Legume diet: how it works, weekly schedule, what to eat and contraindications

Diet of legumes, a diet that involves the daily intake of these proteins of vegetable origin to promote weight loss. Let's find out how it works and what it is possible to eat.

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Diet of legumes, a diet that provides for the daily intake of these proteins of plant origin to promote weight loss. Let's find out how it works and what it is possible to eat.

Legumes are a healthy and nutritious food that we should all put on the table more often. A diet that involves the intake of these proteins to promote weight loss is currently in fashion (it even promises to drop 3 to 5 kg in a week!).

Index

How the legume diet works

Thanks to the presence of legumes, which help burn abdominal fat, this diet helps to lose a few extra pounds only as long as it is followed by balancing all the meals of the day well and is correlated with a certain amount of physical activity.

Legumes are food sources of protein and mineral salts, but we often forget to include them in our daily diet, preferring instead proteins of animal origin. Basically this diet wants to balance the two with the aim of promoting weight loss.

Among other things, legumes, since they contain a lot of fiber, have the advantage of increasing the characteristic sense of satiety which, if you are on a diet, is obviously very useful. They also promote a flat stomach, provided of course you do not suffer from intestinal fermentation problems, colitis or other (see contraindications).

Also not to be underestimated is the fact that these precious foods are low in fat and do not contain cholesterol.

The ideal, to have a complete nutritional intake, is to combine legumes and whole grains in the same meal. In this regard, watch the following video:

What to eat?

The daily intake of legumes of different varieties is fundamental:

beans
peas
Ceci
Lentils
Soy
Fave
Lupini
Roveja

However, this diet also allows you to eat all the other food categories: carbohydrates such as pasta and rice, fresh vegetables or in the form of soups and soups, lean cuts of meat, fish, eggs, etc.

It is therefore not a particularly restrictive or monotonous regime like other diets we have talked about. Basically it is a Mediterranean-style diet provided obviously you use whole grains, do not overdo it with animal proteins (preferring fish for example) and often eat the different varieties of legumes.

Weekly schedule

The weekly schedule that we present is purely by way of example. In fact, if you want to experiment with the legume diet or lose weight, we recommend that you rely on a professional to have a personalized plan based on your specific needs.

MONDAY'

Breakfast: skim milk and whole grains
Lunch: pasta and beans, raw or cooked mixed vegetables
Price: grilled chicken breast with seasonal vegetables, 30 grams of wholemeal bread

TUESDAY'

Breakfast: whole grains with low-fat yogurt
Lunch: rice and lentils with raw or cooked vegetables at will
Price: baked fish with grilled vegetables

WEDNESDAY'

Breakfast: three wholemeal rusks with sugar-free jam, coffee or tea
Lunch: rice and vegetable salad

Price: vegetable soup with spelled and legumes, wholemeal bread

THURSDAY'

Breakfast: whole grains with low-fat yogurt
Lunch: wholemeal pasta with tomato, grilled meat and vegetable salad
Price: farifrittata of chickpeas with baked vegetables and 30 grams of wholemeal bread

FRIDAY'

Breakfast: three wholemeal rusks with sugar-free jam, coffee or tea
Lunch: couscous with legumes and seasonal vegetables
Price: bresaola with rocket and parmesan, salad and 30 grams of wholemeal bread

Saturday

Breakfast: skim milk with whole grains
Lunch: cuttlefish with peas and grilled vegetables, wholemeal bread

Price: vegetable soup with legume pasta and salad, wholemeal bread

Sunday

Breakfast: low-fat yogurt and whole grains
Lunch: pasta and chickpeas, raw vegetables

Price: vegetable soup and omelette with two eggs, wholemeal bread

Controindicazioni

This diet, as long as it does not become high-protein (and therefore does not exclude or strongly limit carbohydrates) or too low-calorie, does not have major contraindications but could generate some side effects related to the consumption of legumes in those who are not usually used to using them often. If you have a bowel that is not really healthy or the combinations between the various foods are wrong, you can find yourself struggling with intestinal gas, bloating, cramps, abdominal pain due to the intake of beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.

There are systems to make legumes more digestible for everyone, such as using algae or some spices when cooking, but unfortunately they do not always and not in all cases work. Therefore, if you notice that the daily consumption of legumes causes you unwelcome effects, avoid continuing to take these foods or choose the variants that are generally easier to digest (for example red lentils).

If you want to lose weight, however, we always recommend that you contact an expert who, based on your constitution, the kilos you have to lose, your state of health, etc. will know how to draw up the diet that best suits your needs.

However, they should always avoid diets like this one, pregnant or breastfeeding women and people with diabetes.