Texarkana Gazette

Eating lentils with meals helps stablize your glucose levels

- Drs. Oz & Roizen By Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. O

In traditiona­l Chinese medicine, there are four types of pulses—floating, sinking, slow and fast—that practition­ers use to evaluate your health. In our diets (from the East to the West) there are four basic kinds of pulses: dried peas, beans, chickpeas and lentils. (There are 11 kinds grown worldwide.) These pulses are part of the legume family and, when added to the diet, can go a long way to help stabilize your glucose levels.

Our neighbor to the north, Canada, grows over half of the world’s lentils, so it’s not surprising that a new study from the University of Guelph, Ontario, found that replacing rice and potatoes with lentils can help reduce out-of-control glucose levels. And you don’t even need to completely replace the rice and potatoes, just make them brown rice and baked potatoes.

The researcher­s found that when half of a meal’s available carbohydra­tes (rice and potatoes) were replaced with lentils, the relative glycemic response (what happens to you blood sugar level) to eating the remaining rice and potatoes was “lowered by 20 and 35 percent respective­ly.” Just think what replacing it all could do!

Unfortunat­ely, only 13 percent of Canadians eat pulses daily, and in the U.S. it’s estimated that only 8 percent of folks eat them every couple of days. But if you up your consumptio­n, you’ll get great benefits: All pulses are a terrific source of plant protein, plus they help reduce lousy LDL cholestero­l. That’s good news for your cardiovasc­ular system and … your pulse!

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