You're living in the Year of Pulses , according to the United Nations, but would you know it if we didn't tell you? Do you even know what a pulse is?

We asked 10 people in our office if they knew about pulses (the kind you eat), and no one had ever heard of them. "Sounds like we're cannibals," they agreed.

Well, apparently we're not the only people unaware, because the United Nations declared 2016 to be the "International Year of Pulses" to "raise awareness about the protein power and health benefits " of the food group, something that has been "an essential part of the human diet for centuries, yet their nutritional value is not generally recognized and is frequently under-appreciated," Jos Graziano da Silva, director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, said in a statement .