In traditional Chinese medicine, there are four types of pulse — floating, sinking, slow, and fast — that practitioners use to evaluate a person’s health.

In our diets (from the East to the West), there are four basic kinds of pulses: dried peas, beans, chickpeas, and lentils.

These pulses are part of the legume family. When they’re added to your diet, they go a long way toward helping stabilize your glucose levels.

Our neighbor to the north, Canada, grows more than half of the world's lentils, so it's not surprising that a new study from the University of Guelph, Ontario, found that replacing rice and potatoes with lentils can help reduce out-of-control glucose levels.

The researchers found that when half of a meal's available carbohydrates (rice and potatoes) were replaced with lentils, the relative glycemic response (what happens to you blood sugar level) to eating the remaining rice and potatoes was "lowered by 20 and 35 percent respectively."

Just think what replacing it all could do.

Unfortunately, only 13 percent of Canadians eat pulses daily, and in the U.S. it's estimated that only 8 percent of people eat them every couple of days.

But if you up your consumption, you'll get great benefits: All pulses are a terrific source of plant protein, plus they help reduce lousy LDL cholesterol.

That's good news for your cardiovascular system, and your pulse.