Talk:Lentil/Archive 1

Old comments
The picture shows two types of lentils (red and green) and yellow split peas. Can somebody take a pic of just lentils? --Sjschen 06:19, 6 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Will do but just ate all except the red ones. Will get a selection. Just rewrote the article to be more factually correct and informative; could still do with more work. Justinc 01:17, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
 * ok, done now. Only three sorts, but all real lentils. Might replace later with more kinds. Justinc 02:00, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Seed
Are lentils considered beans or just seeds? Suppafly 17:08, 11 February 2006 (UTC)


 * They are considered pulses, which includes peas and beans. They are not called beans but they could be, no real logic in the names.Steve Dufour 08:10, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Pictures of the plants
How about pictures of the plants themselves?


 * some in commons - will add. Justinc 14:46, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I havent added the photo on the commons page as there was some doubt about the species. Will look out for some at the botanic gardens when I go. Justinc 14:50, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

I have never seen a lentil plant, never met anyone involved in lentil agricultural production, or even seen such a person on television, so I can only conclude that lentil's are actually a manufactured food product, possibly made from meat by-products. The plant origin is part of the marketing campaign, akin to Keebler crackers being baked by elves in a hollow tree. Until I see photographic evidence to the contrary, I will beleive that a lentil plant is a brick structure with smoke-billowing chimneys, somewhere in the Chicago stockyard district.--Drvanthorp 04:16, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism
I checked back on this page a couple of times, and see lots of vandalism attemtps. This enimity towards the poor lentil would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Why pick on lentils, of all things?


 * no idea. Will keep on watchlist. Justinc 01:17, 25 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Of course everyone picks on lentils. Nowadays we have lots of racist vandals who think lentils (a.k.a rich racist rednecks) are their heroes because they make fun of minorities. What retards.


 * what? MotherFunctor 09:11, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

well I need facts (protein, carbs, and fiber) for my S.S. project. please someone help.

signed, Shadow46800

lentils is not Tur
"Usually, lentils are boiled to a stew-like consistency with vegetables and then seasoned with a mixture of spices to make many side dishes such as sambar, rasam and dal, which are usually served over rice (and sometimes roti)." This content is misleading. Generally, sambar, rasam are made of Tur daal and not masoor daal/lentils. I would like to delete this content if nobody has problems. I would try to add some info about where masoor is used in Indian cooking. I have heard that Bengali;s use Masoor flour in place of Chickpea flour. But I am not sure if that info is correct. If somebody knows about it please add it. --Kaveri 03:11, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

cooking lentils
Whenever I make brown or green lentils they come out tasting great but I get real bad gas and intestinal cramps aftewards. Is there a certain way to prepare them to not cause this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.132.16.104 (talk) 01:45, 20 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Pretty standard procedure for cooking lentils is to leave them to soak overnight, boil them vigorously for 10 minutes, then rinse them thoroughly. Then cook them however you like (boil for 6 minutes, or add to a soup etc). That removes a lot of the toxins that can cause painful indigestion. 82.69.37.32 18:04, 3 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Important point: discard the water you use to soak your lentils. Do not cook them in it. If you do the 10 minute parboil, discard that water too. The substance removed is not really a "toxin", but rather a protein that some people have trouble digesting.--Srleffler (talk) 17:40, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Remove 'Health benefits of lentils' section & add verifiable facts to 'Nutritional value' section?
The section that deals with iron content has many inaccuracies and irrelevant information. Article quoted in italic below, followed by in-line comments, questions and suggestions.

In addition to providing slow burning complex carbohydrates, lentils can increase your energy by replenishing iron stores

Under what circumstances? If you are anaemic? Does iron automatically give you more energy? Is iron stored in the body in the same way as unused energy? And would replenishing iron stores give you more energy?

Particularly for menstruating women, who are more at risk for [from?] iron deficiency, boosting iron stores with lentils is a good idea--especially because, unlike red meat, another source of iron, lentils are not rich in fat and calories.

