Researchers who carried out a randomised control study in the United States recently have suggested that participants with pre-diabetes who ate chickpeas over 12 weeks had decreased total cholesterol and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, while those who ate black beans for the three-month period also saw improved markers of inflammation.
Their findings support guidelines advising people to eat fruits and vegetables daily, they said, presenting their study at the annual American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting in Orlando.
“I think something that primary care physicians could take away from our study is that intervening before the onset of disease was effective for this particular group, particularly in the markers that are associated with CVD-like lipids,” Morganne Smith, MS, a doctoral candidate at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and lead study author, told Healio.
In the analysis, the researchers assessed changes in several cardiovascular measures, such as blood sugar, inflammation and total cholesterol, over 12 weeks among 72 participants randomly assigned to one cup of chickpeas, white rice or black beans a day.
Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline, six weeks and 12 weeks, while glucose tolerance tests were conducted at the start and end of the study.
Participants were also in free-living conditions to “increase the study’s relevance to everyday life,”, said the researchers.
Smith and colleagues found that total cholesterol significantly decreased from an average of 200.4 mg/dL at baseline to 185.8 mg/dL at 12 weeks among chickpea consumers.
These changes were driven by reductions in HDL cholesterol, which lowered from 52.3 mg/dL to 46.9 mg/dL, and LDL cholesterol, which lowered from 131.9 mg/dL to 119.3 mg/dL.
Chickpea consumers also saw their average high-sensitivity C-reactive protein decrease at week 6 (3.5 mg/L) vs. baseline (5 mg/L), though this finding varied by week 12 (3.7 mg/L).
Among those eating black beans, the average level of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 dropped from 2.57 pg/mL at baseline to 1.88 pg/mL at week 12.
“The data support the overall dietary guidelines that people should eat fruits and vegetables as part of their daily diet,” Indika Edirisinghe, PhD, a Professor of food science and nutrition at IIT and study co-author, told Healio.
“We all know that inclusion of fruits, vegetables and beans specifically can help significantly to modulate your metabolism. So, this is supporting that hypothesis.”
The trial is part of a larger analysis exploring how beans influence insulin and inflammation response through gut microbiome activity.
“The gut microbiome is very interesting, because we know that these beans have a lot of fibre and some other bioactive compounds,” Edirisinghe said. “The study provides some good evidence to help healthcare providers, the scientific community and consumers include beans as a part of their daily diet.”
Study details
Effects of chronic intake of black beans and chickpeas on metabolic and inflammatory markers in adults with pre-diabetes
Morganne Smith, Sameer Tunio, Amandeep Sandhu, Britt Burton-Freeman, Indika Edirisinghe.
Published in ScienceDirect in May 2025
Objectives
The objective of this research was to assess changes in metabolic and inflammatory markers after 6- and 12-week black bean and chickpea consumption in adults with pre-diabetes.
Methods
In this randomised, 12-week, 3-arm parallel, placebo-controlled design (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04267705), 72 participants (fasting glucose 100-125 mg/dL, 41 ± 16 years, 30.5 ± 11.6 kg/m2; mean ± SD) were randomized to one of three arms: black beans (BB), chickpeas (CP) or white rice (R). Fasting blood samples were collected at Week 0 (Wk0), Week 6 (Wk6) and Week 12 (Wk12) to assess effects of intervention on markers of glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism and inflammation. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA).
Results
Total cholesterol (TC) significantly decreased with 12-week intake of CP compared to baseline (Wk0: 200.4 ± 8.4 mg/dL, Wk12: 185.8 ± 8.4 mg/dL p=0.006). Changes in TC were related to reductions in HDL-Cholesterol (HDL-C) (Wk0: 52.3 ± 2.9 mg/dL, Wk12: 46.9 ± 3.5 mg/dL; p=0.025) and LDL-Cholesterol (LDL-C) (Wk0: 131.9 ± 6.5 mg/dL, Wk12: 119.3 ± 6.9 mg/dL; p=0.006). LDL-C also significantly decreased in the R group at Wk12 compared to baseline (Wk0: 128.5 ± 8.0 mg/dL, Wk12: 118.7 ± 7.3 mg/dL; p=0.040). Triglycerides (TG) significantly increased with CP at Wk6 compared to baseline (Wk0: 80.4 ± 7.5 mg/dL, Wk6: 90.6 ± 8.4 mg/dL; p=0.049), but this result was negated by Wk12 (Wk12: 88.2 ± 11.8 mg/dL; p=0.435). High sensitivity C-reactive protein decreased with CP at Wk6 compared to baseline (Wk0: 5.0 ± 1.8 mg/L, Wk6: 3.5 ± 1.5 mg/L; p=0.016), but this result was also negated by Wk12 (Wk12: 3.7 ± 1.4 mg/L; p=0.409). Consumption of BB reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 after 12 weeks (Wk 0: 2.57 ± 0.4 pg/mL, Wk12: 1.88 ± 0.2 pg/mL; p=0.010). This effect was also observed in comparison to CP (Wk12: 2.11 ± 0.3 pg/mL; p=0.0235) and R (Wk12: 2.79 ± 0.6 pg/mL; p=0.0054). No significant changes were observed in markers of glucose metabolism.
Conclusions
Consumption of either CP or BB improved markers of inflammation in people with pre-diabetes. CP also modulates cholesterol, mostly favoring TC and LDL-C reduction. These results may be useful for providing dietary guidance to address individual needs. Duration of intake should be considered when interpreting results.
Helio article – Daily cup of beans improves heart health in those with prediabetes (Open access)
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