Macro partitioning
Consuming dietary pulses (beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas) at a median dose of 130 g/d significantly reduces LDL cholesterol levels compared to isocaloric control diets.
To lower your LDL cholesterol, try adding about 1 serving (130g) of cooked beans, lentils, chickpeas, or peas to your daily diet. Replace other carbs or proteins with these pulses to keep your calories the same. You might feel some bloating at first, but it usually gets better. This simple change can lead to a modest but meaningful drop in bad cholesterol.
Diets emphasizing dietary pulse intake at a median dose of 130 g/d (about 1 serving daily) significantly lowered LDL cholesterol levels compared with the control diets (mean difference −0.17 mmol/L, 95% confidence interval −0.25 to −0.09 mmol/L).
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of 26 RCTs with moderate methodologic quality and high heterogeneity, but robust pooled estimate.
Source
Effect of dietary pulse intake on established therapeutic lipid targets for cardiovascular risk reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Vanessa Ha et al. · Canadian Medical Association Journal · 2014
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