Diet quality improves when people add one cup of Beans and/or Chickpeas daily. Credit Coalition for the Advancement of Pulses

New research shows an association between more excellent beans and pulse consumption, improved shortfall nutrient intakes, and higher diet quality in American adults.

Researchers assessed the effect of increased bean and pulse consumption in the typical US dietary pattern on shortfall nutrient intakes and diet quality outcomes. According to the findings, nutritional patterns rich in beans and pulses are associated with significantly higher diet quality scores and greater intake of shortfall nutrients, including nutrients of public health concern. Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family.  Pulses grow in pods and come in various shapes, sizes, and colours. They include beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils.  The composite included canned and dried kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, and pinto beans for this study. 

Impact on Shortfall Nutrients

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2018, the analyses modelled the addition of one and two servings of beans (as outlined above) in adults. Results show that greater consumption of beans is associated with significant increases in several shortfall nutrients, including dietary fibre, potassium, magnesium, iron, folate, and choline.

Impact on Diet Quality

Additionally, the addition of 1 and 2 servings of beans daily to the typical US dietary pattern significantly increased overall diet quality, as assessed by USDA’s Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015). In fact, HEI-2015 total scores were 15% greater with an additional serving of beans and 19% higher with two servings of beans relative to the typical US dietary pattern.

This evaluation showed that beans substantially increased daily dietary fibre intake in both younger and older adults.  This is critical since fewer than 1 in 10 US adults meet fibre recommendations to maintain optimal digestive health and prevent chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.  Additionally, the majority of US adults fall short of meeting potassium recommendations.  According to the American Heart Association, “Foods with potassium can help control blood pressure by blunting the effects of sodium, and the more potassium you eat, the more sodium you process out of the body.”

“This research clearly shows that eating beans and pulses is good, but eating more is better.,” states study author Yanni Papanikolaou of Nutritional Strategies Inc.  “Beans and pulses are excellent sources of fibre, folate and potassium and excellent sources of plant protein that also provides iron and zinc like other protein foods.”