Are legumes good meat substitutes? And is it healthy to eat these from a jar or can?
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Patricia Schutte, nutritionist
Legumes are good meat substitutes. Examples of legumes are kidney beans, white beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils. You can buy legumes dried and in cans/jars/bags. Dried legumes have to be cooked for a long time. Legumes in a can, jar or bag are ready to use. You just need to warm them up. You can also eat them cold.
Nutrients
Legumes from a can, jar or bag contain about as many nutrients as dried legumes after preparation. But salt and/or sugar may have been added to legumes from cans, jars or bags. If you buy canned, jar or bagged legumes, choose the variety with the lowest amount of salt. Legumes are in the Wheel of Five if they contain less than 0.5 grams of salt per 100 grams.
Canned beans and jars in sauce (for example white beans in tomato sauce) are not included in the Wheel of Five. Sugar and salt are often added to the sauce. You can also see how much sugar is in the product on the label.
Vegetables
Green legumes, such as peas and broad beans, are classified as vegetables. They are very similar in composition to the other legumes, but they are mainly eaten as vegetables. It is best to eat them fresh or from the freezer. Then no salt is added. There are also more and more vegetables and legumes for sale from cans, jars or bags without added salt. This is often stated on the packaging.
By comparing labels you can see which variant contains the least salt. More information about compare labels.
With our app ‘Do I Choose Healthy?’ you can easily scan and compare a product. You can see exactly which choice is the healthiest. You can download the app for free in the stores.
More information about the app.
Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also do not diagnose. You can find the other conditions here.
Patricia Schutte has been working as an information officer at the Nutrition Center in The Hague for more than 25 years. She answers questions about healthy, sustainable and safe food.
