Research conducted by William & Mary students Tara Kamalakantha ’28 and Catherine Zavela ’26 indicates that increasing the consumption of pulses could significantly lower the risk of cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Their findings suggest that just adding one serving of pulses to the daily diet may result in a 19% reduction in the overall risk of CMD. This research was published in Current Developments in Nutrition, a peer-reviewed journal specializing in nutrition studies.
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Pulses are edible seeds from the legume family, which include dry beans, chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas. Kamalakantha pointed out that pulse consumption in the U.S. is notably low, with adults averaging less than 0.37 ounces per day compared to other countries.
The research was conducted in the Nutritional Epidemiology and Food System Analytics Lab, led by Associate Professor Zach Conrad. Zavela commenced the project several years ago and documented trends in pulse consumption over the last two decades. Kamalakantha later joined the effort, analyzing data from over 46,000 adults obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, focusing on the relationship between pulse intake and health outcomes.
Despite the extensive dataset, Kamalakantha faced challenges in establishing a conceptual framework for their research since literature on pulses and their impact on CMD was scarce. Both researchers initially struggled to find sufficient prior studies that connected pulses with health outcomes.
After their paper's publication in May, Kamalakantha presented her findings at the American Society for Nutrition, securing first place in the Early Career Poster Competition. She credits Conrad’s mentorship and support as essential to her research experience, expressing gratitude for the resources the lab offers.
Kamalakantha remarked on the value of undergraduate research opportunities at William & Mary, highlighting her unexpected path to publication. Currently, she is exploring how pulses relate to environmental sustainability, dietary costs, and social implications, encouraging people to gradually incorporate pulses into their diets without needing to eliminate other foods.