Lupin Flour 101: What Is, Nutrition, Benefits and How to Make It
Written by Mahnoor Syed, Certified Dietitian and Nutritionist. Updated on December 5, 2022.
Lupin flour originated from the Mediterranean region and is prepared from ground lupin beans. It has gained popularity as a gluten-free substitute for conventional components in contemporary diets.
Lupin flour, though currently less well-known than other gluten-free flour options, is swiftly developing a reputation as a nutritious addition to the paleo, keto, and vegan diets.
What is Lupin Flour?
Lupin flour, which is prepared from lupin beans, first gained popularity as a quick substitute for conventional wheat flour thanks to keto dieters.
The legume family includes lupin beans, which are related to peanuts and have many of the same advantages, such as high protein content and low carbohydrate content.
Lupin bean consumption can be dated to the 22nd century BCE in ancient Egypt.
There are sweet and bitter types of lupin beans. Even while lupin beans are edible, they are bitter and contain harmful alkaloids, making sweet beans much more popular.
Lupin flour can be distinguished from all-purpose flour by virtue of differences in texture, flavor, and odor. The majority of lupin flour recipes recommend using complementary ingredients to counteract the bitter taste.
This sweet lupin bean is used exclusively to make this high protein, high fiber flour.
Peanuts and soybeans are relatives of sweet lupin beans. Lupin has been demonstrated to lower blood pressure, cholesterol and enhance insulin sensitivity while being low in fat, low in the glycemic index, gluten-free, and containing little starch.
Nutrition Facts
One-quarter cup of Lupin Flour contains the following:
- 74 calories
- Fat: 2 grams
- Carbs: 1 grams
- Fiber: 11 grams
- Sugar: 1 gram
- Protein: 12 grams
Due to its extremely low carbohydrate content (maximum 1 net carb per 1/4 cup) lupin is highly suggested as an all-purpose flour substitute in diets.
This superfood has a high protein level, is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and in the majority of cases, is entirely organic and does not contain any genetically modified organisms.
So, sure, lupin flour is a possibility to take into account when trying to substitute food items in your diet.
Benefits of Lupin Flour
Let’s examine the main advantages that lupin flour offers in more detail.
A quarter cup of lupin flour has 12 grams of protein. To maintain good health and well-being, we need complete protein sources, which lupin beans offer.
Every essential amino acid for a human function is present in protein derived from lupin flour.
Rich in Fiber
Fiber, which is present in lupin flour, has several positive effects on the body, including weight loss and digestive health.
While avoiding empty calories, fiber makes you feel full and speeds up your metabolism. Each serving of Lupin Flour contains 11 grams of fiber.
Keto-Friendly
It’s crucial to be in a state of ketosis while on the keto diet because this is the natural state that occurs when the body runs out of carbohydrates to use as fuel.
Our bodies will produce ketones, which serve as fuel throughout this phase to burn fat. Before making any significant dietary changes, talk them over with your doctor.
The goal of the keto diet is to keep your body in ketosis, a physiological process that takes place when your body lacks sufficient carbs to burn for energy. Instead, it burns fat to produce what are known as ketones, which it can then use as fuel.
You instruct your body to burn fat when you follow a ketogenic diet, which results in weight loss.
You owe it to your body to offer all the required replacements if you don’t eat the carbs because, after all, you’re assisting your body in assisting you to lose weight and gain muscle as organically as possible.
However, each person’s ability to tolerate carbohydrates varies; some can consume more carbohydrates than others while still maintaining a state of ketosis.
Low Carb
Lupin flour just has one carb per 1/4 cup serving, which tells you everything you need to know about it. For the purpose of comparison, almond flour has 3g net carbohydrates per serving.
Lupin flour can assist you in your goal of cutting carbs if you are serious about doing so.
Gluten-free
Lupin Flour can make cooking simple once more for those who are sensitive to gluten. You can easily add Lupin flour from Carrington Farms to pancakes, pizza crusts, and other baked products.
How to Make it
The first step in making the flour is drying the beans and grinding them into lupin flour, a fine powder.
Lupin may essentially be used for anything that can be done with flour, including baking and pastry, thickening soups and sauces, and frying things like breadcrumbs.
There are many applications, but like with many flour alternatives, you might need to do a little experimenting.
There are two flavors of lupin beans: bitter and sweet. It’s safer to stick to sweet beans; bitter lupin is edible as well, but because it contains a lot of poisonous alkaloids, it takes longer to soak and rinse it to remove the bitter flavor.
If you’re curious about how it tastes, bear in mind that it generally has a bitter flavor and a different aroma from all-purpose flour.
Because of this, most lupin flour recipes call for seasonings, sweeteners, or other complementary flavors to mask the bitter, starchy flavor.
Other than that, it is much less dense than other flours used in keto diets and completely replicates the feel of wheat flour.
Conclusion
It is packed with nutritious ingredients that give your body more of the things it needs for healthy functioning and less of the things it doesn’t.
Of course, we’re talking about carbohydrates here; as enticing and addictive as they may be, they haven’t been shown to be the best friends of our digestive systems.
So go ahead and switch to lupin flour, but remember to consider its allergies as well as your own health and genetic makeup to determine whether you can use it without suffering any negative effects.
Please be aware that lupin flour has some properties that could be harmful to those who have allergies or sensitive tummies.
If you fall under this category, we strongly advise you to consult your physician or nutritionist before consuming lupin flour.
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