Not all red meat is rich in fat--for example fillet steak--and the protein from lentils has the same calorific value as that from meat: 4 calories per gram.

Iron is an integral component of hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is also part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism.

True but not relevant to an article about lentils.

The need for iron is higher in pregnant [women]

True according to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) published by Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academies, 2004.

[...] or lactating women.

Not true, it is lower, same source as above.

Growing children and adolescents also have increased needs for iron

Also true. Here are the values for women from the DRI published by Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academies, 2004 (units in mg/day): Females:

9–13 y: 8

14–18 y: 15

19–30 y: 18

31–50 y: 18

51–70 y: 8

> 70 y: 8

Pregnancy:

14–18 y: 27

19–30 y: 27

31–50 y: 27

Lactation:

14–18 y: 10

19–30 y: 9

31–50 y: 9

Suggest removal of the whole section. Move point about high protein content from 'Background' section into 'Nutritional value' section; also note Lentil is a good vegetarian source of iron (second to soy bean), increased iron needs of adolescents, menstruating and pregnant women, and point to wikipedia articles on human iron metabolism and iron deficiency for more information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tonybrown100 (talk • contribs) 14:59, 28 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I pruned the section in accordance with your comments, but did not remove it altogether.--Srleffler (talk) 18:49, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

merging "lentils" and "mujujara"
I have already merged the two articles and will do research on the other questions people asked —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.38.15.69 (talk) 21:29, 27 October 2007 (UTC)


 * This merge was not complete. I undid it, since the mujaddara article still exists, and it really makes more sense for that dish to have its own article rather than shoehorning it in here. In any event, if we wanted to merge lentil dishes in here it should be as a subsection of "Preparation", not as a separate top-level section.--Srleffler (talk) 18:52, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

'Lower risk of coronary heart disease' section plagiarized?
The 'Lower risk of coronary heart disease' section seems to be copied almost verbatim from this URL: (see the 'Love Your Heart-Eat Lentils' sections there). I'm new to Wikipedia, but I don't think that's okay (The whfoods page is "copyright The George Mateljan Foundation"). I'd say this section needs to be rewritten. I could try to do that if that's the way to go. The whfoods.com URL probably also has the references for the articles that are cited -- they have a references section at the bottom, but the references are not cited in the article, so we'd have to research which articles/studies the coronary benefits section refers to specifically. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mpromber (talk • contribs) 10:05, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Types of lentils
We need a lot more on the different types. Apparently black and white lentils are urad according to our article. There seem to be green, orange (split?), puy.. Secretlondon 03:50, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

I can find no reference anywhere to any such thing as a genetically modified lentil, garlic flavored or otherwise, so I removed the garlic lentils from the list, since they don't seem to really exist.24.18.238.28 (talk) 20:40, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
One or more portions of this article duplicated other source(s). Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a license compatible with GFDL. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or printed material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use external websites as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 00:06, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Lectins
Do lentils contain lectins such as Phytohaemagglutinin? If so, what are the health effects? Badagnani (talk) 02:03, 3 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I think they do, see Studies on a Phytohemagglutinin from the Lentil. II. MULTIPLE FORMS OF LENS CULINARIS HEMAGGLUTININ -- Howard et al. 246 (6): 1590 -- Journal of Biological Chemistry —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.147.151.193 (talk) 10:22, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Lentils in popular culture
Why, oh why, is this page missing the all-important reference to Neil on the Young Ones with his constant cooking of lentils? :)

I also have to say I haven't come across such an amusing talk page since I was writing about celery. Celery and lentils apparently have ... groupies.

