of edamame (135 cals, according to the USDA nutrient database, which puts cooked soybeans -- that is, mature edamame -- at about 150 cals per half cup).22 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »I just checked the nutritional data on my dried chick peas. Sure enough, half a cup is 364 calories. Wow! Try edamame (which is high in protein and filling). Half cup serving is only 120 calories.
You're comparing mature, dried legumes of one type to semi-mature, fresh or frozen legumes of another type. It doesn't work that way. You're not going to eat the chick peas dried, are you? After you rehydrate them through soaking and cooking, a half cup serving of chickpeas will be roughly the same as the half cup of edamame (135 cals, according to the USDA nutrient database, which puts cooked soybeans -- that is, mature edamame -- at about 150 cals per half cup).
You do for flat bread, which she says she uses them for. I’m not sure that I can think of a good alternative though, or what the calories would be in a finished recipe.1 -
Chickpeas are awesome. They are a good combo of macros with fiber too. An equivalent and equally healthy would be Edamame.
If our OP is looking for something with less carbs and fat, eat tuna.
Me, I find that foods with a fairly even combo of fats to be the most satiating.3 -
Other alternatives to chickpeas include olives, avocado and lupini beans.3
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Another vote for lentils4
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Food low in carbs
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mushrooms,Peppers, Swiss Chard, Asparagus,Kale,Spinach, Green beans
Arugula,Brussel sprouts,Cabbage, Romaine,2 -
Looks like you can sprout chickpeas too. Compared to cooked, their calories go from around 260 to 160 per cup and the carbs drop in half, but the protein drops, from 14 to 10g per cup.2
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Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »Looks like you can sprout chickpeas too. Compared to cooked, their calories go from around 260 to 160 per cup and the carbs drop in half, but the protein drops, from 14 to 10g per cup.
How much of that is because you fit less sprouted chick peas in a cup due to the tails?16 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »Looks like you can sprout chickpeas too. Compared to cooked, their calories go from around 260 to 160 per cup and the carbs drop in half, but the protein drops, from 14 to 10g per cup.
How much of that is because you fit less sprouted chick peas in a cup due to the tails?
Have you ever looked into it? It’s not some magic trick. They just go from dried beans to the first stages of being a baby plant. It’s not just the calories that change. The minerals change too.
This article describes an experiment and the results of sprouting cowpeas. Btw. I’m not one of those ppl who thinks regular beans are bad. They are just different.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4573095/#!po=18.5484
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Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »Looks like you can sprout chickpeas too. Compared to cooked, their calories go from around 260 to 160 per cup and the carbs drop in half, but the protein drops, from 14 to 10g per cup.
How much of that is because you fit less sprouted chick peas in a cup due to the tails?
Have you ever looked into it? It’s not some magic trick. They just go from dried beans to the first stages of being a baby plant. It’s not just the calories that change. The minerals change too.
This article describes an experiment and the results of sprouting cowpeas. Btw. I’m not one of those ppl who thinks regular beans are bad. They are just different.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4573095/#!po=18.5484
I sprout plenty.5 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »Looks like you can sprout chickpeas too. Compared to cooked, their calories go from around 260 to 160 per cup and the carbs drop in half, but the protein drops, from 14 to 10g per cup.
How much of that is because you fit less sprouted chick peas in a cup due to the tails?
Have you ever looked into it? It’s not some magic trick. They just go from dried beans to the first stages of being a baby plant. It’s not just the calories that change. The minerals change too.
This article describes an experiment and the results of sprouting cowpeas. Btw. I’m not one of those ppl who thinks regular beans are bad. They are just different.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4573095/#!po=18.5484
I sprout plenty.
Why would you do that if you are questioning whether it changes the beans nutritionally? That seems like a lot of work just to “(take up more space with the little tail)”? Why not just work regular beans and grains into your macros?3 -
Unless you have a medical reason to cut way back, enjoy your carbs - there's nothing wrong with chickpeas!
There are a wide variety of legumes which are good in salads - I like black beans and pinto beans and crowder peas. As far as curries are concerned, squashes are filling and not that high carb. As a diabetic I think of these as "medium carb" foods - quite a few carbs but the high volume of fiber keeps them from spiking my blood glucose. Spaghetti squash in particular is lower carb than other winter squash. If even squash is too high carb for you, try turnips.2 -
Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I just checked the nutritional data on my dried chick peas. Sure enough, half a cup is 364 calories. Wow! Try edamame (which is high in protein and filling). Half cup serving is only 120 calories.
