Your risk for heart disease increases if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, an unhealthy diet, or obesity. Chickpeas have you covered. A 2006 study in Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism found that eating chickpeas for 5 weeks reduced people’s total cholesterol levels by 3.9% and LDL cholesterol by 4.6%. You only need to eat 5 cups of chickpeas a week to reduce your blood pressure, waist circumference, and HbA1c, according to a 2012 study in the British Journal of Nutrition.
If you’re already eating chickpeas, you’re probably eating relatively healthy. A 2014 study in the Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences looked at the diets of more than 200 people who incorporated chickpeas or hummus into their diets. They tended to have a higher diet quality overall, with less saturated fat and more fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They also had a lower body mass index (BMI) and were less likely to have high blood sugar.