The Paper of the Month for August is 'Barriers and facilitators to consuming pulses: a qualitative exploration including effects of trying recipes at home' The blog is written by author K. M. Appleton. The paper is published in the Journal of Nutritional Science and is free to access for one month.
Pulses, including dry beans, chickpeas and lentils, are healthy, sustainable, and low cost. Pulses, however, are not currently consumed as frequently or by as many people as is currently recommended for health benefits or for planetary gain. We sought to understand why this was, what could be done to encourage pulse consumption, and whether cooking suggestions and recipes can help.
We ran in two studies, where participants were interviewed on their reasons for consuming and not consuming pulses. In Study 1, 21 participants: 10 males and 11 females, with a range of ages, cooking responsibilities and experiences with pulses, were interviewed before and three weeks after receiving cooking suggestions and recipes. In Study 2, 12 participants: 2 males, 10 females, again with a range of ages, cooking responsibilities and experiences with pulses, were interviewed once after trying recipes. The cooking suggestions and recipes were intended to reduce some known assumptions that pulses can be difficult to add to the diet and are likely to be tasteless.
Reasons for not consuming pulses centred around practical concerns, cooking concerns and whether participants considered them to fit into their current diet. Advantages of pulses were recognised, but pulses were also considered to be inconvenient or time-consuming to prepare, and participants felt that they lacked sufficient knowledge, skills or confidence to prepare and cook them.
These concerns were reduced following cooking suggestions, e.g. to use canned pulses, and by trying recipes. Simple adaptions to existing dishes, such as adding pulses to soups and stews, were welcomed by participants who were looking to make small changes, accompanied by low commitment and confidence, while recipes for sweet foods and pulse-centred dishes from alternative cuisines, e.g. from India, Mexico or the Middle East, interested participants who were more interested in challenging themselves and discovering new experiences.
Not everyone tried any recipes; expectations of a negative experience were offered as reasons for this, or low expectations coupled with the effort involved in using pulses was simply considered too large a risk. Participants also considered pulses to be inappropriate in some dishes or poor substitutes for some other foods, perhaps incompatible with other aspects of their existing diet, or asked for more knowledge, suggesting that some reason for trying the recipes was also required.
Our findings demonstrate a positive role for pulse consumption, from greater experience, familiarity and confidence with preparing, cooking and consuming these healthy and sustainable foods. Specific suggestions for encouraging pulse consumption are:
- education on the multiple benefits can increase awareness, provide information and reasons for consumption;
- practical suggestions can encourage action: easy cooking suggestions will facilitate small changes and appeal to those with low confidence or commitment, and pulse-based recipes will encourage positive experiences;
- challenge preconceptions and increase familiarity, through increasing awareness of the pulses already contained in popular dishes, adding pulses on a gradual basis to increase acceptability, offering food tastings and encouraging the provision of pulse-based dishes in scenarios where preparation and cooking are not required, such as workplace canteens.
Reference:
Whittall B, Warwick SM, Jackson M, Appleton KM. Barriers and facilitators to consuming pulses: A qualitative exploration including effects of trying recipes at home. Journal of Nutritional Science, 2024, 13, e6, 1-12. doi:10.1017/jns.2023.119