2024-02-21 06:15:22
Legumes are characterized by their content of vegetable proteins, fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. They are a typical food of the Mediterranean diet and their consumption has been associated with a lower risk of suffering from diseases such as hypertension, obesity or diabetes. However, until now the metabolomic fingerprint of legumes in relation to type 2 diabetes had not been identified.
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Now, a new study has shown for the first time the process by which legumes help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
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The study is the work of scientists from the Human Nutrition Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona, the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) in the same province and the Biomedical Research Center in Physiopathology Network of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), in Spain.
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Omic sciences, as in the case of metabolomics, have allowed us to better understand the biological processes involved in the effects derived from the consumption of some foods on the body, such as coffee, olive oil or meat. However, until now the metabolomic footprint – small molecules resulting from food consumption and metabolic pathways involved – of legumes and its relationship with the risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases had not been identified.
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The research team, in collaboration with scientists from the Harvard University School of Public Health in the United States and the University of Navarra in Spain, studied blood samples from 1,833 older individuals at high cardiovascular risk examined in the PREDIMED clinical trial. From these samples, food consumption was evaluated at the beginning of the study and after a year of follow-up. Using advanced statistical methods of machine learning (a form of artificial intelligence), a molecular pattern of legume consumption was identified. The research showed that those individuals who ate more legumes also had a higher pattern of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, with greater consumption of dairy, vegetables and fruits and a lower intake of meat and cereals. .
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These methods used not only allow us to identify metabolic pathways related to diabetes and metabolic diseases, but also confirm the importance of diet in long-term pathologies and open new avenues of research to develop possible preventive drugs and treatments.
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Members of the research team. (Photo: URV)
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The metabolomic fingerprint in blood was made up of 40 metabolites, among which several classes of lipids stand out, and this was related to a 23% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. These results “show the importance of legume consumption for health and, especially, in the prevention of this disease,” indicates the research team. Furthermore, the metabolites identified in the study “help us better understand the metabolic pathways related to its consumption and its possible involvement in the pathophysiology of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,” they add.
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The study is titled “Plasma metabolite profile of legume consumption and future risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.” And it has been published in the academic journal Cardiovascular Diabetology. (Source: URV)
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