Beans, Lentils Or Chickpeas Can Lead To Weight Loss

If you want to know what makes you thin, then you can just try adding a new serving of pulses to your day. Take a mix of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils, and you've won some of the battle against the bulge.

While earlier studies showed that pulses can bring down "bad cholesterol," some new research from St. Michael's Hospital says that it can also help dieters to lose weight.

The new study undertook 21 clinical trials with 940 participants. It showed that just 130 grams of pulses a day can pave the way for a loss of 0.34 (0.75) kilograms.

"Findings from 21 trials were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled analysis showed an overall significant weight reduction of -0.34 kg in diets containing dietary pulses compared with diets without a dietary pulse intervention over a median duration of 6 weeks," researchers wrote in the study.

"Significant weight loss was observed in matched negative-energy-balance (weight loss) diets and in neutral-energy-balance (weight-maintaining) diets (P = 0.03), and there was low evidence of between-study heterogeneity. Findings from 6 included trials also suggested that dietary pulse consumption may reduce body fat percentage," they added.

While pulses have been known to have low glycemic index and can be a heart-healthy replacement to animal fats or trans-fats, the new study shows that beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can boost cardiovascular health when it reduces "'bad cholesterol" by 5 percent. It can also help to keep people fuller for a longer period.

"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 researcher Dr. Russell de Souza of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital.

"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," added de Souza.

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

The findings are published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.