Dried beans lower cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin while peas lower blood pressure in adults with mild hypercholesterolemia

Pulses (dried beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas) are healthy foods yet are not regularly consumed in the typical North American diet. Recent meta-analyses indicate that pulses are effective for lowering blood cholesterol and blood pressure and for glycemic control. Many of these studies have been conducted with beans and there is a relative absence of studies using dried peas. The objective of this multi-site randomized clinical trial was to compare the effects of consuming foods containing Beans or Peas to Rice (control) on blood cholesterol, glycemia and blood pressure in men and women with mild hypercholesterolemia but not taking any cholesterol-or glucose-lowering medications. Participants (n=180, 20–75 years old) consumed the study foods (a selection of 5 items containing 120 g beans or peas or rice per serving) five times per week for 6 weeks as part of their usual diet; the rest of the diet was self-selected. The study foods were provided frozen and contained either Beans (black, great northern, p...