The Truth about Frying Lentils: Myths vs. Reality

Does Frying the Lentils Make them Unhealthy???

Lentil Crunchers are fried lentils that are seasoned, and as a society we have decided that if something is fried it is automatically bad for us.  This is not entirely true, some of this comes from what I mentioned in my post about Canola Oil vs. Avocado Oil in that overheated and over used oils can turn to trans fats.  The other part of this is that many of the foods we are frying are soft and dry so they are absorbing excessive amounts of the oils. 

So, we soak our lentils before we fry them to ensure they do not absorb much oil in them. 

Lentils that are fried before they are soaked will absorb about 1 tsp of oil  and 40 calories per oz of lentils.  So, for example our 2 oz bag of lentils would have 2 tsp of oil in them increasing the calories from about 70 calories per bag to 150 calories per bag. 

By soaking the lentils, we reduce the absorbed oil to .1 tsp per oz and 8 calories of oil.  Making our lentil cruncher snacks about 86 calories per 2 oz bag (without seasonings taken into account) That is a reduction of almost half by adding another step to our cooking process. 

Many companies would skip this step to save time and money, but we want to create not only a delicious product but also a healthy product. 

With the suggested DV of Carbs, Proteins and Fats Lentil Crunchers ratio of each to the other is a perfect ratio with Total calories to the recommended guidelines.

🥗 Compared to General Daily Macronutrient Guidelines

Macro  Recommended % of Calories            Lentil Crunchers %

Carbs                 45–55%             66.7%

Protein               20–30%             26.7%

Fat                        20–35%             26.7%

Because the carbs a a little on the high side by pairing with other proteins this can help to balance that out and create even better snack option, such as eating with cheese, on top of cottage cheese, yogurt, or with a hard boiled egg. 

Here is an example of eating the 1 oz of lentil crunchers with ½ cup of cottage cheese

🔢 Calories by Macronutrient (Approximate)

Fat to protein and carbs is still in the suggested range, excellent protein and low carb.  Also this is a great option for people with blood sugar issues. 

So all of this to say it is not always what we eat but how it is prepared and what we pair it with.  Calories are not bad, carbs are not bad, fat is not bad.  It is when we are processing them wrong, cooking them wrong, or pairing them with other high fat, high carb, highly processed options that it starts to snowball.  We will dig deeper into macronutrients later on so follow along to learn more about how these things work together.