A Comparison of a Pulse-Based Diet and the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Diet in Combination with Exercise and Health Counselling on the Cardio-Metabolic Risk Profile in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

We compared the effects of a low-glycemic index pulse-based diet, containing lentils, beans, split peas, and chickpeas, to the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet on cardio-metabolic measures in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Ninety-five women (18–35 years) enrolled in a 16-week intervention; 30 women in the pulse-based and 31 in the TLC groups completed the study. Women participated in aerobic exercise training (minimum 5 days/week for 45 min/day) and were counselled (monthly) about PCOS and lifestyle modification. Women underwent longitudinal follow-up post-intervention. The pulse-based group had a greater reduction in total area under the curve for insulin response to a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (mean change ± SD: −121.0 ± 229.9 vs. −27.4 ± 110.2 µIU/mL × min; p = 0.05); diastolic blood pressure (−3.6 ± 6.7 vs. −0.2 ± 6.7 mmHg, p = 0.05); triglyceride (−0.2 ± 0.6 vs. 0.0 ± 0.5 mmol/L, p = 0.04); low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (−0.2 ± 0.4 vs. −0.1 ± 0.4 mmol/L, p = 0.05); total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC/HDL-C; −0.4 ± 0.4 vs. 0.1 ± 0.4, p < 0.001); and a greater increase in HDL-C (0.1 ± 0.2 vs. −0.1 ± 0.2 mmol/L, p < 0.01) than the TLC group. Decreased TC/HDL-C (p = 0.02) at six-month and increased HDL-C and decreased TC/HDL-C (p ≤ 0.02) at 12-month post-intervention were maintained in the pulse-based group. A pulse-based diet may be more effective than the TLC diet at improving cardio-metabolic disease risk factors in women with PCOS. Trial registration: CinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01288638.