Aug 05, 2014 06:42 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Eating dietary pulses can increase fullness and may help manage weight, according to a recent study.

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in New Jersey found that eating about one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can increase fullness, which may lead to better weight management and weight loss.

Pulses have a low glycemic index (meaning that they are foods that break down slowly) and can be used to reduce or displace animal protein as well as "bad" fats such as trans fat in a dish or meal.

For the study, researchers reviewed nine clinical trials involving 126 participants. They found that people felt 31 percent fuller after eating on average 160 grams of dietary pulses compared with a control diet.

John Sievenpiper, senior author of the study, said the finding that pulses make people feel fuller was true across various age categories and Body Mass Indexes.

He noted that 90 percent of weight loss interventions fail, resulting in weight regain, which may be due in part to hunger and food cravings. Knowing which foods make people feel fuller longer may help them lose weight and keep it off.

Sievenpiper said that despite their known health benefits, only 13 percent of Canadians eat pulses on any given day and most do not eat a full serving, which is 130 grams or ¾ cup.

Researchers said that although the analysis found pulses had little impact on "second meal food intake," or the amount of food someone eats at his or her next meal, these findings support longer term clinical trials that have shown a weight loss benefit of dietary pulses.

The findings were recently published in the journal Obesity.

Another recently published systematic review and meta-analysis by Sievenpiper's research group found that eating on average one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can also reduce "bad cholesterol" by five percent and therefore lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

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