TORONTO (PasseportSanté.net) February 28, 2008 – There is a good way to avoid overeating: consume a portion of legumes, and more particularly lentils, two hours before a meal.
This conclusion is based on a clinical trial in which Christina Wong and her colleagues at the University of Toronto tested the ability of certain legumes to prolong feelings of fullness and thus better control appetite. The researcher presented her results as part of the Colloquium on legumes1, held recently in Toronto.
Two hours before they were served all-you-can-eat pizza, 15 men were to consume a portion of legumes. Initially, we had taken care to note the quantity of pizzas that each participant could eat, without having consumed legumes beforehand.
The following days, the subjects took turns testing the effect of four varieties of legumes on their appetite: chickpeas, navy beans, yellow peas and green lentils. Every day, we followed the evolution of the blood glucose level every 15 minutes by blood tests, while observing the evolution of the satiety state of the subjects.
Lentils, the best
A natural anti-cholesterol? |
There was a reduction in the amount of pizza consumed by participants after eating legumes, except in the case of chickpeas. All the legumes have nevertheless made it possible to lower the level of blood glucose – or blood sugar – before taking the pizza meal. However, lenses have been found to be more effective in this regard.
Longer term, lentils have also shown an assiduous ability to control subjects’ blood sugar levels, both before and after their pizza meal.
“Eating five servings of pulses per week may be associated with reduced obesity,” said Christina Wong. If these results are confirmed in a larger clinical trial, she says, it will be good news, not only for people looking to lose weight, but also for those with diabetes who are struggling to control their blood sugar.
For more news on legumes, see the index of our Report. |
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. The Legume Symposium was organized on January 31, 2008 by Pulse Canada, the Canadian legume industry. To find out more about this organization: www.pulsecanada.com