Can lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) reduce the risk of obesity?

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), a cool season food legume, provides significant amounts of essential nutrients for healthy living. Lentil is a rich dietary source of low digestible carbohydrates (also known as prebiotic carbohydrates) that stimulate growth and activity of hind gut bacteria. These beneficial bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids that provide an energy source for colonocytes, strengthen the gut mucosal barrier, and suppress colonization of pathogens leading to reduced obesity and related non-communicable diseases. As such, products enriched with prebiotic carbohydrates are becoming popular health-promoting foods in human diets. This paper reviews an overview of current obesity prevalence, lentil production, available data on lentil prebiotic carbohydrates, and the promise of lentil as a whole food solution to combat global obesity. In addition, the effect of prebiotic carbohydrates on the human microbiome is briefly discussed.