Common Bean Baked Snack Consumption Reduces Apolipoprotein B-100 Levels: A Randomized Crossover Trial

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Food Science
• Cardiovascular Health

Background:

• Pulse consumption is encouraged for health benefits.
• Snack alternatives using common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were developed.
• The need exists to evaluate novel pulse-based snacks for their health impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the chemical composition and sensory acceptance of common bean baked snacks (CBBS).
• To investigate the effect of CBBS consumption on blood lipid profiles in overweight individuals.
• To determine if CBBS consumption impacts cardiovascular health markers.

Main Methods:

• Sensory evaluation by 80 untrained judges using a hedonic scale.
• A 4-week randomized crossover trial with 20 overweight participants.
• Quantification of blood lipids (triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL-c, HDL-c, ApoB-100), glucose, and insulin levels.

Main Results:

• CBBS demonstrated overall acceptance comparable to popcorn.
• Consumption of CBBS led to a significant reduction in apolipoprotein B-100 levels (p = 0.008).
• Increased dietary fiber intake during the CBBS period was linked to ApoB-100 reduction (p = 0.04).

Conclusions:

• CBBS are sensorially accepted and can be incorporated into the diet.
• CBBS consumption positively impacts apolipoprotein B-100 levels, potentially benefiting cardiovascular health.
• CBBS can be consumed without negatively affecting other blood lipid or glucose parameters.