The larger package size measures out at ~1.25 cups dry per bag, or 2.5 cups prepared. Mixed with a can of beans, this usually works out as 2 meals. Serving size as prepared is 1 cup, so the bag as prepared is also 2.5 servings for purposes of base nutrition reporting. 1 cup is 150 kcal, 7%DV fiber and 4g protein. So at a sitting, half a bag provides 188 kcal, 9%DV fiber, and 5g protein.
Goya's website fails at actually providing any nutrition info for anything in the "nutrition" tab, and the usual nutrition info websites like LiveStrong or FatSecret fail to relate package size to serving size. So, looking at the label of an actual standard 15.5oz can of Goya chickpeas from my pantry: 3.5 servings, at 100 kcal, 15%DV sodium and no mention of potassium, 28%DV fiber, 25%DV iron and 6g protein per serving. A half-can meal's beans are 175 kcal, 49%DV fiber, 44%DV iron and 10.5g protein.
Last month I related analysis from one website on the subject, which stated the omega fatty acids in chickpeas are overwhelmingly omega 6. So at the expense of some protein completeness, I decided to transition to pinto beans as my staple canned bean. A 15.5oz can of La Fe pintos is also labeled as 3.5 servings, with 110 kcal, 15%DV sodium and no potassium listed, 19%DV fiber, 10%DV iron and 6g protein per serving. Again, the half-can stats: 193 kcal, 33%DV fiber, 18%DV iron and 10.5g protein.
Interestingly, the chickpeas claim 2g fat (natural vegetable fat, ergo non-trans) per serving while the pintos claim 0 fat. My understanding is that the fats carry the fatty acids; so just how much omega-3 fatty acid is in pintos, then?
My source for preferring pintos to chickpeas referred to nutritiondata.self.com, but the nutrition info for canned chickpeas there diverges from the Goya label significantly: 286 kcal, 3g fat, 30%DV sodium plus a "hidden" 12%DV potassium, 42%DV fiber, 18%DV iron, 15%DV vitamin C where the Goya can claims 0%, and 12g protein per 1-cup serving. Yes, almost 3x the calories and double the protein. So I'm real curious where Self's source, the USDA Standard Reference SR-21, drew their data from, because their SR-21 canned chickpeas were remarkably more nutrient-dense than Goya. Anyway, other interesting data are the high protein quality score of 107, and an omega-6:3 ratio of 1178mg : 45.6mg, i.e. 25.8 times more omega-6 than omega-3.
Then for pinto beans, the self.com data is 206 kcal, 2g fat, 29%DV sodium and "hidden" 17% potassium, 44%DV fiber, 19%DV iron and 12g protein. Again, double the protein noted from an actual can of pinto beans from my pantry. The protein spectrum quality scores slightly suboptimal, but being a happy omnivore, this doesn't bother me. The fatty acid profile is 401mg omega-3 : 293mg omega-6, i.e 1.37 times as much omega-3.
Keeping in mind the "ratio theory" is as yet unproven, how much is a meaningful amount of omega-3? Does the omega-3 in a can of beans amount to, ahem, a hill of beans, or is it insignificant?
WebMD and credible academic sites are strangely reticent to pin down a specific recommendation in DHA mg/day. Perhaps the most specific and accessible summary info comes from a 2008 ScienceDaily article. This suggests a minimum adult dosage for healthy maintenance of 500mg / day, 1000mg / day for those with known diabetes and/or CV health issues, and as much as 3-4g daily, possibly in combination with statin drugs under a physician's guidance, for those with dangerously high triglyceride levels.
Sometime between September and now, I scaled back from 2x flaxseed oil and 1 fish oil caps to 1 each flaxseed oil and fish oil, probably on my mistaken identification of ALA as readily-bioavailable omega-3. ALA is a precursor to EPA/DHA, and I gather the metabolic pathway output is so inefficient and variable that medical researchers just aren't studying ALA. So, I'm running low on flaxseed oil, I'll just double that up again and when I run out, I'll go to 2x fish oil caps at 300mg DHA/EPA per cap.
Getting back to beans: In summary, chickpeas are not a significant source of omega-3, but there's no credible research to strongly support the "ratio theory", so it probably doesn't hurt that the omega-6:3 ratio is ~26:1.
Given that vegetarian omega-3 sources are actually supplying ALA that converts to EPA/DHA at 50% or less efficiency, and further given that the USDA SR-21 data reflects much higher nutrient values than available product labels report, the nominal 400mg omega-3 in pinto beans might translate, optimistically, to an insufficient 100mg DHA; or realistically it might also translate to some totally insignificant amount of DHA, like 10-25mg.
At 15g protein per whole CAN, neither chickpeas nor pintos supply a meal's share of protein for an average-to-active adult. 2.5 cups of mixed chickpeas and rice is 363 kcal, a whopping 56%DV fiber, respectable 44% DV iron, and 15.5g protein. Substituting pinto beans for chickpeas changes the mix to 382 kcal, 42%DV fiber, 18%DV iron and 15.5g of protein, albeit a less complete spectrum of protein.
So then you top that plate off with a 5-oz can (2 nominal servings) of albacore tuna packed in water... 100 kcal, 16%DV sodium, 22g protein, and somewhere in the ballpark of 1.35g omega-3, almost none in the form of ALA, and mostly the ideal DHA (as opposed to EPA).
Or perhaps the 7.5-oz can of Royal Pink wild salmon, with 315 kcal, 39%DV sodium, 42g protein, 35%DV calcium and a staggering 3.5g of omega-3 - again, almost entirely the preferred DHA form... Maybe you better save half that can for tomorrow, and skip tomorrow's fish oil caps!
Seriously though, gettong back to beans - it's getting to be time to experiment with variety mixes of dry beans, because the last time I mixed up a canned-bean salad, I ended up with too much to eat before it developed an "off" taste. Maybe pintos, great northern, kidneys, chickpeas, black beans, and lentils for flavor.