Dieticians and medical scientists in Europe and Australia are researching the health benefits of Canadian sweet lupin, which has a low glycaemic index and could potentially play a role in combating obesity and its associated health problems of diabetes and heart disease. There is supportive scientific evidence that consuming foods enriched with Canadian sweet lupin can provide a feeling of ‘fullness’ that results in people eating less and consuming fewer kilojoules. Other possible health benefits of eating the lupin include a more balanced blood glucose level, a lowering of cholesterol and improved bowel health.

The soluble nature of lupin fibre acts to reduce total cholesterol without affecting the ‘good’ or HDL cholesterol. Research carried out in 2005 found that eating a diet enriched with sweet lupin fibre for one month lowered total blood cholesterol by 4.5 per cent and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol by 5.4 per cent.4 Blood pressure Lupins are one of the best natural sources of the amino acid – arginine, which is thought to improve blood vessel performance. In a recent study, including lupins in the diet of salt loaded rats protected the rats from developing high blood pressure.5 Bowel pH sweet lupin shows potential for improving bowel health. Including kernel fibre of sweet lupin in the diet reduced transit time, and lowered colon pH (anti cancer) in participants of two recent studies.