121.45.47.118 (talk) 06:09, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Misleading map
The map of lentil production shows U.S. and Canada production clustered together near the Great Lakes. According to the text, Canada's production center is in Saskatchewan and the U.S. production center is in eastern Washington state. Is it possible to move those dots on the map to better reflect this? LADave (talk) 20:00, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Symbol of left-wing/environmentalist/hippie beliefs in popular culture
What is the origin of this? The word has entered (along with, to a lesser extent, tofu) popular usage as a symbol of the environmentalist movement, animal rights, anti-nuclear protest etc. etc. - example: recent radio interview with the Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary, in which he answered the charge that short-haul flights contribute to global warming by expressing a desire to 'tell the lentil brigade to foxtrot oscar'. This is such a widely used colloquialism that its origin deserves a mention and an explanation on this page, IMHO.
 * Maybe simply a reference to vegetaric lifestyle? It's not easy to get everything you need from plants, high-protein plants like lentils are a must. --88.75.233.243 (talk) 15:26, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Lentils are also popular with students, because of their cheapness and ease of cooking. Since environmental activists are often associated with the "student lifestyle", this may have effected the view of lentils. 124.170.252.121 (talk) 06:01, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Lentil/bean confusion?
The article claims that "urad", made from beans is confused with lentils. I think confusion is mostly confined to Indian languages where "dal" can either be lentils or a functionally similar product made of skinned and fractured beans. "Dal" may become a loan word in English, but there is no ambiguity in the English words "lentil" and "bean" or "pea". LADave (talk) 20:01, 24 November 2009 (UTC) I agree that the word Daal is used with 2 meanings but it is not synonymous to lentils so it is not relevant here.--Kaveri (talk) 14:33, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

There is also this paragraph that talks abt confusion "There is some confusion about the exact names, and while in India Daal is translated as pulse or legume, elsewhere especially in US Lentils are confusedly held as the particular species Masoor as well as the generic name for all pulses. Since this page shows only Masoor in pictures which in fact is sold under the name Lentil in US, that is the more precise interpretation to be held."

Daal is not translated as pulse or legume. Daal is split of any pulse or legumes. Also in US some people use lentils casually to mean other pulses but you will never see it used like that in a grocery shop. So I am deleting this paragraph. --Kaveri (talk) 14:33, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

lentil and daal confusion
"A large percentage of Indians are vegetarian, and lentils have long been part of the indigenous diet as a common source of protein. Usually, lentils are boiled to a stew-like consistency, before spicing as in north and west or with vegetables as in south India (the latter are usually, 99 percent of the time, Toor and not Masoor which are shown here) and then seasoned with a mixture of spices to make many side dishes such as dal which is generic name in north and the generic dish to go with rice or wheat main dishes, sambar or rasam which accompany rice in south, and normally are the chief protein source in a vegetarian cuisine." This paragraph is talking about daal (the split version of any legume) and not lentils. I am deleting most of it. Please add lentil related stuff if anybody knows about it. I was reading through discussion and realised I made similar comment in 2007 and the daal confusion is still there. If you do not think this delete was appropriate then explain it here before reverting. --Kaveri (talk) 15:12, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Preparation Is lacking
What happened to this preparation section? It was written as if they are only prepared in one country (India), maybe we could include a more diverse article with perhaps the general description of food preparations, followed by a more summarized list of national variations off the main theme? I will work on this is no one does. 'They may be cooked on the stovetop, or in a slow cooker. Pressure cookers may, if not properly used, clog the pressure relief valve, and their quick cooking time means there is little benefit from pressure cooking, although the nutritional benefits from pressure cooking override the inefficiency of open or otherwise cooking; properly done, that is to say with a covered container inside the pressure cooker, gives the most benefit nutritionally and is done in most homes this way.' I mean seriously, what kind of sentence is that? This should be succinct. 68.41.143.34 (talk) 09:25, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

deleted the detailed information on pressure cooking and its benefits. It is not relevant in this article on lentils. It can go in the pressure cooking article if there is one. --Kaveri (talk) 15:20, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Unsubstantiated claims in Preparation section
the claim that Aristophanes mentioned lentil soup is not supported in the reference (15). There is no such statement in that reference. It ought to be deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.214.62.129 (talk) 02:47, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

"The weasel worded "Some prefer to soak the lentils for an extended time and discard the water. This removes substances that may cause indigestion." has been marked {dubious}, as research has not been cited to substantiate the claim."

