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Dietary intake of beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas significantly reduced LDL
Dietary consumption of pulses such as beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas significantly reduced LDL cholesterol levels in a recent systematic review and meta-analysis.
Researchers selected 26 randomized clinical trials that compared diets emphasizing pulses with similar diets without pulses to determine the effect of LDL, apolipoprotein B and non-HDL cholesterol levels in 1,037 participants. All studies had a duration of at least 3 weeks and were published through Feb. 5, 2014. The researchers calculated an overall 10-year Framingham risk score for CAD for men and for women in each trial.
The mean age of the participants was 51.1 years, with a median LDL cholesterol level of 3.5 mmol/L and non-HDL cholesterol level of 4.34 mmol/L at baseline. Evaluated studies incorporated beans into the dietary intervention in 14 cases, mixed pulses in eight, peas and chickpeas in two trials each and lentils in one trial, with a median pulse dose of 130 g/day. Eleven trials also included data on gastrointestinal symptoms.
Compared with control diets without pulse intake, diets incorporating a median pulse quantity of 130 g/day significantly lowered LDL cholesterol levels (mean difference, –17 mmol/L) across 25 trials. The researchers noted that inter-study heterogeneity was high (I2=80%), and sensitivity analysis did not indicate that any individual study was influencing overall results. Post-hoc subgroup analysis according to sex indicated that the reduction in LDL cholesterol was more pronounced among men, with a reduced amount of heterogeneity observed (I2=53%.)
Pulse intake did not demonstrate therapeutic effects on HDL cholesterol across 22 trials. Sensitivity analysis indicated that removal of one of six studies favoring the control diet yielded a significant link between HDL cholesterol reduction and dietary pulse intake.
According to the researchers, diets incorporating a high pulse intake may have additional health benefits, and this possibility should be explored in future studies.
“Our findings have implications for CV health,” the researchers wrote. “… Because dietary pulse intake may have beneficial effects on other cardiometabolic risk factors, including body weight, BP and glucose control, future systematic reviews and meta-analyses should evaluate the effects of such dietary interventions on these outcomes and others, to address factors that contribute to residual CVD risk.”
Disclosure: See the full study for a list of relevant financial disclosures.