Photo: 821292 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Eating beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas lowers LDL cholesterol, and for beans the effect keeps growing up to about a cup a day, according to a meta-analysis of 38 randomised trials published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on May 14.
Researchers from the University of Toronto pooled 52 trial comparisons with 2,095 participants. At a median of 130g of pulses a day (half to two-thirds of a cup) for about six weeks, whole pulses lowered LDL cholesterol by 0.14 mmol/L and non-HDL cholesterol by 0.22 mmol/L, with similar results across pulse types.
For beans there was a straight-line dose response: each extra half cup a day was linked to a further 0.25 mmol/L fall in LDL, up to one cup. The certainty of the evidence was rated moderate to high for almost every outcome, according to the paper. The authors note that no pulse yet carries an official cholesterol health claim, even though major guidelines recommend them.
The authors conclude: "Similar effects were observed across pulse types with an inverse dose-response gradient for beans up to 1 cup/d."
A tin of chickpeas in a curry or black beans in a burrito is an easy place to start.
It joins a run of good news for plant protein, including a meta-analysis last month linking a swap from animal to plant protein to 23% lower cardiovascular mortality, and the American College of Cardiology's call for more plant protein.
Beans really are good for your heart.