QuestionHi Tanya,
I have several good recipes that call for Garbanzo beans, but I do not like their taste/texture very well. Are there any other beans that would be good substitutes for Garbanzos?
Also, I have high triglycerides/cholesterol and eat quite a bit of Angel Food cake everyday with blackberries or strawberries. Although the cake is low in fat, I fear I may be getting too much sugar in the cake itself. Is there a way I could make the Angel Food cake without the sugar, and just add a little Stevia extract? All the mixes in the stores I've seen have sugar added.
Thanks,
Mike Eidson, LAc.
Answer
Hello Mike,
Since you asked two questions in two messages, I'll answer one at a time, OK?
Let's discuss your first question first. It seems to me that you are looking for healthy way of eating, right? From this standpoint, it's correct to think about Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans.) Why? Because they are low in glycemic index, which makes carbohydrates in them "good" carbs. What's even better, their glycemic load is even lower, comparing with other cab-containing foods.
Just in case, you need explanation: glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how fast/slow carbohydrates in a food, when digested, enter your bloodstream. The lower the better for your insulin tolerance.
The glycemic load (GL) is more concrete indication, it's about carb grams entering your bloodstream after you eat a standard serving.
Now, is Garbanzo bean really so much healthy that it has no competitors among other beans? The answer is, it depends.
First of all, the origin of the beans matter a lot. Take a look at these figures -- 1st digits are GI, 2nd digits GL for a 150-g serving:
1) Chickpeas dried and boiled:
Philippines 10 - 3
Canada 31 - 9
2) Chickpeas, canned
Canada 42 - 9
Now, comparing with kidney or white beans:
3) White beans
Philippines 13 - 3
4) Kidney beans
India 19 - 5
USA 23 - 6
France 23 - 6
Sweden 25 - 6
Canada 29 - 7
5) Black bean
Philippines 20 - 5
Should we draw the conclusion that you can use white and kidney beans instead of the Garbanzos? I think we can.
Se your second question answered in a separate message.
Tanya Zilberter
PS. I preferred not to be rated at allexperts.com so if you need to contact me directly please use a form on this page of my website:
http://dietandbody.com/contact.html
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