Peas are not only a delicious vegetable; they’re also a nutritious one. Grown around the world, peas can be an excellent addition to any meal as a side dish, or a wonderful snack to enjoy.

There are a number of different varieties of peas out there ranging from sweet peas to snow peas, all peas share some of the same nutritional benefits, making them a healthy choice as well as a delicious one.

Let’s take a look at some of peas benefits.

Peas Benefits: Low in Calories
In comparison to other beans, peas are relatively low in calories. The beans are a good source of protein and soluble and insoluble fiber, while keeping the calorie count low. 100g of peas have only 81 calories, making them the perfect light addition to most any meal.

Peas Benefits: Vitamins
Peas have a number of benefits on the vitamin front. A 100g serving of peas includes 21% of your average daily requirement for vitamin K. Vitamin K is known to help bone mass building and helps promote osteo-tropic activity in bones. The vitamin is also known to be exceptionally helpful with Alzheimer’s patients, and reportedly limits the neuronal damage that happens in brain with people who have the disease.

Chances are you’re used to getting your vitamin C from fruits like oranges. A single serving of peas, however, also includes 67% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C/ascorbic acid. The vitamin has a number of benefits, but most commonly is used to help build up the body’s ability to fight infectious diseases.

25.5% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin A is found in a single serving of peas. Vitamin A plays a role in maintaining the health of your mucus membranes such as your skin and eyes. The vitamin is also thought to help prevent some types of cancer, specifically caner that occurs in oral cavities and lungs.

Peas Benefits: Good For Expectant Mothers
Peas are a great source of folic acid. Often taken by expectant mothers as a supplement, folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects in pregnancies and keep unborn babies safe.

While the folic acid is definitely a benefit, the other vitamin content as well as the protein benefits make peas a great food for expectant mothers to enjoy, allowing them and their baby to get a number of benefits in a single meal without having to consume a ton of calories in the process.

Whether you’re enjoying peas as a side dish or snack, or including them in a larger dish such as a chicken pot pie or salad, peas have a number of fabulous health benefits.

If you’re not already eating peas regularly in your diet, the vegetable is well worth a look for inclusion into your next meal!