Moong Dal Benefits

Adding this yellow dal to your daily diet can have a range of health benefits, thanks to its high nutrient content. Here are six reasons for you to include these split pulses in your diet:

1. Aids Weight Loss

Moong dal helps enhance the functioning of the cholecystokinin hormone. As a result, it makes you feel full after eating and improves the metabolism rate. Thus, it contributes to controlling weight by preventing you from overeating.

2. Improves Heart Health

This yellow dal is rich in potassium and iron. It helps lower blood pressure and protects against muscle cramping. It also regulates irregular heartbeat. The light and easy-to-digest nature of moong dal makes it an excellent food for those suffering from hypertension or heart diseases.

3. Rich in Nutrients

Moong dal is a nutrient-rich food. It is enriched with minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron, and copper. In addition to this, it also contains folate, fibre, and vitamin B6. Rich in B-complex vitamins, this yellow dal helps break down carbohydrates into glucose and produce usable energy for your body. The folic acid present in it helps maintain healthy brain function and helps build DNA.

Moong dal is particularly rich in dietary fibre. A single cup serving can provide between 40.5 and 71 per cent of the recommended daily intake of the nutrient. This dietary fibre content helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and prevents nutritional complications.

The high protein content in it makes it a great source of the nutrient for vegetarians. Moong Dal sprouts contain Globulin and Albumin as the primary storage proteins. They make up over 85% of the total amino acids found in these sprouts.

4. Helps Prevent Diabetes

Moong dal has a low glycemic index. As a result, it helps bring down the body’s insulin, blood glucose, and fat levels. In turn, this helps keep blood sugar levels under control and helps lower the risk of diabetes.

5. Improves Digestive Health

The yellow dal helps produce butyrate, a short-chained fatty acid, which helps maintain the health of the intestinal walls. It has anti-inflammatory properties that prevent the accumulation of gas. This yellow dal is easy to digest and is an excellent food to maintain a healthy body.

6. Boosts Blood Circulation

Moong dal is rich in iron and this helps in the production of red blood cells. A good amount of red blood cells is crucial to prevent anaemia and improve the overall blood circulation in the body.

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Potential Uses of Ural Dal:

Potential Uses of urad dal (black gram) are

Potential Uses of Urad dal for Heart diseases:

Regularly eating urad dal with a low-fat diet may help maintain lipid homeostasis (balance). As a result, it may help reduce the risk of heart diseases. Agents responsible for this heart-friendly property of Urad dal are fibre, low glycemic index, and minor components like saponins, phytosterols and oligosaccharides.⁶ Also, the lipids in black gram may show cholesterol-lowering effects in humans.⁸  If you are suffering from heart disease, make sure you talk to your healthcare provider before using urad dal for its properties.

Potential Uses of Urad dal for Diabetes:

Urad dal has a low glycemic index (increases blood glucose levels slowly). Along with a low glycemic index, it also has a high content of indigestible fibre, making it an excellent candidate for maintaining blood sugar levels in individuals with diabetes. Also, black gram may help prevent insulin resistance associated with type 2 diabetes. Hence, black grams may be consumed to avoid type 2 diabetes.⁶ However, diabetes is a severe health condition which requires you to strictly adhere to the doctor’s advice. Avoid using urad dal or any herbal remedy to manage your symptoms without consulting a doctor first.  

Potential Uses of Urad dal for Obesity:

The presence of lipids, proteins and fats lends black grams high nutritional value. In addition, black grams may help maintain healthy body weight by providing early satiety due to its high fibre content, limiting overall food consumption.⁶ However, if you are looking to reduce or manage weight, you can reach out to a dietician or nutritionist as they will be able to better guide you about the benefits and limitations of each diet.

Potential Uses of Urad dal as a Prebiotic:

Prebiotics are indigestible foods beneficial in stimulating the growth of helpful intestinal bacteria and improving overall gut health. Black grams are a good source of prebiotics. Consuming black grams (whole) may provide prebiotic health benefits and might be regarded as potential functional food.⁹ 

Potential Uses of Urad dal as an Antioxidant:

In excess, reactive oxygen species (ROS) can damage cells like proteins, lipids, and DNA, resulting in conditions like cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and atherosclerosis. Black grams are rich in polyphenols, which possess antioxidant properties. Polyphenols may prevent cellular damage caused by the presence of excessive ROS and thus protect from diseases caused by long-term and chronic inflammation.

Potential Uses of Urad dal in Liver and Kidney diseases:

Urad dal may show liver protective and kidney protective properties. These properties might be due to components like phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, and phytic acid in urad. These components are potent antioxidants which may show a protective effect on the liver and kidney.¹¹ However, if you are suffering from kidney or liver disease, you need to consult your healthcare provider before using urad dal or any other herbal remedy for kidney or liver problems.

Though studies show the benefits of the urad dal in various conditions, these are insufficient, and there is a need for further studies to establish the true extent of the benefits of urad dal on human health.