Meta-analyses of the Effect of Dietary Pulses on Acute Postprandial Metabolic Control

Dietary pulses (beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils), more commonly known as "legumes", are generally recognized as healthy components of the diet. Canada's Food Guide encourages consumptions of meat alternatives, such as beans "more often"; and the dietary guidelines for Americans both recommend consumption of 3 cups of legumes per week. However, there remains insufficient information on the usefulness of these foods in protecting heart health. To improve evidence-based guidance for dietary pulse recommendations, the investigators propose to conduct a systematic review of the effect of dietary pulse consumption on after-meal blood sugar levels, appetite, and food intake regulation to help explain their mechanism for improving longterm blood sugar and body weight control. The systematic review process allows the combining of the results from many small studies in order to arrive at a pooled estimate, similar to a weighted average, of the true effect. The investigators will be able to explore whether eating pulses has different effects between men and women, in different age groups and background disease states, and whether or not the effect of pulses depends on the dose and background diet. The findings of this proposed knowledge synthesis will help improve the health of Canadians through informing recommendations for the general public, as well as those at risk of heart disease and diabetes.