Beans and Legumes

Spilling the Beans and some Legumes

Beans, lentils and other nutritious legumes are the best sources of lean vegetarian protein. Beans are high in antioxidants, fiber, protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc. Eating beans regularly may decrease the risk of diabetes, heart disease, colorectal cancer, and helps with weight management. Beans are hearty, helping you feel full so you will tend to eat less.

They are nutrient dense and can be used in salads, soups, stews, pasta, side dishes and dips, or puree them for use as a fat replacement in baked goods. You can also boil them and keep it as nutritious as possible.

Beans have high fiber content which helps to fill you up so you eat fewer calories, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight.

Food Item	Image	Quantity (gram)	Protein (gram)	Calorie (kcal)	Dietary Fiber (gram)	Protein/100 Cal
Black Beans		100g	8.86	132	8.7	6.71
Kidney Beans		100g	8.67	127	6.4	6.82
Chickpeas		100g	8.86	164	7.6	5.40
Cowpeas		100g	8.13	117	3.6	6.91
Lentils		100g	9.02	116	7.9	7.77
Lima Beans		100g	7.80	115	7.0	6.78
Moth Beans		100g	7.54	105	6.4	7.38
Peanut		100g	13.50	318	8.8	4.25
Soy Beans		100g	16.64	173	6.0	9.61
Peanut Butter		100	25	588	6	4.25

Speaking of beans, a friend of ours has also started an online bean bag store for people in Bangalore. So i anyone wants bean bags in bangalore please visit www.furnishmeup.com

Protein Finder - Android App

App Review – Protein Finder (For Android users)

Rating – 4.5/5

Category – Health and Fitness
Paid or Free – Free

Download Link – Protein Finder or http://goo.gl/1UGuq

Developer – BreadWinner Tech

If you are a serious weightlifting-iron-pumping bodybuilder or just another average Joe who likes to keep a tab on his nutritional needs, Protein Finder by BreadWinner Tech is an Health and Fitness app you ought to have in your android mobile by now.

If you haven’t done that yet here are a few reasons why you should -

1. A customization feature- ‘Find Supplements’- that suggests you the kind and amount of protein you should intake based on your workout frequency and body weight. If you are a lady we take that in consideration too!

2.  Supplement Browser offers a comprehensive list of all kinds of proteins; Creatine, Whey, Glutamine and others to name a few, from all the reputed Supplement manufacturers with their ingredients. One can even have a look at the manufacturers label to find the ingredients. What more can you ask for!

3. If you are new in the gym and can’t understand these jargons you can go to the 'Understand your Supplements' page, a glossary, to help you make sense of what that smug egotist builder in the gym or the lazy shopkeeper at the store is talking about.

4. Buying a supplement isn’t everything, eating it is! Allow ‘Dosage Calculator’ to calculate the optimum amount of protein that YOU need.

5. Ever heard the saying, What you eat is what you are? Watch out for the 'Natural Foods' section to help you figure out the amount of protein and calorie you take with each meal. Protein/ 100 calories helps you find the richer and healthier option amongst the others.

6. It’s been a slow day or you still have that pain in your chest or maybe it is one of those days when you just want to sit on couch and eat a packet of nachos. Well, ‘Motivation Center’ inspires you to go out and achieve what you were destined to!

When this review was written the app was in  v3.0. Hopefully they keeping refreshing the supplement catalog with time. This app is the only app that deals with different brands of supplements in the app store!

What I would like to see in future releases - 

1. Information but the pricing. No comparison is complete without pricing, although they do provide ingredient labels which is really helpful.

2. More information about reliable supplement manufacturers. At present they are scores of manufacturers and each claim to be better than the other one.

If you have an awesome app in health and fitness category and wish to get it reviewed drop me a mail at sagary.dev@gmail.com and i will try to write a review as soon as possible!

Lies that Supplement manufacturers tell!

Manufacturers don’t leave a stone unturned in order to sell you their products be it the hulk-of-a-guy posing on the container or that cute and fit blonde inviting you to pick it from the rack and take it home. There are few sneaky ways in which the try to take you for a ride. Read on and attain enlightenment! 

“Proprietary Blends” and “Protein blend”

 Speaking of the word proprietary, pre-workout drinks provide more examples of this potentially misleading label claim. The most important thing to be aware of is the word “proprietary blend.” Most people believe this is a secret formula or special sauce the company doesn’t want to reveal. In actuality, when companies use this wording, it is a way to hide the exact amounts of key ingredients that actually exist in the product.

Also, you might see the words “protein blend” followed by ingredients listed in parentheses, for example: "(whey protein concentrate, milk protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, soy protein isolate)." There may be, and most likely is, less than a gram of the highest quality ingredient, whey isolate, in this product. To know more about different types of protein and jargon involved read this article.

Serving Size

Manufacturers manipulate the serving size to tell you how much more protein there is in every single scoop you take. But what you should calculate is protein content/gram in the supplement to save yourself from getting duped. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you increase the serving size, the protein content per serving would increase!

Source and Type of Protein

23g of protein doesn’t mean the 23 gram of the best quality protein. Protein can be an Isolate    (90%+ pure), Concentrate (70-80% pure), Blend ( a mixture of Isolate and concentrate) or just the plain inexpensive soy protein. Next time, try to find out source of your protein.

No Artificial flavor

It is written in bold on all packages. What they didn’t tell you there is they use artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose or perhaps they simply used more sugar than anyone can put in a cup of coffee. Hidden or added sugar can be another trap easily overlooked if you don t pay attention to reading the label and ingredients. Sugar can be identified by a number of different names including corn syrup, corn syrup solids, high fructose corn syrup, and high maltose corn syrup.