You're comparing mature, dried legumes of one type to semi-mature, fresh or frozen legumes of another type. It doesn't work that way. You're not going to eat the chick peas dried, are you? After you rehydrate them through soaking and cooking, a half cup serving of chickpeas will be roughly the same as the half cup of edamame (135 cals, according to the USDA nutrient database, which puts cooked soybeans -- that is, mature edamame -- at about 150 cals per half cup).
You do for flat bread, which she says she uses them for. I’m not sure that I can think of a good alternative though, or what the calories would be in a finished recipe.
Well, she couldn't use the fresh or frozen edamame to make flatbread, if we're assuming some kind of bean meal/flour is what's being used, so it's still an apples-to-oranges comparison. The Bob's Red Mill garbanzo bean flour in my fridge has 220 calories in a half cup (60 g). You would have to use soy flour, not fresh or frozen edamame, if you wanted to make the substitution for the flat bread. I don't have any soy flour on hand, but the USDA nutrient database tells me that whole soy flour (not defatted -- my garbanzo bean flour isn't defatted) is 260 calories for 60 g.
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I'm not sure how you can find anything healthier than beans either.1
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Calling Mr. Fonzarelli.0
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I just checked the nutritional data on my dried chick peas. Sure enough, half a cup is 364 calories. Wow! Try edamame (which is high in protein and filling). Half cup serving is only 120 calories.
You're comparing mature, dried legumes of one type to semi-mature, fresh or frozen legumes of another type. It doesn't work that way. You're not going to eat the chick peas dried, are you? After you rehydrate them through soaking and cooking, a half cup serving of chickpeas will be roughly the same as the half cup of edamame (135 cals, according to the USDA nutrient database, which puts cooked soybeans -- that is, mature edamame -- at about 150 cals per half cup).
You do for flat bread, which she says she uses them for. I’m not sure that I can think of a good alternative though, or what the calories would be in a finished recipe.
Well, she couldn't use the fresh or frozen edamame to make flatbread, if we're assuming some kind of bean meal/flour is what's being used, so it's still an apples-to-oranges comparison. The Bob's Red Mill garbanzo bean flour in my fridge has 220 calories in a half cup (60 g). You would have to use soy flour, not fresh or frozen edamame, if you wanted to make the substitution for the flat bread. I don't have any soy flour on hand, but the USDA nutrient database tells me that whole soy flour (not defatted -- my garbanzo bean flour isn't defatted) is 260 calories for 60 g.
No one said to use edamame for flat bread. She uses chickpeas for other things too. Whoever mentioned the calories in dried chickpeas wasn’t wrong tho.9 -
Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Sunnybrooke99 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I just checked the nutritional data on my dried chick peas. Sure enough, half a cup is 364 calories. Wow! Try edamame (which is high in protein and filling). Half cup serving is only 120 calories.
You're comparing mature, dried legumes of one type to semi-mature, fresh or frozen legumes of another type. It doesn't work that way. You're not going to eat the chick peas dried, are you? After you rehydrate them through soaking and cooking, a half cup serving of chickpeas will be roughly the same as the half cup of edamame (135 cals, according to the USDA nutrient database, which puts cooked soybeans -- that is, mature edamame -- at about 150 cals per half cup).
You do for flat bread, which she says she uses them for. I’m not sure that I can think of a good alternative though, or what the calories would be in a finished recipe.
Well, she couldn't use the fresh or frozen edamame to make flatbread, if we're assuming some kind of bean meal/flour is what's being used, so it's still an apples-to-oranges comparison. The Bob's Red Mill garbanzo bean flour in my fridge has 220 calories in a half cup (60 g). You would have to use soy flour, not fresh or frozen edamame, if you wanted to make the substitution for the flat bread. I don't have any soy flour on hand, but the USDA nutrient database tells me that whole soy flour (not defatted -- my garbanzo bean flour isn't defatted) is 260 calories for 60 g.
No one said to use edamame for flat bread. She uses chickpeas for other things too. Whoever mentioned the calories in dried chickpeas wasn’t wrong tho.
The point is, that whatever particular purpose she might be using chickpeas for at any given time, she couldn't swap out dried chickpeas for fresh or frozen edamame, so the comparison of calories of those two products is irrelevant. It's like saying I want to make cookies, but butter or shortening have a lot of calories, but asparagus has a lot fewer calories.7
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