Meta-analyses of Dietary Pulses and Cardiometabolic Risk

Dietary pulses, 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 still remain insufficient information on the usefulness of these foods in protecting heart health. To improve evidence-based guidance for non-oil-seed pulse recommendations, the investigators propose to conduct a systematic review of clinical studies to assess the effect of eating pulses in exchange for other foods on measures of heart disease risk and blood sugar control in humans. 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, in people with high or normal sugar or blood fat levels, and whether or not the effect of pulses depends on how much/often they are eaten. 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.