Nutrition

6 Benefits of Chickpeas 2025: Nutritional Value, Risks & How to Eat

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Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are part of the legume family, which includes beans, peas, and lentils. They are known for their ball-type shape, slightly nutty flavor, and light brown color. But did you know they contain many health benefits?

Read on to find out the top 6 benefits of chickpeas, their nutritional content, potential adverse effects, and how to incorporate them into your diet today.

6 Health Benefits of Chickpeas

  1. Weight management
  2. Digestive health
  3. Manage and prevent diabetes
  4. Lowers blood pressure
  5. Cancer prevention
  6. Fatigue fighter

What Are The Health Benefits of Chickpeas?

So are chickpeas good for you? Chickpeas are rich[1] in nutrients like antioxidants, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. This mixture of nutrients helps to prevent cancer, lower blood sugar, fight fatigue, and even support your digestive system.

Their mild flavor and high protein content make them a great choice to add to dishes or even bake into a crunchy snack.

Read on to find out the top 6 benefits of eating chickpeas–nutritional content, as well as potential risks and how to include them in your healthy eating today.

Weight Management

Chickpeas are packed full of protein and soluble fiber. Protein has been researched[2] and shown to ward off hunger better than other macronutrients (fat or carbohydrates). And fiber helps to slow your body’s absorption of carbohydrates, so you don’t get a sugar rush or crash.

Glycemic control (blood sugar control) is vital for weight maintenance[3]. When you consume sugar, your body releases a hormone called insulin. When a lot of insulin is floating around in your bloodstream, it signals the body to stop burning fat for fuel because plenty of sugar is available for energy. When you stop burning fat, weight loss becomes challenging.

Alternatively, consuming large amounts of fiber slows digestion; consequently, your body doesn’t need to release as much insulin, making weight loss efforts a ton easier.

Digestive Health

The fiber in chickpeas is crucial for digestion and for the balance[4] of good and bad bacteria in your gut (called your microbiome).

A healthy microbiome has been linked to fantastic benefits such as a robust immune system, mood stability, mental health, and improved digestion.

On the other hand, an unhealthy[5] microbiome can lead to

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Mood instability
  • Chronic gut discomfort
  • Diarrhea or constipation
  • Bloating
  • Fatigue
  • Auto-immune disorders

Thankfully, the fiber in chickpeas can help to promote healthy bacteria in your gut. A recent study proved that after two weeks of increased dietary fiber intake, the gut microbiome was significantly altered and back in ideal symbiosis.

Manage and Prevent Diabetes

The benefits of the fiber found in chickpeas are not only for your gut and weight loss efforts. In addition, fiber is essential in helping manage and prevent diabetes. It’s also easy to incorporate–just one cup of chickpeas provides almost half of the fiber needed daily.

And as previously mentioned, fiber[3] is essential to regulate blood sugar levels. The American Diabetes Association recommends black beans and other legumes, like chickpeas, as a great source of dietary fiber.

Further, other studies[6] have corroborated that diets higher in fiber help lower blood sugar levels and thus decrease the risk of developing diabetes.

Also, research[7] has shown that eating a diet high in fiber, while improving blood sugar control, also reduces bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and helps maintain healthy body weight. All excellent attributes for helping prevent and control diabetes.

Lowers Blood Pressure

If you have high blood pressure, experts recommend increasing[8] your dietary intake of potassium as it helps to rid the body of excess sodium, which can raise blood pressure. Chickpeas contain about 10% of your daily potassium needs.

Keep in mind when you are consuming chickpeas to purchase a form that is low in sodium, otherwise, you defeat the advantage of the potassium chickpeas contain. If you choose canned beans, ensure you buy products labeled with no added salt.

Also, purchasing dry chickpeas is an easy way to ensure you are getting no salt. It takes a little extra preparation but tastes the same and is cheaper than canned chickpeas.

Another critical mineral in blood pressure health is magnesium[9]. Magnesium benefits several body functions, including blood pressure, muscle formation, and nerve health.

Magnesium’s prominent role is it helps blood vessels to widen[10] and relax, which aids in lower blood pressure. One cup of chickpeas provides almost 25% of your daily magnesium needs.

Cancer Prevention

Chickpeas contain beta carotene and selenium, which have excellent antioxidant properties. Antioxidants[11] are powerful allies in cancer prevention. The main goal of antioxidants is to fight off free radicals, which are unstable molecules generated by metabolism.

If they become too plentiful in the body, they can raise the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Therefore, having an abundance of antioxidants in your diet, like the ones in chickpeas, can help prevent cancer and support heart health and diabetes.

In addition to the antioxidant benefits of chickpeas, they are also high in fiber, as we have discussed. A high-fiber diet is also known to help reduce the risk[12] of colorectal cancer.

Fatigue Fighter

Chickpeas are shockingly high in iron. Just one cup provides almost half of your daily iron needs (more if you are a man). It is thought that around 80% of the world is iron deficient.

Symptoms[13] of iron deficiency include

  • Fatigue
  • Tiredness
  • Headache
  • Fast heartbeat
  • Feeling chronically cold
  • Brittle nails

Most animal sources of iron contain saturated fat, which increases your risk of heart disease. The bonus about the iron in chickpeas is that it comes with no saturated fat.

A black[1] variety of chickpeas is much smaller than white chickpeas but has many benefits. For example, it is higher in iron than white chickpeas and has about three times more fiber than conventional white chickpeas.

Chickpea Nutrition Information

Per the USDA[14] Nutrient Database. Nutrition Values are based on a 1-cup serving.

