Cholesterol in chickpeas and inflammation in black beans
Jun 04, 2025
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At the American Nutrition Association (ANS) conference (NUTRITION 2025) in Orlando, Florida, a team led by Professor Britt Burton-Freeman of the University of Illinois at the University of Technology announced the results of a clinical trial conducted for 12 weeks on 72 people with pre-diabetic symptoms that eating a cup of beans every day can improve heart and metabolic health.
The research team pointed out that people in the pre-diabetes stage often show symptoms such as lipid metabolic damage and chronic inflammation, which can all lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. To this end, we tried to investigate the effect of black bean and chickpea intake on inflammation and insulin response. The chickpeas and black beans were chosen because they were rich in dietary fiber, vegetable protein, and physiologically active compounds and were readily available, and canned versions were used for convenience.
The research team randomly assigned 72 adults in the pre-diabetes stage (100-125 mg/㎗ per average fasting blood, 30.5±11.6 kg/㎡) to the black bean group, the chickpea group, and the white rice group, and consumed one cup of black beans (about 170g) and chickpea (about 160g) every day for 12 weeks. During the clinical trial, blood samples were collected and analyzed at the starting point, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks, and glucose tolerance tests were also conducted to track cholesterol, inflammation, and blood sugar.
Tests showed that the chickpea intake group had a significant decrease in total cholesterol from 200.4 mg/㎗ at the start of the study to 185.8 mg/㎗ at 12 weeks. In the black bean intake group, the level of interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory indicator, decreased significantly from 2.57 pg/ml at the start of the study to 1.88 pg/ml at 12 weeks.
However, there were no significant changes in the indicators related to glycemic metabolism, such as fasting blood sugar and insulin resistance in both groups.
The research team said that the inclusion of beans in the daily diet suggests that it can be a simple and inexpensive preventive measure to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
Reporter Kim So-hyung compact@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
