The role of pulses in satiety, food intake and body weight management

Abstract

Increasing worldwide rates of overweight and obesity have prompted the need for new prevention and management strategies. Pulses are low-energy and nutrient-dense foods with great potential to increase satiety, which can decrease food intake and facilitate body weight management. Human intervention studies examining effects of acute pulse consumption on satiety and food intake have produced mixed results, although a recent meta-analysis summarized a significant increase in satiety but not food intake. To connect these measures more directly to obesity risk, observational studies have related pulse consumption to lower body weight and obesity risk, while intervention studies have shown significant reductions in body weight following pulse consumption with or without energy restriction. This overall literature deserves more studies to address the multiple variables, particularly pulse variety and form of consumption, all of which will strengthen the promising relationships between pulse consumption, satiety, food intake and body weight management.

Keywords

• Appetite
• Body weight
• Food intake
• Obesity
• Pulses
• Satiety