Health Benefits of beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils

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Eating beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils may help lose weight and keep it off

Eating one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils could contribute to modest weight loss, a new study suggests.

Eating about 3/4 cup (130 grams) each day of these foods known as pulses led to a weight loss of 0.34 kilograms (just over half a pound), in a systematic review and meta-analysis of all available clinical trials on the effects of eating pulses.

The paper, by lead author Dr. Russell de Souza, a researcher with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, was published today in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The research builds on previous work by the hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, that a daily serving of pulses makes people feel fuller than if they ate a control diet, and that eating pulses can significantly reduce "bad cholesterol."

"Despite their known health benefits, only 13 per cent of Canadians eat pulses on any given day and most do not eat the full serving," Dr. de Souza said. "So there is room for most of us to incorporate dietary pulses in our diet and realize potential weight management benefits."

The United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization have designated 2016 as the International Year of Pulses.

The meta-analysis looked at 21 clinical trials involving 940 adult men and women, who lost an average of 0.34 kg (0.75 pounds) over six weeks with the addition of a single serving of pulses to the diet--and without making a particular effort to reduce other foods.

Pulses have a low glycemic index (meaning that they are foods that break down slowly) and can be used to reduce or displace animal protein as well as "bad" fats such as trans-fat in a dish or meal.

Dr. de Souza noted that 90 per cent of weight loss interventions fail, resulting in weight regain, which may be due in part to hunger and food cravings.

"This new study fits well with our previous work, which found that pulses increased the feeling of fullness by 31 per cent, which may indeed result in less food intake." said Dr. de Souza.

Another recently published systematic review and meta-analysis found that eating on average one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can also reduce "bad cholesterol" by five per cent and therefore lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Knowing which foods make people feel fuller longer may help them lose weight and keep it off.

"Though the weight loss was small, our findings suggest that simply including pulses in your diet may help you lose weight, and we think more importantly, prevent you from gaining it back after you lose it," Dr. de Souza said.

Daily serving of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can significantly reduce bad cholesterol

Eating one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can significantly reduce "bad cholesterol" and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease, a new study has found.

However, most people in North America would have to more than double their consumption of these foods known as pulses to reach that target, said the researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.

The study, led by Dr. John Sievenpiper of the hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, was published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Dr. Sievenpiper said that by eating one serving a day of pulses, people could lower their LDL ("bad") cholesterol by five per cent. He said that would translate into a five to six per cent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

One serving of pulses is 130 grams or ¾ cup, yet North Americans on average eat less than half a serving a day. Pulses have a low glycemic index (meaning that they are foods that break down slowly) and tend to reduce or displace animal protein as well as "bad" fats such as trans fat in a dish or meal.

"We have a lot of room in our diets for increasing our pulse intake to derive the cardiovascular benefits," Dr. Sievenpiper said. "Pulses already play a role in many traditional cuisines, including Mediterranean and South Asian. As an added bonus, they're inexpensive. Since many pulses are grown in North America, it's also an opportunity to buy and eat locally and support our farmers."

Dr. Sievenpiper's meta-analysis reviewed 26 randomized controlled trials that included 1,037 people. Men had greater reduction in LDL cholesterol compared with women, perhaps because their diets are poorer and cholesterol levels are higher and benefit more markedly from a healthier diet. Some study participants reported stomach upset such as bloating, gas, diarrhea or constipation but these symptoms subsided over the course of the study.

Eating more beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils can increase fullness and may help manage weight, study finds

Eating about one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can increase fullness, which may lead to better weight management and weight loss, a new study has found.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of all available clinical trials found that people felt 31 per cent fuller after eating on average 160 grams of dietary pulses compared with a control diet, according to senior author Dr. John Sievenpiper of St. Michael’s Hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre.

His group’s findings were published in the August 2014 issue of the journal Obesity.

Dr. Sievenpiper said that despite their known health benefits, only 13 per cent of Canadians eat pulses on any given day and most do not eat a full serving, which is 130 grams or ¾ cup.

Pulses have a low glycemic index (meaning that they are foods that break down slowly) and can be used to reduce or displace animal protein as well as “bad” fats such as trans fat in a dish or meal.

Dr. Sievenpiper noted that 90 per cent of weight loss interventions fail, resulting in weight regain, which may be due in part to hunger and food cravings. Knowing which foods make people feel fuller longer may help them lose weight and keep it off.

He said the finding that pulses make people feel fuller was true across various age categories and Body Mass Indexes.

Although the analysis found pulses had little impact on “second meal food intake,” the amount of food someone eats at his or her next meal, these findings support longer term clinical trials that have shown a weight loss benefit of dietary pulses.

Dr. Sievenpiper said another bonus from eating pulses is that they are Canadian crops.

“That means eating local, being more sustainable and receiving many health benefits,” he said.

Dr. Sievenpiper’s systematic review and meta-analysis included nine clinical trials involving 126 participants out of more than 2,000 papers screened.

This trial was funded by Pulse Canada and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

Another recently published systematic review and meta-analysis by Dr. Sievenpiper’s research group found that eating on average one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can also reduce “bad cholesterol” by five per cent and therefore lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Eating resistant starch may help reduce red meat-related colorectal cancer risk

Consumption of a type of starch that acts like fiber may help reduce colorectal cancer risk associated with a high red meat diet, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"Red meat and resistant starch have opposite effects on the colorectal cancer-promoting miRNAs, the miR-17-92 cluster," said Karen J. Humphreys, PhD, a research associate at the Flinders Center for Innovation in Cancer at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. "This finding supports consumption of resistant starch as a means of reducing the risk associated with a high red meat diet."

"Total meat consumption in the USA, European Union, and the developed world has continued to increase from the 1960s, and in some cases has nearly doubled," added Humphreys.

Unlike most starches, resistant starch escapes digestion in the stomach and small intestine, and passes through to the colon (large bowel) where it has similar properties to fiber, Humphreys explained. Resistant starch is readily fermented by gut microbes to produce beneficial molecules called short-chain fatty acids, such as butyrate, she added.

"Good examples of natural sources of resistant starch include bananas that are still slightly green, cooked and cooled potatoes [such as potato salad], whole grains, beans, chickpeas, and lentils. Scientists have also been working to modify grains such as maize so they contain higher levels of resistant starch," said Humphreys.

After eating 300 g of lean red meat per day for four weeks, study participants had a 30 percent increase in the levels of certain genetic molecules called miR-17-92 in their rectal tissue, and an associated increase in cell proliferation. Consuming 40 g of butyrated resistant starch per day along with red meat for four weeks brought miR-17-92 levels down to baseline levels.

The study involved 23 healthy volunteers, 17 male and six female, ages 50 to 75. Participants either ate the red meat diet or the red meat plus butyrated resistant starch diet for four weeks, and after a four-week washout period switched to the other diet for another four weeks.