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

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: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Control; Other: Whole Chickpeas; Other: Puréed Chickpeas; Other: 100% Chickpea Flour Product

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: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 204
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Shanon Casperson, PhD; Phone Number: 701-795-8497; Email: shanon.casperson@usda.gov

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Dakota
    • Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States, 58203
      • USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
      • Contact: Angela Scheett; Phone Number: 701-795-8386; Email: angela.scheett@usda.gov

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• 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

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
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

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Differences in substrate oxidation in response to eating differentially processed pulse-based food products	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	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	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

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in the colonic microbiota in response to consuming differentially processed pulse-based food products	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.	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

• Sponsor: USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shanon Casperson, USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center Current Nutrition Studies

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 19, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 2, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): January 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 22, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID 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