What is Lupin?

Things You Should Know About This Newest Superfood

Your food choices have a huge impact on ensuring a long and healthy life. This is the reason why there’s been a lot of hype over different superfoods in recent years. Superfood status is given to foods that offer high levels of desirable nutrients. It helps prevent diseases, and provide a multitude of health benefits. Among the superfoods that are increasingly becoming a staple for healthy dieters is the legume called lupin. If you are following a low-carb diet, gluten-free diet, or just trying to pick better foods, lupin can be a great addition to your meals. Read on to learn more about lupin and all the nutritious advantages it has to offer.

What Is Lupin?

Lupin, also called Lupine, is a legume from the same plant family as peanuts. Lupin beans come in different species, but the most common and commercially available types include lupini beans (Lupinus albus), yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus), and white or narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius). Traditionally, lupini beans have been eaten whole as a healthy snack or as an appetizer before a meal for thousands of years. More recently, Australian Sweet Lupin has developed a profile as a very healthy legume which you can also cook lupin the same way you cook other beans and combine them with other ingredients. Lupin-derived products including lupin flour can be used for making pasta, cakes, bread, and other baked goods. Lupin flakes, grits and splits also have a broad range of uses – crumbing, cakes, biscuits, drinks, hummus/dips and many more.

Where Does Lupin Come From?

Although a common food in some cultures in Europe and Asia today, Lupin is believed to have originated from the Mediterranean region and the Andean mountains. The early Egyptian and pre-Incan people ate lupin after a long and tedious process of removing its bitterness and toxicity. Later, lupin was brought to Australia where scientists cultivated a sweet variety with very low Alkaloids, suitable for human consumption. With the development of the low Alkaloid varieties, more lupin varieties were developed, mainly in Western Australia. Today, Western Australia is responsible for 85% of the world’s lupin crop mainly because of the perfectly adapted varieties to the locally ancient and generally infertile soils.

What Are The Health Benefits Of Lupin?

Lupin is a powerhouse of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Australian Sweet Lupin boasts almost 42 grams of protein and 38 grams of fiber and only 4 grams of digestible carbohydrate in a 100gm cup. This impressive combination of energy protein and dietary fibre can help you feel full faster and stay full longer. It is also known to prevent heart diseases and anaemia, as well as lowers blood pressure and sugar levels. The high amounts of fibre in Lupin also assist with digestion, promotes gut health through prebiotic activity. It also helps manage weight loss by creating a feeling of fullness.

Australian Sweet Lupin also contains a generous amount of vitamins and minerals. It has Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Phosphorus, Manganese, and more, which help strengthen the bones, improve the hair and skin, and fight the signs of ageing. Not only does lupin help heal your body, but it also makes you look and feel better. It allows you to live healthier, while you also build your confidence and improve your mental health. The gut/brain connection is well-reported and known that a healthy gut means a healthy brain.

What Is Lupin Allergy?

Although highly beneficial for gluten intolerant consumers, vegans, and ketogenic diets, lupin is a bean just like peanuts and containers a protein very similar to the allergen causing protein from peanuts. No clinical data is available to prove that lupin consumption causes allergic reactions; however, the connectivity of peanuts to lupin reflects a vague cross-reactivity potential. In general, the allergic reaction is rarely immediate and requires a number of consumptions to trigger a severe reaction – just like milk, soy, peanuts, shellfish and others. On balance, the value of this legume far outweighs the risk of avoidance of consuming this complete food – Australian Sweet Lupin.

How To Consume Lupin?

Like other legumes and beans, there are different ways to eat lupin. You can incorporate them with your usual recipes, or use them as a substitute for their less healthy counterparts. There are also many nutritious and delicious lupin recipes now available online. Using lupin-derived products like lupin flour, lupin flakes, grits and lupin splits is an easier option.

If you are looking for ways to improve your health, consuming lupin can be a life changer! With all its nutritious benefits, this new superfood is definitely worth a try. Start taking care of your body as early as you can by choosing the right foods to eat. To get more information about lupin, talk to our friendly staff at The Lupin Co. We can guide you through the ways you can consume lupin and offer you the best lupin products that will keep you healthy, without having to sacrifice taste and fun. Browse through our website at thelupinco.com.au or call us today on +61 8 6263 1140.