Beans, beans, they're good for your heart, which is why Australia's Heart Foundation wants people eating more of them.
Rather than their well-known, rhyming side effects, our low consumption of heart-healthy legumes is simply because people aren't confident cooking with them, according to the Heart Foundation's research.
A good way for people to increase their intake is by adding legumes to meals they are already confident cooking, Heart Foundation dietician Jemma O'Hanlon says.
"This will help you to feel fuller longer, helping both your heart and your hip-pocket," Ms O'Hanlon said
Blending chickpeas for plant-based burger patties, stretching out a spag-bol with lentils or adding beans into salads and soups were all easy ways to eat more of them, Ms O'Hanlon suggested.
"Think outside the box," she said.
"You can include beans, chickpeas or lentils in almost any recipe, even desserts."
The foundation surveyed more than 2000 people compiling its What Australia Eats 2022 report, released on Friday.
The unsurprising gist is that people want tasty food they can make at home with relative ease using fresh, unprocessed ingredients.
Paying for that can be a barrier, and the cost of a meal came slightly behind taste as the most important driver for people's meal decisions.
About 80 per cent of respondents were confident cooks when it came to preparing vegetables or meals with more than six ingredients, but only about half were confident when it came to cooking legumes like lentils and chickpeas.
The Heart Foundation wants to give them the confidence to try, with a collection of recipes online for people to familiarise themselves with cooking legumes and reaping the benefits.
"Legumes are a great source of protein and fibre, can be stored for a long time, and are friendly on the hip pocket," the foundation report reads.
Wholegrains and fish were a bit more approachable, with two-thirds of respondents already confident cooking them.
About 25 per cent of respondents found it challenging to reduce their consumption of red meat, but they could improve their heart health by doing so.
Australian Associated Press
