Lobia, known as cowpea in English, is an oval-shaped bean, with a black eye. It’s called kidney bean because its shape resembles a kidney. Unlike its name, it’s not a pea, but a bean, belonging to the plant family Fabaceae.
Lobia is one of the healthiest foods to include in your diet. It is enriched with good amounts of proteins, vitamins, and minerals. These protein portions are so rich that they can help a vegetarian overcome his/her deficiencies from not eating meat.
Lobia has a strong, savory flavor, native to the Pakistani, Indian, and traditional cuisine. Let’s have a look at lobia’s nutrition content. 100g of Lobia contains:
- Calories 160g
- Fiber 8g
- Protein 5g
- Carbohydrates 35g
It contains significant portions of many vitamins and minerals i.e.
- Copper
- Thiamine
- Iron
- Phosphorus
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Potassium
- Vitamin B6
- Selenium
- Riboflavin
Table of Contents
Types of Lobia
You may get confused about Lobia’s types. Let’s have a look at what’s the difference between white lobia and red lobia:
White Lobia
White lobia has a firm, ivory-colored skin, creamy texture, and mild flavor. If you are preparing a dish with short-cooking time, you may add white beans in the recipe. The texture of white beans enables them to absorb the flavors well. You can include white beans in chili or soup recipes. These are also used in salads.
Red Lobia
Red lobia has a slightly nutty, somewhat more prominent flavor than white lobia. You can add red lobia in dishes with a much longer cooking time. Red lobia is also used in soups, chili, stews, casseroles, and salads.
Lobia Benefits for Your Health
Lobia is known for a number of potential health benefits. Let’s get to know what lobia can do for your health:
Good for Pregnant Women
If you are an expecting mother, you must add Lobia in your diet. You can make salads and add lobia in them, sprinkle some rock salt and lemon juice, and enjoy it to the fullest.
Lobia contains Folate, which is required in the first trimester. It helps in a baby’s proper brain development. This mineral ensures that the baby does not develop any brain dysfunction or spinal cord abnormality. A diet rich in folic acid or folate can significantly reduce the risk of such diseases in your baby.
You need a lot of proteins and iron during pregnancy. So, adding food like lobia to your diet can give you these minerals in a natural way. That’s how lobia benefits in pregnancy can be enhanced.
Aids in Weight Loss
You may have a query, is lobia good for weight loss? Well, absolutely yes.
The dietary fiber in Lobia helps in flushing out the toxins, accumulated fat, and cellulite from the body. Lobia contains lesser calories, and it is free from bad cholesterol that adds weight to the body. Lobia has low sodium content. All these qualities make lobia a great nutritious choice for you to have a healthy weight loss.
You can consume Lobia to shed those extra pounds naturally.
Proper Sleep
Lobia is rich in magnesium and the compound Tryptophan. It has nerve relaxing properties. If you take lobia for dinner, it calms down your stressed nerves and promotes better sleep.
This is one of the best lobia health benefits for those who have sleep-deprived or have chronic insomnia.
Keeps Cholesterol Levels in Check
The fiber in Lobia is soluble. The proteins in lobia make it a perfect medicine to lower bad cholesterol from the body naturally. The phytosterols in lobia help to maintain healthy cholesterol, keeping the heart fit and healthy.
Great for Diabetics
The soluble fiber in lobia absorbs the extra sugar content in the blood and is a perfect choice for diabetic patients. Lobia is known for its low glycaemic index, which can regulate your blood sugar levels.
A small portion every day can give you maximum results to keep your diabetes in check.
Gut Friendly
Lobia can deal with all the stomach problems as well as that of the pancreas and spleen. The idea is to tone the organs well and stimulate their functions in a way that all problems are treated as well as prevented in later stages.
It also calms the aggravated bowel movements and helps you with a smooth process of digestion and absorption in the blood.
Enhances Heart Health
Lobia as part of a balanced diet is an excellent way to help keep your heart healthy and strong, as they may help reduce several risk factors for heart disease. Regularly eating lobia lowers the inflammation, which may also help reduce your risk of heart attack.
Research shows that Lobia is rich in phenolic compounds and antioxidants, beneficial for chronic human diseases prevention e.g cancer, heart diseases etc.
Nourishes Your Skin
The protein levels in lobia are perfect for healthy and glowing skin.
It is also rich in antioxidants which can repair your skin and keep it free from any sort of damage. By cleansing the stomach with its dietary fiber, Lobia can help in bringing a natural glow to your skin.
Delays Signs of Aging
As we have discussed before, lobia is rich in antioxidants. It contains vitamin A and vitamin C, which are the two most beneficial elements for our skin. Both of these can prevent our skin cells from getting damaged by free radicals. They can repair our skin and rejuvenate it. The anti-oxidative properties of lobia also remove various symptoms of aging like wrinkles, spots, etc.
As a result, you can get smooth, healthy and glowy skin.
Prevents Hair Loss
Intake of lobia on a regular basis provides you with good levels of proteins. Your hair strands are made of protein. Eating lobia means you can have healthy hair strands and can have proper control over your hair loss. Lobia’s nutrients can make your hair healthy and enhance its growth.
That’s mind-blowing, isn’t it?
Lobia Side Effects
As every good thing comes to an end, there is a limitation to lobia as well. It may cause digestive discomfort for some people such as abdominal pain, gas and bloating due to the presence of raffinose. It is a fiber that may upset your stomach if you are naturally allergic to it.
If you soak dried beans before cooking, it will help to lower raffinose content and promote smooth digestion. It also contains antinutrients like phytic acids which may hinder the absorption of vital nutrients.
Hence, it is best to soak and cook them before consumption to get maximum lobia benefits.
The Bottom Line!
Lobia is one of the most underrated foods on this earth. I’m sure, many of us only know this bean from a Russian salad. They are excellent sources of dietary fiber, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. They are excellent sources of dietary fiber, protein, B vitamins and many other important vitamins and minerals.
If you have queries about Lobia benefits and want to know more about it, consult a well-known nutritionist in Lahore. You can book an appointment via Healthwire.pk or you can call at (042) 32500989.
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