Current:Home > NewsWant to lower your cholesterol? Adding lentils to your diet could help. -ZenithCapital
Want to lower your cholesterol? Adding lentils to your diet could help.
View
Date:2025-04-17 20:50:20
A cup of lentils a day keeps the doctor away?
Eating lentils every day could be the key to lowering your cholesterol without causing stress on your gastrointestinal tract, according to a study published earlier this year in the journal Nutrients.
Researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial involving 38 adults who all had an "increased" waist circumference, defined by more than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women. For 12 weeks, participants either ate lunches that featured 980 grams per week (a little less than a cup a day) of cooked lentils, or lunches that had no lentils.
Those who ate lentils every day ended up having lower levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also known as LDL or "bad" cholesterol, because it can raise your risk of stroke and heart disease. Regardless of whether or not they ate lentils, all participants reported either no GI symptoms or only mild ones.
These findings, researchers said, further proved that eating pulses — a subsection of legumes that includes lentils, beans and peas — was a helpful strategy to lower the risk of disease, or even reverse disease progression.
How else can an increased lentil intake boost your health? Here's what nutrition experts want you to know.
Are lentils good for you?
Lentils are a type of legume high in fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
"They’re also one of the higher protein legumes, which makes them particularly filling and satiating," registered dietitian Miranda Galati tells USA TODAY. "What I love most about lentils is that you’re getting major bang for your buck nutritionally, because they’re low cost but still so nutritious and filling."
Past research has also shown lentil intake to be helpful for managing diabetes and preventing breast cancer and digestive diseases, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
How to lower your cholesterol:What to know so you can avoid cardiovascular disease
Can you overeat lentils?
For most people, it's generally fine to eat legumes — including lentils — every day. In fact, consuming them can not only prevent the aforementioned health ailments, a 2014 study published in Nature showed that they can actually help to treat those diseases in people who already have them.
"Lentils have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in the body, so they’re a great food to eat regularly," Galati says.
Some creators on social media are "spreading fear about lectins and anti-nutrients in legumes, but the benefits far outweigh those exaggerated risks," she adds. Lectins are a type of protein that binds to carbohydrates and resist being broken down in the gut, which can lead to digestion issues including stomach pain, bloating, gas and diarrhea, per Harvard.
The good news: cooking legumes inactivates most lectins, Harvard notes. There isn't actually much research on the long-term health effects of active lectins on the human body, and most of the research that does exist is done on people in countries where malnutrition is common, which casts doubt on the idea that lectins in legumes are actually what's causing larger health issues.
What are the healthiest beans to eat?Boost your daily protein and fiber with these kinds.
"If you’re eating cooked — not raw — beans, and your digestion can handle them, there’s very little risk to consuming them daily," Galati says.
veryGood! (97)
Related
- 'Stranger Things' prequel 'The First Shadow' is headed to Broadway
- Justice Department issues new report aimed at improving police hiring nationwide
- Justice Department issues new report aimed at improving police hiring nationwide
- French soccer club Nice suspends Youcef Atal for sharing an antisemitic message on social media
- Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
- A rare book by Karl Marx is found in CVS bag. Could its value reach six figures?
- 4,000-year-old rock with mysterious markings becomes a treasure map for archaeologists
- Texas installing concertina wire along New Mexico border
- Man charged with murder in death of beloved Detroit-area neurosurgeon
- Pulse nightclub property to be purchased by city of Orlando and turned into a memorial
Ranking
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- From hospital, to shelter, to deadly inferno: Fleeing Palestinians lose another sanctuary in Gaza
- Former US officials ask Pakistan not to deport Afghans seeking relocation to the United States
- The Masked Singer: You Won't Believe the Sports Legend Revealed as the Royal Hen
- FBI: California woman brought sword, whip and other weapons into Capitol during Jan. 6 riot
- Neymar’s next chapter is off to a difficult start as Ronaldo and Messi continue to lead the way
- US says initial independent review shows no evidence of bomb strike on Gaza hospital
- Another Republican enters North Carolina’s campaign for governor, preparing to spend millions
Recommendation
'Meet me at the gate': Watch as widow scatters husband's ashes, BASE jumps into canyon
Mike Pompeo thinks Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin would be a really good president
Warrant: Drug task force suspected couple of selling meth before raid that left 5 officers injured
Havana’s once stately homes crumble as their residents live in fear of an imminent collapse
RFK Jr. closer to getting on New Jersey ballot after judge rules he didn’t violate ‘sore loser’ law
Netflix drops new cast photos for live action 'The Last Airbender' with Daniel Dae Kim
Burt Young, Oscar-nominated actor who played Paulie in ‘Rocky’ films, dies at 83
Three children died in a New Orleans house fire in a suspected triple homicide, police say