Background: Whole pulses have been shown to provide favourable post-prandial glycemic responses and increase satiety. It is unknown whether pulse ingredients retain the health benefits of whole pulses when incorporated in different food matrices and if they provide any benefits before or after exercise. Objective: Study objectives were to examine the effects of extruded pulse snack and cereal products on blood glucose (blood glucose ), insulin and appetite responses before (0-60 min) and after (120-140 min) endurance exercise and food intake 2 hours (240 min) following exercise compared to a non-pulse product. Design: Two acute trials were conducted following a repeated-measures crossover design. In trial 1, adults randomly consumed extruded six snacks (n=25) and in trial 2, adults consumed extruded cereals (n=27). Extruded snacks were made with corn flour (control), whole yellow pea flour, split yellow pea flour, green lentil flour, chickpea flour, and pinto bean flour. Extruded cereals were made with oat flour (control), oat plus pea starch (starch), oat plus protein (protein), and oat plus starch plus protein (starch+protein). Results: Trial 1: Green lentil led to a lower blood glucose response compared with split yellow pea at 150 min, whereas at 165 min and 180 min, green lentil snacks led to lower blood glucose compared to the control. There were no differences between treatments for pre-or post-exercise blood glucose netAUC. There was time (p<0.0001), treatment (p=0.02), and treatment-by-V02 (p<0.0002) effects over the entire session for insulin, but no time-by-treatment interaction (p=0.10). There were no differences between treatments for pre-exercise insulin netAUC. Post-exercise appetite netAUC showed treatment effects for both split yellow and chickpea (p<0.05); split yellow and chickpea showed lower appetite scores compared to whole yellow pea and pinto bean. There was no difference in food intake. Trial 2: Pre-exercise blood glucose netAUC was lower following the starch + protein + fibre and protein + fibre compared to control (p<0.05). However, post-exercise blood glucose netAUC showed no differences among treatments (p=0.33). Appetite pre-exercise netAUC showed differences in treatments (p=0.028); protein + starch and protein showed lower appetite compared to control (p<005). There was no difference in post-exercise netAUC appetite (p=0.21). There were no differences in food intake or insulin.
Conclusion: These studies show the potential for pulse ingredients to impact the glycemic and appetite responses prior to and following exercise, however it is dependent on pulse type.