Randomized controlled trial on the effects of legumes on cardiovascular risk factors in women with abdominal obesity

The effect of legume-based hypocaloric diet on cardiovascular disease (CVD)
risk factors in women is unclear. This study provides an opportunity to find effects of highlegume
diet on CVD risk factors in women who consumed high legumes at baseline.
METHODS: This randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 34 premenopausal women with
central obesity. After 2 weeks of a run-in period on an isocaloric diet, subjects were randomly
assigned into two groups: (1) hypocaloric diet enriched with legumes (HDEL) (n = 17) (two
servings per day) and (2) hypocaloric diet without legumes (HDWL) (n = 17) for 6 weeks. The
following variables were assessed before intervention, 3, and 6 weeks after it: Waist to hip ratio
(WHR), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-sensitive-Creactive
protein (hs-CRP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), nitric oxides (NOx), and
Malondialdehyde (MDA).
RESULTS: Both hypocaloric diets reduced hs-CRP in 3 weeks and returned it to basal values
after 6 weeks (P = 0.004). HDWL significantly reduced WHR [P = 0.010 (3.2%)] and increased
TC [P = 0.000 (6.3%)]. Despite the significant effect of HDEL on increasing TAC in 3 weeks
[P = 0.050 (4%)], the level of TAC remained the same in 6 weeks. None of the diets had any
significant effects on NOx and MDA.
CONCLUSION: The study indicated that beneficial effects of legumes on TC, LDL-C, and hs-CRP
were achieved by three servings per week, and consuming more amounts of these products had
no more advantages.