Cereals and legumes: the winning couple

Cereals and legumes are two essential foods for a healthy and balanced diet. Both provide essential nutrients, such as protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

THE cereals have been the basis of human nutrition for thousands of years. They are the main source of complex carbohydrates, which provide energy to the body. Eating them whole can be useful for regulating the intestine and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

THE legumes They are an excellent source of fibre, vitamins and minerals, such as iron, potassium and calcium and vegetable proteins, which help us with growth and the tissue repair .

Consume whole grains And legumes It is often recommended to those who suffer from high cholesterol levels, as they help reduce LDL cholesterol levels (also called bad) and to those who have the diabetes , being able to also regulate blood glucose levels.

But not only, cereals and legumes contribute to maintaining a balanced body weight . In fact, fiber helps you feel full longer and avoid binge eating.

Unfortunately in recent years, consumers suffering from celiac disease and lactose intolerance have increased. Fortunately, in addition to gluten-free cereals, such as rice, corn and millet, they can count on numerous new alternatives to pasta and snacks, made entirely with legume flours or pseudocereals. The latter, such as wheat buckwheat, chia, amaranth and quinoa , just to name the most famous, are plants that "behave" like classic cereals (wheat, rye, barley, rice, corn, millet, sorghum, oats, teff and fonio) even though they do not belong to the grass family. Legumes can also be used to make milk substitutes and excellent alternatives to meat, such as seitan , which is certainly the best known and has a centuries-old tradition in the East.

The combination of cereals and legumes in the diet is really beneficial for health, because if combined in meals, they complement each other perfectly from a nutritional point of view. In fact, while cereals provide the essential amino acids that legumes do not contain, the latter have the fibers that cereals lack!

But how to consume them in practice every day? A great classic of our cuisine is undoubtedly pasta and beans , or if you like to explore ethnic cuisine, you can accompany some bread croutons with chickpea hummus , so as to obtain a very simple complete and balanced meal.