The easiest to digest are split yellow mung daal, chilka mung daal (split but with the green skins still on) and split red lentils. You can eat these daily without a problem, especially yellow mung daal. Ones that are moderately easy to digest include French puy lentils, toor daal, whole mung beans and adzuki beans.
Which Lentils Are the Easiest to Digest? Red lentils are the easiest to digest. They also take a relatively short time to prepare because of how small they are. On the other hand, brown lentils take hours to boil and prove quite demanding on your digestion.
Aim to soak your beans or lentils for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight. Dump the soaking water (i.e. don't use it to cook the beans). Then be sure to give your beans/lentils a good rinse before cooking to wash away those gas-producing carbohydrates. Introduce them slowly.
Red lentils promote weight loss and are very good for your digestion due to the high amounts of fiber present in this lentil. Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) is good for diabetics as it regulates the random spikes and drops in the glucose level in the blood.
Cooked-from-scratch green or red lentils have a low FODMAP serving of ¼ cup or 23 grams. I use canned lentils because they are convenient and have the larger low FODMAP serving size of the two options.
Brown lentils: due to their larger size, they are more difficult to digest.
Black Lentils
They take approximately 25 minutes to cook and are the most nutritious variety of lentils. One half cup of uncooked black lentils provides 26g protein, 18g fiber, 100mg calcium, 8mg iron, and 960mg potassium, according to the USDA.
Because of their high fiber content, they can cause bloating in some people. This is especially true for people who are not used to eating a lot of fiber. Like beans, lentils also contain FODMAPs. These sugars may contribute to excessive gas production and bloating, especially in people with IBS ( 8 ).
Red lentils are an excellent product for diabetics due to their low glycemic index. In addition, it is more easily digestible than other varieties, and all its properties are easily absorbed by our body.
You can buy dried lentils and soak them in water overnight prior to cooking. This is believed to make lentils easier to digest and therefore less likely to cause gas. Sprouted lentils may also be easier to digest.
Although many anti-inflammatory diets claim that whole grains and pulses — beans, peas and lentils — increase inflammation, research shows otherwise. Pulses are high in fiber and magnesium, and magnesium has been shown to help reduce inflammation.
Some beans and legumes are much more difficult to digest than others. If you're sensitive, or you want to stick with beans that are easiest to digest, start with aduki, lentils, mung beans, and peas. Avoid cooking with soybeans - they're the hardest to digest.
Are Lentils or Chickpeas Easier to Digest? This will vary from person to person, but the greater amount of fiber in lentils may make this legume a bit harder to digest than chickpeas if you have an unhealthy gut microbiome or are not used to eating high-fiber foods regularly.
Some people experience gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, such as bloating, gas, and stomach cramps when they eat pulses, like beans, lentils, and peas. That's because pulses contain large amounts of indigestible carbohydrates (fibers) that are fermented in the GI tract resulting in the formation of gas.
Beans and legumes
Beans, lentils, and peas are generally a great source of protein and fiber, but they can cause IBS symptoms. They contain compounds called oligosaccharides that are resistant to digestion by intestinal enzymes.
Beans and lentils contain high amounts of complex carbohydrates called oligosaccharides, sugars that the body can't digest because it lacks the enzyme to break them down in the small intestine.
Lentils are rich in dietary fiber, both the soluble and the insoluble type. They are undigested, which means they will pass out of our bodies. Insoluble fiber encourages regular bowel movement and prevents constipation and helps prevent colon cancer.
Lentils also contain slow-digesting resistant starch that delays the absorption of carbohydrates with blood sugar-lowering effects, as well as being a source of prebiotics that feeds gut flora to help prevent digestive diseases.
In general, the brown and green varieties retain their shape well (some more fully than others), whereas the hulled and, most particularly, split red and yellow lentils tend to disintegrate and, therefore, are best for soups or in applications where they'll be pureed.
Black Lentils (Beluga lentils)
Best of all, black lentils are the most nutritious variety of lentils, boasting the highest amount of protein, plus high levels of calcium, potassium, and iron.
Lentils contain high amounts of protein, fiber and healthy carbs, as well as minerals such as iron, copper and manganese. Because of their high fiber content, they cause bloating in those with sensitive digestive systems. This is especially true if you're not used to eating a lot of fiber.
Benefits of Soaking Lentils
While it also triggers a compound called amylase that breaks down complex starch in lentils and makes them easy to digest. Soaking naturally deactivates the harmful compounds and activates all the goodness of the seed and increases its nutritional value manifold.