(P22-047-24) Greater Pulse Consumption in Adults Is Associated With Improved Diet Quality, Favorable Weight-Related Outcomes and Reduced Risk of Elevated Blood Pressure

Objectives: To identify commonly consumed pulse dietary patterns in American adults and assess cardiovascular-related health outcomes and diet quality relative to adults whose typical dietary pattern avoids pulses.

Methods: A secondary analysis using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2018 was completed in younger adults (N=10,323; 25-40 y). Cluster analysis identified dietary patterns of consumption that included pulses, while the USDA food coding system defined daily pulses consumed. Five pulse dietary patterns of consumption were identified, of which four patterns included both canned beans and dried beans, while one pattern had no pulse consumption. Pulse consumption was defined as those consuming kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, and/or pinto beans.

Results: Greater consumption of pulses, concurrent to lower consumption of foods from USDA’s mixed dishes and sweet snacks categories, was associated with significant improvements in cardiovascular-related health outcomes relative to the no pulse dietary pattern. A dietary pattern comprised of 11% of total daily energy (kcal) from pulses was associated with reduced risk for elevated blood pressure (OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.38-0.87; p< 0.009), elevated systolic blood pressure (OR=0.49, 95% CI: 0.28-0.85; p< 0.01), and elevated diastolic blood pressure (OR=0.51, 95% CI: 0.35-0.74; p< 0.0005) relative to the no pulse dietary pattern. Further, adults consuming a pulse dietary pattern had a 50% and 56% reduced risk of an elevated waist circumference and of being obese, respectively (p’s < 0.0001). Subjects consuming a pulse dietary pattern also had significantly reduced body weights (77.8±1.6 vs. 83.1±0.4 kg, p=0.002) and waist circumferences (93.1±1.1 vs. 97.1±0.3 cm, p=0.001) in comparison to subjects avoiding pulses.

Conclusions: Dietary patterns that include pulses were associated with greater diet quality scores and reduced risk for elevated blood pressure in American adults. Further, inclusion of pulses in dietary patterns was associated with favorable weight outcomes relative to eating patterns that avoid pulses.

Funding Sources: Funded by Cannedbeans.org on behalf of Bush's Brothers & Company and the Coalition for the Advancement of Pulses