Make Chickpeas Your Daily Multivitamin and Minerals

Chickpeas, being so rich in healthy nutrients and medicinal virtues, can be your daily multivitamin and minerals if you eat regularly.

Chickpea, also known as garbanzo bean, was discovered thousands of years ago. Ever since, it has played an important role as a food of high nutritional value in many cultures. Composed of 20% crude protein and 7% fat, it is also rich in B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, B9) and minerals: copper, phosphorus, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, and selenium.

Enriched with essential nutrients, Garbanzo beans can improve health and contribute to the internal well-being. Regular consumption can contribute to the reduction of bad cholesterol in the blood and thus protect or improve the function of the heart. In addition to an ally of the cardiovascular system, this nutritious legume is a friend of the liver, intestines, scalp and hair, eyes, blood circulation, and the body as a whole.

Due to high fiber content, chickpeas improve the elimination of the body of certain harmful substances such as bile and salts. It also helps to lower glucose and fatty acids in the blood.

Your Daily Multivitamin and Minerals

Nutritionally chickpea is a legume with a substantial amount of fiber, vitamins carbohydrates, minerals and polyunsaturated fatty acids. It also includes important amount of vitamin E, water, sodium, iodine, and others. Consuming daily is like taking your supplement of Multivitamin and Minerals in their natural form.

Multivitamins

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
Chickpea is a food with a significant amount of vitamin B1, which involves in energy production in cooperating in the metabolism of carbohydrates. Thiamine plays an essential role in the absorption of glucose by the brain and nervous system. Its deficiency can lead to fatigue, poor mental activity, lack of coordination, depression, insomnia, and others. Other functions, such as growth and maintenance of the skin and the sense of sight, largely depend on the levels of vitamin B1 in the body.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Garbanzo bean is a great source of vitamin B2 for woman. Riboflavin gets involved in the energy metabolism of all cells like the thiamine. In addition, vitamin B2 plays a major role in growth and tissue repair, production of hormones and red blood cell formation.

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
Vitamin B6 also reduces estrogen levels, pre-menstrual symptoms and helps stabilize sugar levels in the blood during pregnancy. It also prevents the formation of stones in the kidney. It is very necessary for individuals with kidney problems such as renal calculi (kidney stones).

Vitamin B9 (Folate or Folic acid)

Thanks to its high content in vitamin B9, chickpeas contribute to the formation of red blood cells and white blood cells, and thus help prevent anemia and to keep the skin healthy. Besides being essential for cell division and healthy growth, essential during pregnancy and childhood, the metabolism of vitamin B9 reduces the risk of fetal birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord (neural tube defects). Folate also reduces the risk of development of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers (such as leukemia), stimulates digestive acids, and improves appetite.

Vitamin E
All vitamins are necessary for our health, but vitamin E is special thanks to its antioxidant properties and embellishment effects on the skin. It plays an essential role in the protection of all cell membranes. It helps neutralize free radicals in the body. In addition, vitamin E prevents or reduces the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL). This LDL oxidation is associated with the occurrence of atherosclerosis, and therefore cardiovascular disease. Vitamin E also has anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet and vasodilatory properties. These effects, which are not related to its antioxidant activity, also play a cardioprotective role.

Minerals

Iron
As an iron-rich food, which is necessary for the synthesis of hemoglobin, chickpea involved in the reorganization of blood cells, thereby transporting oxygen from the lungs to various organs, such as muscle, liver, the heart and brain. Iron is essential in certain brain functions, helping learning capacity for instance.

Having right iron intake in its natural form increases resistance to certain diseases, strengthens the body natural defenses against microorganisms, prevents states of fatigue or anemia, and stimulates the functions of the central nervous system, control of body temperature and thyroid functions. It is also beneficial for the skin, hair and nails. Chickpeas can be very beneficial to your body in case of iron deficiency, either because of poor eating habits during menstruation or pregnancy, or after blood loss following surgical procedures.

Phosphorus
Thanks to the presence of phosphorus, garbanzo bean helps improve or maintain healthy function and development of bones and teeth, milk secretion, cell division and metabolism or formation of muscle tissue. The presence of phosphorus in the form of phospholipids in brain cell membranes is essential; it encourages communication between cells, improves mental and memory performance.

Magnesium
Being rich in magnesium, chickpea helps improve muscle tone, promoting the transmission of nerve impulses and the contraction and relaxation of muscles. Magnesium is indispensable to strengthen teeth and skeletal system. It is vital for the cardiovascular system, helping to maintain a stable blood pressure, protecting the blood vessel walls and acting as a vasodilator, thus preventing the formation of a clot.

In addition, the presence of magnesium increases production of the white blood cells in favor of the immune system. An estimated 60% of absorbed magnesium is deposited in bones and teeth, 28% in the organs and muscles and the remaining 2% in body fluids. So, you need this mineral to become or remain healthy.

Potassium and Sodium
Chickpea is notable for being rich in potassium and sodium. These two nutrients synergistically regulate the acid-base balance and concentration of water in the blood and tissues. The concentrations of these two elements inside and outside the cells of the body generate an electrical potential which promotes muscle contractions and nerve impulses, with a particular attention to cardiac activity.

Zinc
Chickpeas, thanks to the presence of zinc, are very useful in the process of formation of bone and the development of reproductive organs, as well as enhancement of the function of the prostate gland. Zinc, in addition to being a powerful natural antioxidant, helps in the absorption of vitamin A and protein synthesis, such as collagen. This mineral also helps in proper growth during pregnancy, childhood and adolescence. It helps maintain the senses of sight, taste and smell. In addition to bone, zinc is present in various body tissues such as muscle, testis, hair, nails and certain eye tissues.

As part of a healthy and varied diet, regular consumption of chickpeas can be more beneficial than taking multivitamin and minerals supplements. While its low caloric intake fights against weight gain, its high protein limits the melting of muscle mass caused by food deprivation. Its plant protein also provides the necessary energy for the proper functioning of muscles and organs.

Consumed together with other vegetables and legumes, chickpea reduces the feeling of exhaustion usually experience during a diet. The content of tryptophan, an amino acid that combats anxiety and depression, gives chickpeas an important role in maintaining happy mood, healthy appetite, prevention of anxiety and sleep.

Warning: Like all starchy foods, chickpea is a gas producing food. Consumed in large quantities, it causes bloating.