Uh, it's not weasel worded, and the fix is not about research. It's about experience, commerce, and chemistry.

Experience? Everybody knows beans give you gas, and anybody who knows beans knows the longer you soak 'em, the less trouble you have.

Commerce? This is a sufficient basis to explain the commercial success of the Beano product.

Chemistry? Soaking beans such as lentils overnight dissolves the three-stranded sugars in them that only intestinal bacteria can digest and only by evolving large amounts of gas.

Details. Digestion means dis-assembling larger molecules in food into smaller molecules more useful in the body. This almost always means hydrolysis, or disassembly by reaction with water as the solvent. Different hydrolysis reactions proceed at different rates. Beans contain a trisaccharide called raffinose which hydrolyzes too slowly to be digestible without the presence of an enzyme to speed up the reaction. The human genome does not code for that enzyme, so presoaking for a long time breaks down the offending substance in advance.

By the way, I don't think you must pitch the water the beans are soaked in before eating. I think it's so you can measure the beans and fluid separately for recipes. They'd be difficult to measure accurately otherwise.

jrgetsin@gmail.com Jrgetsin (talk) 15:30, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Boil vigorously for ten minutes
Is what is always written on the packets in the UK, to get rid of some kind of poison. After the vigorous boiling they can be simmered to complete the cooking. 92.29.114.99 (talk) 22:44, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

World production
Could we get some better info on world production? The table that is linked dates from the 1990s and is not clear or complete. It seems to say that Turkey and China are big lentil growers, India is the biggest by far. Canada as the biggest exporter seems to get more attention than the other nations. I have noticed in some other articles on crops that exporting seems to get more attention than growing and using in the same country. I suspect that this is because it is of interest to commodity traders.Steve Dufour 08:10, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

+1. The numbers used in the article aren't even cited. Where *are* they coming from? Mytom (talk) 00:11, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Okay. I did some digging and found this pdf which cites FAO, USDA, and ABARE as its sources. I'm going to try to hunt down the numbers on FAO now. Mytom (talk) 19:14, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Why does it say top ten producers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.206.17.212 (talk) 01:53, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. It says "top ten producers" but only lists four. Someone should fix this if they are indeed the top four producers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.98.6.45 (talk) 07:19, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Fiber content of lentils
The article states that red lentils have a much less fibre than green lentils. Is this because red lentils have had their (brown) skins removed? If so then this needs to be stated otherwise the nutrition statement is misleading in not comparing like for like. It would be good to have brown lentils include in the picture (as well as possibly some of the other less common varities) - the ones common in the UK are: green, brown, red, Puy (speckled). 89.240.7.221 20:30, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
 * This is what the USDA tables say. They don't give an explanation. Han-Kwang 15:08, 19 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I am somewhat skeptical of the claim under Nutritional value and health benefits that "Red (or pink) lentils contain a lower concentration of fiber than green lentils (11% rather than 31%)". The reference for this claim is data given in the USDA National Nutrient Database. Entering "lentil" as keyword returns nine items, only one of which is associated with a color: "Lentils, pink, raw". There is no entry for "Lentils, green, raw". There is an entry for "Lentils, raw", which may be green. It seems as though this must be the entry under consideration, because NDB No: 16069 (Lentils, raw) lists 30.5 grams fiber/100 grams, in contrast to NDB No: 16144 (Lentils, pink, raw) which lists 10.8 grams fiber/100 grams. Detailing the data under 16144 shows that per 100 grams of lentils there are 11.79 grams of water, 24.95 grams of protein, 10.8 grams of fiber, and (calculated by difference) 59.15 grams of carbohydrate, which doesn't quite make sense unless fiber is partly included in carbohydrate. On the other hand, detailing the data under 16069 shows that per 100 grams of lentils there are 10.40 grams of water, 25.80 grams of protein, 30.5 grams of fiber, and (calculated by difference) 60.08 grams of carbohydrate, which doesn't make sense at all. What  does not add up is therefore very suspicious. --Ben Best (talk) 23:20, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Dietary fiber is indeed carbohydrate, but the "calculation by difference" I refer to above remains obscure. --Ben Best (talk) 14:14, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

