Garbanzos: We are what we eat

EDITOR’S NOTE: Helen Ruth Arnold was a retired teacher and long-time contributor to the Gazette’s Open Forum columns, even after she moved into a Trenton nursing home. After her death on June 17, 2023, at the age of 91, we received 16 letters from her. We will publish them as time and space allow in honor of her memory.

Dear Editor,

While buying olive wood carvings in an Arab shop in Israel over 20 years ago, I ate my first garbanzo beans. They were mashed and put into a pocket of pita bread.

Now in 2016, the U.S. is telling us to eat pulse. This is not the throb in our wrist. Pulse is seeds and legumes. It includes garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lima beans, chickpeas, fava beans and black-eyed peas. Garbanzo beans can be found in cans in our supermarkets.

Pulse is mentioned in 2nd Samuel 17:28 and Daniel 11:12 and 16. It refers to seeds, legumes and grains. The word corn found in the King James version of the Bible refers to heads of grain. Indian corn or maize was only heated in the Western Hemisphere before America was discovered.

Four ounces of pulse contains 9 grams of protein. This equals one chicken leg.

Many Americans consider a hamburger and French fries to be their main source of protein. Eating pulse regularly could cause bad cholesterol levels to drop 30 percent. Weight loss is another benefit of eating pulse.

As the old saying goes, "We are what we eat."

Helen Ruth

Arnold,

Trenton, Neb