Pulse Revolution: Enhancing Metabolic Health Through the Power of Processed Chickpeas

April 22, 2026 updated by: Shanon Casperson, USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

Effects of Daily Consumption of Processed Pulse-based Food Products on Physiological Responses Related to Energy Metabolism and Metabolic Health

The purpose of this research is to test how processing can affect how one's body uses the nutrients in that food. For this study the researchers are examining how making different food products out of chickpeas, such as hummus or pasta, changes how one's body uses those foods for energy.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The overall objective is to determine the impact of daily consumption of processed pulse-based food products on metabolic health, specifically the physiological responses related to energy metabolism. The primary hypothesis is that consuming a serving of pulses daily for 12 weeks will improve metabolic responses related to energy metabolism, particularly fat oxidation and molecular adaptations related to fat and glucose metabolism, compared to current Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommendations. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the degree of processing will influence these metabolic adaptations such that the daily consumption of 100% pulse flour food products will result in the greatest effect on fat oxidation and molecular adaptations related to fat and glucose metabolism followed by the pulse purée which will have a greater effect than the whole cooked pulse (100% pulse flour > purée > whole).

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
204

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Dakota
      • Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States, 58203
        • USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • apparently healthy adults
  • BMI >18.5 or <35 kg/m2 (healthy body weight - class I obesity)
  • ability to understand and sign the consent form
  • availability of transportation (i.e., participants must provide their own transportation to the Center)
  • non-smoking or do not use other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes
  • not taking steroid-based medications
  • not planning to or currently attempting to gain or lose weight
  • not allergic to study foods
  • willing to comply with study demands

Exclusion Criteria:

  • usual pulse consumption greater than DGA recommendation
  • inability or unwillingness to consume any of the provided foods
  • more than a 10% change in body weight within the past 2 months
  • actively trying to lose weight
  • pregnancy or actively trying to get pregnant
  • lactation
  • uncontrolled hypertension (systolic >160 mmHg or diastolic >100 mmHg)
  • diagnosed cardiovascular, pulmonary, skeletal and metabolic diseases
  • HbA1c ≥ 5.7%
  • complete blood count (CBC) outside of the normal range for a healthy adult
  • history of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders (including Celiac's or Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, ulcerative colitis, chronic constipation or diarrhea, and lactose intolerance)
  • using medications known to affect appetite, blood lipids, body composition, body weight, or food intake (appetite control drugs, steroids)
  • cannot read or understand English

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Control
Base DGA diet with a standardized non-pulse product snack
Other: Control
Participants will consume the Base DGA diet with a standardized non-pulse product snack.
Experimental: Whole Chickpeas
Adjusted DGA diet with standardized whole chickpea snack
Other: Whole Chickpeas
Participants will consume an adjusted DGA diet with a standardized whole chickpea snack.
Experimental: Puréed Chickpeas
Adjusted DGA diet with standardized puréed chickpea snack
Other: Puréed Chickpeas
Participants will consume an adjusted DGA diet with a standardized puréed chickpea snack.
Experimental: 100% Chickpea Flour Product
Adjusted DGA diet with standardized 100% chickpea flour product snack
Other: 100% Chickpea Flour Product
Participants will consume an adjusted DGA diet with a standardized 100% chickpea flour product snack.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Differences in substrate oxidation in response to eating differentially processed pulse-based food products
Time Frame: 12 weels
Using whole-room calorimetry, measure differences in fat, carbohydrate, and protein oxidation in response to daily consumption of whole chickpeas, pureed chickpeas, or chickpea-flour pasta compared to a control diet.
12 weels
Change from Baseline in substrate oxidation after consuming differentially processed pulse-based food products for 12 weeks
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Measure changes in fat, carbohydrate, and protein oxidation in response to consuming whole chickpeas, pureed chickpeas, or chickpea-flour pasta using whole room calorimetry
12 weeks
Determine participant consumption practices and attitudes towards pulse consumption using a validated questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline
The questionnaire is designed to assess enjoyment (two items), sensory properties (eight items), perceived cooking abilities (ten items), perceived practical aspects (six items), perceived healthiness (two items), upbringing (two items), social influences (four items), and quality issues (six items) of pulse consumption.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in the colonic microbiota in response to consuming differentially processed pulse-based food products
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Fecal samples will be collected at Baseline and then again at weeks 4, 8, and 12 to identify how the predominant colon bacteria phyla are effected by consuming whole chickpeas, pureed chickpeas, or chickpea-flour pasta for 12 weeks.
12 weeks
Changes in me metabolic gene expression and metabolites in response to consuming differentially processed pulse-based food products.
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Blood samples will be collected before and after consuming whole chickpeas, pureed chickpeas, or chickpeas-flour pasta for 12 weeks to identify how consuming these foods effect the expression genes involved with fat metabolism. This will be accomplished by combining the different snapshots provided from pre/post intervention metabolomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analysis.
12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Shanon Casperson, USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 2, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 22, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • GFHNRC514

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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