First, let's take a look at the macros. Each of these are listed in grams and as usual, normalized to 200 calories for easy comparison, so we're always comparing apples to apples.
| Black beans | Lentils |
| Nutrient | black beans | lentils |
| Protein | 13g | 16g |
| Carbohydrate | 36g | 34g |
| Fiber | 13g | 14g |
| Fat | 1g | 1g |
| Monounsat. Fat | 0g | 1g |
| Polyunsat. Fat | 0g | 0g |
| Saturated Fat | 0g | 0g |
Next, let's take a look at the Vitamin density. These values are shown in units of percent of recommended daily intake. And since we're showing 200 calories worth, this means anything above 10% is good.
| Nutrient | black beans | lentils |
| Choline | 0% | 14% |
| Vitamin A | 0% | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 0% | 4% |
| Vitamin E | 0% | 2% |
| Vitamin K | 0% | 4% |
Black beans are a good source of Thiamin, Magnesium, Phosphorus. Black beans are a great source of Iron. Lentils are a good source of Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Zinc. Lentils are a great source of Phosphorus, Iron.
And here we see the B-vitamins: B1 (Thiamin), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5 (Pantothenic Acid), B6 (Pyridoxine)
| Nutrient | black beans | lentils |
| Vitamin B1 | 37% | 30% |
| Vitamin B2 | 8% | 12% |
| Vitamin B3 | 6% | 16% |
| Vitamin B5 | 7% | 22% |
| Vitamin B6 | 10% | 28% |
| Vitamin B12 | 0% | 0% |
Now, lets look at mineral density. Here we have a lot of important electrolytes and minerals. Once again, units are in percent of RDI, thus for this 200 calorie serving anything above 10% would considered high.
| Nutrient | black beans | lentils |
| Sodium | 0% | 28% |
| Potasium | 15% | 18% |
| Calcium | 8% | 7% |
| Magnesium | 30% | 18% |
| Phosphorus | 37% | 54% |
| Iron | 53% | 97% |
| Manganese | 29% | 38% |
| Selenium | 4% | 11% |
| Copper | 32% | 44% |
| Zinc | 18% | 24% |