Consuming a can of chickpeas a day could be the key to fighting high cholesterol – a leading cause of heart disease and stroke.
An intriguing new study found that those who added this canned product to their daily diet for a three-month period saw their high levels of harmful fat drop to within the normal range.
Researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology also found that another type of canned legume – black beans – had a similar effect on lowering cholesterol.
Speaking about the findings, lead author, Professor Morganne Smith, encouraged those with high cholesterol to replace "less healthy" options with legumes - whether they are canned, dried or frozen.
“There are many ways to incorporate legumes into your regular diet as an affordable way to support overall health and reduce the risk of chronic disease,” she said – GazetaExpress reports.
"You can add them to soups to thicken the base, use them as a topping for salads, or combine them with grains like rice."
Scientists believe that legumes like chickpeas and beans can increase levels of beneficial bacteria in the gut, which help clear harmful cholesterol from the blood.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance necessary for various bodily functions.
There are two types – HDL, the good kind, and LDL, an excess of which is considered unhealthy.
Excess bad cholesterol has long been linked to serious health problems, including heart attacks and strokes.
This is because LDL can form plaques that block arteries, restricting the blood supply to and from the heart.
It is thought that around 6.3 million people in the UK suffer from the condition, which, if left untreated, can lead to type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease.
In the 12-week study, the results of which were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, 72 people with pre-diabetes were analyzed to see how introducing legumes into their daily diet affected their health.
According to the Heart Foundation, diabetics are about twice as likely to have a stroke or develop heart disease.
Studies estimate that about three-quarters of people with diabetes also suffer from high cholesterol.
Participants were randomly assigned to eat one cup of black beans, chickpeas, or rice every day for 12 weeks – which served as the control group.
Blood samples were taken at the start of the study, midway through, and again six weeks later to track cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammation levels.
The researchers also conducted a glucose tolerance test at the beginning and end of the study – measuring the participants' response to sugar.
At the end of the study, those who ate chickpeas every day experienced a significant reduction in cholesterol, from 200.4 mg per deciliter of blood at the beginning of the study, to 185.8 mg at the end.
Total cholesterol levels above 200 mg/dl are considered high, while numbers below this are normal.
Those who ate black beans also had lower levels of inflammation after 12 weeks.
The researchers concluded:
"Our study showed that consuming legumes significantly helps lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation in people with pre-diabetes."
Critically, Prof. Smith advised people who want to introduce legumes into their daily diet to be wary of the additional ingredients commonly found in these products – such as salt or sugar – both of which have been linked to heart disease.
Almost six million people in the UK have diabetes, 90% of whom have type 2, but charities estimate that there are 1.2 million people living with the disease without knowing it. /Express newspaper/
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