Weight loss could be helped by eating pulses

Increasing the amount of pulses in your diet could improve your diet and help you get slimmer, according to new research.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, recommends that you add chickpeas, beans, lentils and peas to your diet, as they not only help you lose weight, but they help you keep the weight off.
The research team analysed 21 clinical trials, which involved 940 people. Their findings showed that people who ate 130g of pulses each day, for six weeks, ended up losing 0.34kg on average. This was even without making other changes to their diet.
Pulses break down slowly in the body thanks to having a low glycemic index, which can result in you feeling fuller for longer. Many diets are a struggle because they leave the person feeling hungry, which can often lead to the initial weight loss being undone.
Pulses are also high in fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals, whilst being very low in fat. They can be used as a good alternative to red meat, and processed meat.
“Though the weight loss was small, our findings suggest that simply including pulses in your diet may help you lose weight, and we think more importantly, prevent you from gaining it back after you lose it,” said Russell de Souza, of St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, who was the lead author of the study.
“This new study fits well with our previous work, which found that pulses increased the feeling of fullness by 31 per cent, which may indeed result in less food intake.”