This bean cuts LDL Cholesterol 12.6 points

Adding two types of beans to your diet can make a huge difference in just 12 weeks.

This is according to a new research presented at NUTRITION 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.

Known for fiber and plant-based protein, beans’ specific effects on cholesterol and inflammation hadn’t been fully studied until now.

Researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology recruited 72 adults with pre-diabetes (fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dL).

The participants, averaging 41 years old and with a BMI of 30.5, were divided into three diet groups.

Each group ate one cup a day of either chickpeas, black beans, or white rice (used as a control) for 12 weeks.

Blood samples were taken at the beginning, at six weeks, and at the end.

Glucose tolerance tests were also run to check how well participants’ bodies processed sugar.

Here’s what they found:

1. Chickpeas lowered total cholesterol from 200.4 to 185.8 mg/dL.

2. LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) dropped from 131.9 to 119.3 mg/dL in the chickpea group.

3. Black beans reduced interleukin-6, a major inflammation marker linked to heart disease and diabetes, from 2.57 to 1.88 pg/mL.

4. At six weeks, the chickpea group also had lower C-reactive protein levels (another inflammation marker), though this didn’t hold through week 12.

5. Despite involving pre-diabetics, no significant improvements in blood sugar or insulin levels were seen in either legume group.

Bottom line:

Chickpeas help lower cholesterol.

Black beans calm inflammation.

Both are wins for your heart health.

Beans are good, here’s something better…