  • Calories: 756
  • Protein: 41 grams
  • Fat: 12 grams
  • Carbohydrate: 126 grams
  • Fiber: 25 grams
  • Iron: 9 mg
  • Magnesium: 158 mg
  • Potassium: 1440 mg

Adverse Effects of Garbanzo Beans

As with any new food, there are some potential risks[15]. Chickpeas have many benefits but also may have the following side effects:

Allergies

If you are allergic to peanuts, be aware of a potential allergy[16] to chickpeas, as both are in the legume family.

Some symptoms of an allergy include swelling of the tongue, lips, throat, nausea, gastric pain, and rashes or hives. You can develop allergies at any point in life though they are typically seen in adolescents.

Gastric Discomfort

Cooked chickpeas contain fiber and complex sugars such as oligosaccharides. These compounds are called complex sugars because your body cannot digest and absorb them fully. This can leave some people feeling bloated and a little uncomfortable.

People with previous digestive issues should avoid chickpeas. These digestive issues include Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and diverticulitis.

Medication Interactions

As mentioned, chickpeas are high in potassium. Some medications, specifically beta-blockers, create high amounts of potassium in the blood.

Therefore, you should discuss adding chickpeas to your diet with your doctor or health professionals, because too much potassium (hyperkalemia) can lead to cardiac arrhythmias.

Kidney Stones

Chickpeas contain oxalates[17]. Your kidneys are very good at removing these substances from the body, but if they are too abundant and get overloaded, they can cause deposits to form oxalate stones, better known as kidney stones.

Be aware if you are prone to kidney stones; if so, eat chickpeas in moderation.

How To Incorporate Chickpeas Into Your Diet

One of the best benefits of chickpeas is that they are both super-nutritious yet affordable, easy to prepare, and easy to add to dishes. In addition, chickpeas are a great source of plant-based protein for those who prefer vegan or vegetarian diets.

Chickpeas cannot only be added to your dishes, but they are also the main ingredient in hummus, a delicious dip typically made with blended chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice.

In addition, chickpea flour is becoming increasingly popular as it can be a healthier high-protein replacement for regular flour.

For a crunchy afternoon snack, you can also enjoy roasted chickpeas with various herbs and spices. Other ways to enjoy chickpeas include

  • Adding them to your soups
  • Adding them to salads
  • Dipping fresh vegetables into hummus
  • Blending them in a food processor with lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic to make hummus
  • Using hummus as a pizza sauce and topping with fresh vegetables
  • Incorporating them into veggie burgers
  • Mixing them into taco meat
  • Use chickpea flour as a breading for chicken
  • Make falafel from mashed chickpeas

The Takeaway: Are Chickpeas Good for You?

To summarize why chickpeas are good for you, eating chickpeas regularly isn’t only delicious, but they boast several nutritional benefits and are affordable–plus easy to add to any dish. They provide[1]

  • Incredible health benefits (cancer prevention and blood pressure support)
  • A mechanism to lower blood sugar
  • A remedy for fatigue
  • Improvement of your digestive system

So, next time you are at the store, pick up a big package of hummus or a few canned chickpeas (make sure they are “no salt added”). They will improve your health and spice up your meals simultaneously!

+ 17 Sources

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  2. Leidy, H.J. (2014). Increased dietary protein as a dietary strategy to prevent and/or treat obesity. Missouri medicine, [online] 111(1), pp.54–8. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179508/
  3. Rock, C.L., Flatt, S.W., Pakiz, B., Taylor, K.S., Leone, A.F., Brelje, K., Heath, D.D., Quintana, E.L. and Sherwood, N.E. (2014). Weight Loss, Glycemic Control, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Response to Differential Diet Composition in a Weight Loss Program in Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Diabetes Care, [online] 37(6), pp.1573–1580. doi:10.2337/dc13-2900.
  4. Cronin, P., Joyce, S.A., O’Toole, P.W. and O’Connor, E.M. (2021). Dietary Fibre Modulates the Gut Microbiota. Nutrients, [online] 13(5), p.1655. doi:10.3390/nu13051655.
  5. Hills, R.D., Pontefract, B.A., Mishcon, H.R., Black, C.A., Sutton, S.C. and Theberge, C.R. (2019). Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease. Nutrients, [online] 11(7), p.1613. doi:10.3390/nu11071613.
  6. McRae, M.P. (2018). Dietary Fiber Intake and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, [online] 17(1), pp.44–53. doi:10.1016/j.jcm.2017.11.002.
  7. Barber, T.M., Kabisch, S., Pfeiffer, A.F.H. and Weickert, M.O. (2020). The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre. Nutrients, [online] 12(10), p.3209. doi:10.3390/nu12103209.
  8. Toto, R.D. (2017). Serum Potassium and Cardiovascular Outcomes: The Highs and the Lows. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, [online] 12(2), pp.220–221. doi:10.2215/cjn.00030117.
  9. Al Alawi, A.M., Majoni, S.W. and Falhammar, H. (2018). Magnesium and Human Health: Perspectives and Research Directions. International Journal of Endocrinology, [online] 2018, pp.1–17. doi:10.1155/2018/9041694.
  10. Murata, T., Dietrich, H.H., Horiuchi, T., Hongo, K. and Dacey, R.G. (2016). Mechanisms of magnesium-induced vasodilation in cerebral penetrating arterioles. Neuroscience Research, [online] 107, pp.57–62. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2015.12.005.
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