calories per protein
its 30% not 26%, this is easily calculated from the values given in the article itself. 109.65.43.216 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 18:26, 1 October 2011 (UTC).

Beluga lentils
The article states "Black/beluga (not actually true lentils; see urad bean)". I am not a botanist, but I've seen and eaten urad beans and beluga lentils, and they do not look similar at all. Have a look at beluga lentils on internet, look at urad beans picture on wikipedia, it is very clear it is not the same plant, the seeds are not even remotely similar. I suspect a big confusion here. Can somebody give some further clarity on this? Thanks. Vincent Lextrait (talk) 14:24, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
 * which is a botanical reference states that the "black beluga" latin name is, like the others "lens culinaris" and is referred to as "lens culinaris black beluga". Nothing to do with urad beans. Vincent Lextrait (talk) 14:33, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

"In culture" section
How about a mention of lentils as a cliché hippy food? See. 86.182.170.49 (talk) 15:28, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

"In Italy, eating lentils on New Year's Eve traditionally symbolizes the hope for a prosperous new year..." This is corroborated by Laura Santtini in Easy Tasty Italian, p. 173, New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., (2010). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.250.67.102 (talk) 09:26, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Lentils and lenses
The words listed for Armenian (apaki/vosp) don't seem at all similar (or am I missing something?). Can somebody check this? Entry was added 23:47, 21 March 2009.Hbrackett (talk) 14:41, 9 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Also, all the Indian languages are just listing the name of the lentils in the lens column. Do people even read what they are writing? I am editing Marathi and Hindi. I don't want to touch other Indian languages, though I have some idea, I am not fluent. Kaveri (talk) 17:55, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

After some head-scratching about why someone would write that lentils are "concave", and reality-checking about "convex" and "concave", I finally went in and fixed the mistake: lentils are, indeed, "double convex". --Obl obl 07:25, 20 May 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Obl obl (talk • contribs)

Incorrect protein/amino acid information
The article states that lentils lack the essential amino acid cystine. The wikipedia page for cystine tells us however that not only is cystine not an essential amino acid but it's actually a dimeric derivative of the amino acid cysteine. If what is meant is cysteine and not cystine then this is also incorrect as this isn't an essential amino acid. The source cited for this information is clearly unreliable and therefore the claim regarding methionine should also be discarded unless/until another source of the amino acid composition of lentils can be found. Dolphinholmer (talk) 20:34, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Yes, the info that they are deficient in cystine is wrong. They are lower in methionine than meat and diary products. The total sulfur amino acid is normally considered, since methionine can be used to make cystine. Bipedia (talk) 02:26, 11 August 2013 (UTC) http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

General improvement and new sections: Breeding and Cultivation
We plan to improve the whole article and add a lot of new information. Please check out our sandbox and let us know in case you disagree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Rlxc5/sandbox Rlxc5 (talk) 22:40, 4 December 2017 (UTC)

Cooking tips
https://www.thekitchn.com/5-mistakes-to-avoid-when-cooking-lentils-236288. Bod (talk) 23:41, 29 July 2018 (UTC)

Lens-shaped?
Lentils aren't "lens shaped" - lenses are lentil-shaped! It's where the word comes from. Gymnophoria (talk) 13:53, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

dal/daal
the use of the two spellings is a bit confusing. Kdammers (talk) 14:23, 8 April 2020 (UTC)