The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2016 to be the International Year of Pulses, in the recognition of the important role that eating pulses can play in improving health and well-being and meeting many of the sustainability challenges facing farmers around the world.
Eating more pulses in your diet has been proven to improve diabetes prevention and control, reduce heart disease and cholesterol and prevent anemia. Pulses are also often used in weight management and weight-loss programs because unlike many other sources of protein they make you feel fuller for longer.
Pulses are also good for the planet. They have a low carbon footprint and enrich the soil where they are grown by feeding soil microbes and improving soil health, and reduce the need for fertilisers. They are also a water efficient source of protein: pulses require just a tenth to a half of the water used by other sources of protein.
So simply by including more pulses in your diet you can improve both your health and the health of the planet. This has to be one of the easier resolutions to make in 2016.