Okay, pulses are great. But how much should I eat?

Nancy Longnecker, Centre for Learning Technology, The University of Western Australia

Varying studies have used different amounts of pulses to achieve the health benefits that have been observed. In this section, some of the findings are summarized in order to give you a guide as to how much to aim for. A rule of thumb might be to try to eat pulses a few times a week. To avoid the dread flatulence associated with beans and other pulses, start with lower amounts and build up to a consistently high level. This gives your gut time to adjust to the increased fibre and other components.

69 - 200 grams of pulses per day reduced blood cholesterol level by 10%

Reductions in blood cholesterol levels of 10% or more were achieved within two to three weeks on test diets containing either canned beans (69 - 150 g/day) or dry pulses (75 - 200 g/ day).1 A reduction of this size can result in a 20% decrease in the risk of coronary heart disease!

It is possible to get small, single-serve 130 g cans of beans, chickpeas, etc. These are great for adding to salads, soups, stews, curries, etc.

A meal containing a 200 gram can of chickpeas resulted in lower blood glucose and insulin levels in the first hours after the meal

After a single meal eaten by healthy people, those eating a chickpea based meal had lower blood glucose and insulin levels than those eating wheat-based meals (either a whole grain plus wheat bran or white bread). 2 Blood glucose was substantially lower at 30 and 60 minutes after the chickpea meal and plasma insulin was lower at 120 minutes.

25 grams of soy protein per day reduces risk of heart disease

In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of a food claim that soy protein reduces the risk of heart disease. The FDA states that to lower high cholesterol, 25 g soy protein should be consumed each day in conjunction with a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Eating pulses four or more times per week reduced risk of heart disease

In a large study of almost 10,000 men and women in the USA, those who ate pulses four or more times a week had a 22% lower risk of coronary heart disease and 11% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those who ate pulses less than once a week.3 It appears that this health benefit was independent of other health habits since adjustments of other important confounders of cardiovascular disease resulted in minimal change in the risk estimates.

It is easy to eat pulses more often once you know how. See our tips for easy incorporation of pulses into your diet.

References

  1. Geil PB, Anderson JW. 1994. Nutrition and health implications of dry beans: a review. J Am Coll Nutr. 13(6): 549- L, Smith BM, Whitis SE. 1990. Dietary fiber and coronary heart disease. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 29: 95- 147.
  2. Nestel, P, Cehun, M and Chronopoulos, A. 2004. Long-term consumption and single meal effects of chickpeas on plasma glucose, insulin and triacylglycerol. Am. J. Clin Nutr. In press.
  3. Bazzano LA, He J, Ogden LG, Loria C, Vupputuri S, Myers L, Whelton PK. 2001. Legume consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in US men and women. Arch Intern Med. 161: 2573- 2578.