A cup of beans a day may keep the doctor away. In a randomized trial published in the Archives of Internal Medicine of 121 participants diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, daily consumption of approximately one cup of legumes (peas and beans) was found to improve glycemic control and reduce systolic blood pressure and heart rate, thereby reducing partici-pants’ calculated risk score for coro-nary heart disease (CHD).
Body weight, waist circumference and fasting blood glucose and triglycer-ide levels also decreased on the legume diet. Legumes appear to make dietary carbohydrates digest more slowly and with a lower glycemic index, which has been associated with reduced hyperten-sion and fewer CHD events in pre-dia-betic individuals.
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