Category Archives: Pulses / Legumes

Do Polyphenols Lower the Glycaemic Index of Foods?

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Robert Barrington

The glycaemic index is a measure of the rate at which plasma glucose levels increase following ingestion of carbohydrate foods. Foods are tested in comparison to a reference standard and given a value on a relative scale. The reference standard … Continue reading →

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Broad Beans, Levodopa and Parkinson’s Disease

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Nutritionally the broad bean (Vicia faba), also known as the fava bean, is interesting. Like all legumes the broad bean contains isoflavones, protein, fibre as well as vitamins and minerals (here) and is therefore considered a high quality food. However, … Continue reading →

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Broad Beans Versus Soybeans

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Broad beans (Vicia faba) are also known as fava beans. They belong to the fabaceae family. Broad beans contain phytonutrients including the isoflavone group of molecules, although levels of total isoflavones (genistein and daidzein) are about one third of that … Continue reading →

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Starch Blockers, Protease Inhibitors And Lectins In Legumes

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Consumption of legumes is associated with weight loss, and this might result from the ability of legumes to improve glycaemic function. A large part of this effect may derive from the fibre content of legumes, which is thought to produce … Continue reading →

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Legume Digestion: Cell Walls Again

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Legume digestion is interesting to nutritionists because legumes have beneficial glycaemic effects. In particular legumes are able to lower postprandial glycaemia and this may explain their inverse association with body weight. Peanuts are legumes and consumption of peanuts has been … Continue reading →

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Volatile Fatty Acid Production

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Robert Barrington

  Volatile fatty acids, also called short chain fatty acids (SCFA), are produced in the colon through the fermentation of dietary fibre. Originally it was assumed that the only benefit of dietary fibre was to provide bulk to chyme to … Continue reading →

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Refined Carbohydrates: Bad Choice

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Refine carbohydrates are the staple starch source in the Western diet. While traditional diets contain carbohydrates sources as whole grains, Westerners have developed a taste for refined carbohydrates. This is problematic because refined carbohydrates are strongly implicated in the aetiology … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbohydrate, Diabetes, Fibre, Glycaemia, Micronutrients, Nuts, Pulses / Legumes, Western Diet, Whole Grains | Comments Off on Refined Carbohydrates: Bad Choice

Digestibility of Beans

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Beans have important health properties that are related to their slow rate of digestion. Understanding the digestibility of beans is therefore important in the nutritional sciences. Beans and other legumes have their starch contained within strong parenchymal cells that are … Continue reading →

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Legumes: Blood Sugar Effects of Beans

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Robert Barrington

Legumes are of interest to nutritional scientists because they have beneficial effects on blood sugar. This is evident from their low rating on the glycaemic index (GI). The glycaemic rating of carbohydrate foods is widely believed to be due to … Continue reading →

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Starch Digestion in Legumes

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Robert Barrington

  Legumes may be beneficial to the health because they produce a low glycaemic response. This is of interest to nutritional scientists because exaggerated rises in blood sugar are increasingly being linked to disease, particularly type 2 diabetes, obesity and … Continue reading →

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