It is always best to find products with straightforward ingredient panels. Find a company you trust and don’t be afraid to ask them the tough questions, like how much whey protein isolate really exists in a serving? A reputable company will take the time to explain their products if they are not hiding anything. One final note: it is always a bonus to purchase products that are actually manufactured by the company itself.

What and How of Supplements

Bodybuilding has come a long way from being a hobby for health conscious people, it has turned into a science in itself. A billion dollar industry with millions invested just in research to get that extra gram of protein in your scoop. And everyone who has played and burnt his hands with science would knows that the sickest part in science lies in its jargons.

This section will be a glossary for you and help you make sense out of what that smug-egotist-bodybuilder in the gym or the lazy shopkeeper at the store is talking about.

Isolate
An isolated protein source is one that has been chemically purified to remove most everything other then the actual protein source. Generally isolates are 90%+ pure protein.

Concentrate
A concentrated protein source is not as pure as an isolate, and generally contains 70 to 85% of the protein source. Concentrates contain more fats, carbohydrates, and in the case of whey protein, more lactose.

Blends
A protein blend is a combination of various protein sources and purity levels. A blend can be more cost effective then a pure isolate, and can also offer the benefit of having both fast digesting and slow digesting protein sources.

Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. While there are over 100 total amino acids, only 20 amino acids are considered standard. These standard amino acids are separated into two categories: essential and non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids cannot be created in the human body, and must be obtained from food. Non-essential amino acids can be synthesized, or created, in the human body.

BCAA. Branched chain amino acids (BCCA)
BCAA is a term that refers to a chain  of the three essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine. The combination of these 3 essential amino acids make up over one-third the skeletal muscle in the body, and play a vital role in protein synthesis.

Weight Gainer
Weight gainers are high calorie protein powders meant to assist bodybuilders and athletes who are in need of rapid weight gain. They can be used as meals on the go, or in between meals as a means of adding extra daily calories.

Meal Replacements
Meal replacement protein products are considered to be entire meals in and of themselves. They contain a formulated nutritional and macronutrient blend that provides not only enough protein, but also an appropriate amount of carbs, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals.

Recovery
A recovery blend is a protein supplement that contains any number of additional, non-protein supplement products meant to aid in post-workout recovery. These supplements range from creatine to multivitamin and minerals, and larger doses of glutamine and taurine.

Slow Digesting
A slow digesting protein source provides a long term stream of protein and amino acids, meant to assist in keeping a positive nitrogen balance for longer periods of times. A slow digesting protein is a great choice for in between meals.

Fast Digesting
A fast digesting protein source, such as whey protein, acts quickly to help regulate bodily nitrogen levels, especially after periods of fasting. A fast digesting protein is also beneficial as a post-workout protein source.

Energy Bar
Energy bars provide a quick, healthy and sustained source of energy when you need a pick-me-up in between meals. While an energy bar does contain some protein, in general, it does not contain as much protein as a protein bar.

Whey Isolate
Whey isolate is a more expensive version of whey protein. It is a higher quality protein source with a higher biological value (BV), and contains less fat and lactose per serving then whey concentrate. Whey isolate generally contains 90 to 98& protein, while whey concentrate contains 70 to 85% protein.

Whey Concentrate
Whey concentrate is a more cost-effective member of the whey family. It requires less processing time, but also contains more fat and lactose. Whey concentrate is 70 to 85% protein.

Whey Protein Blends
Whey protein blends are specialized protein formulas that contain both whey Isolates and whey concentrates. Whey protein blends are generally more cost effective then whey isolate, and have a higher protein percentage ratio then whey concentrates.

Casein Protein
Casein proteins account for 80% of the protein in milk.  Casein protein is a slow digesting protein that is isolated from milk. It is 92% protein, and has a very “thick” taste. Because of this, it is a very popular protein in weight gainers. Casein protein, although it has a lower BV value then whey, is more efficiently used to build muscle. Because casein protein is used by the body to build muscle, and less is used as a energy source, casein supplementation encourages the body to use carbs and stored fat for energy. Casein is also very high in the popular bodybuilding supplement glutamine.

Egg Albumin
 Egg albumin is the egg white. It is popular in bodybuilding circles because of a higher essential to non-essential amino acid ratio, and because egg whites contain less cholesterol then egg yolks. Eggs are often considered the king of natural food proteins because of their high essential amino acids levels. Egg protein is the best alternative for those that are lactose intolerant.

Soy Protein
Soy protein is high quality, but not as efficient as milk or casein protein, It is a fast digesting protein source that has an average amino acid profile. Because of this, it is not the most desirable protein source for those looking to build muscle.

Soy Protein Isolate
Soy protein isolate has a greater BV then regular soy protein, meaning that more of it is utilized by the body. But soy protein isolate is of lower quality then soy protein.

Goat Milk Protein
No other protein source has a higher bioavailability then goat milk protein. In addition, goat milk protein is extremely high in BCAA and is 100% lactose free. Its BV rating of 104 is superior to most foods, including eggs, which have a 100 BV.

Wheat Protein
Wheat protein is a healthy and natural alternative to dairy and egg-based proteins. It is lactose and cholesterol free, and is perfect for vegetarian bodybuilders and athletes. Wheat protein is also very high is glutamic acid.

Pea Protein
Pea protein is a 100% gluten free protein source that is a great alternative for vegetarians. As with wheat protein, pea protein is lactose free and does not contain any cholesterol. It is very easy to digest and is rich in amino acids.

Complete Milk Protein
Complete milk protein is the dried protein from milk, with the carbs and fat removed. Milk protein is nutritious, and contains calcium and high levels of other vitamins and minerals. Complete milk protein contains both whey and casein proteins.