Lentils Significantly Reduce Blood Glucose Levels

Replacing potatoes or rice with pulses can lower your blood glucose levels by more than 20 per cent, according to a first-ever University of Guelph study. Prof. Alison Duncan, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, and Dan Ramdath of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, found that swapping out half of a portion of these starchy side dishes for lentils can significantly improve your body's response to the carbohydrates. Replacing half a serving of rice with lentils caused blood glucose to drop by up to 20 per cent. Replacing potatoes with lentils led to a 35-per-cent drop. "Pulses are extremely nutrient-dense food that have the potential to reduce chronic diseases associated with mismanaged glucose levels," said Duncan, who worked on the study with PhD student Dita Moravek and M.Sc. students Erica Rogers, Sarah Turkstra and Jessica Wilson. Published and specially featured in the Journal of Nutrition, the study involved 24 healthy adults fed four dishes -- white rice only, half white rice and half large green lentils, half white rice and half small green lentils, and half white rice and half split red lentils. Researchers measured glucose levels in the participants' blood before they ate and during two hours afterward. They repeated the process for white potatoes alone and the same combinations of potatoes and lentils. "We mixed the lentils in with the potatoes and rice because people don't typically eat pulses on their own, but rather consume them in combination with other starches as part of a larger meal, so we wanted the results to reflect that." Blood glucose fell by similar amounts when half of the starch was replaced with each of the three types of lentils. (Source: Agriculture and Food News, ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com)