Hummus is naturally low in calories and lower in fat than alternatives made from richer ingredients. While hummus can successfully take on a main role in a diet for weight loss, it’s important to include a balance of low-calorie foods in your eating plan to drop pounds safely and healthfully. Here are a few tips on how to incorporate hummus into your diet.
Spread
Hummus makes a great substitute for mayonnaise on sandwiches. One favorite is a slice of toasted whole-grain rye bread spread with hummus then piled high with roasted veggies like sliced eggplant, onion, and bell pepper.
Dip
Instead of snacking on potato chips and creamy dip, chop fresh veggies into sticks and eat them with your hummus. You can also use the spread as a meat substitute, since it’s high in protein. Just spread a generous dollop onto a whole-wheat wrap, add lettuce and tomato, roll it up, and pack it for lunch.
Dressing
Hummus can be made into a tasty dressing. Blend hummus with broth, water, or wine until you get your desired drizzling consistency to make a dressing for cold pasta salads.
It’s best to make your own hummus. However, store-bought hummus can be healthy, too. Just make sure to check the nutrition facts and ingredients label on any container of hummus before you purchase it. In order for the spread to help you lose weight, it needs to be low in calories and fat and high in fiber, featuring natural ingredients.
Chickpeas and Hummus
Hummus is a dip or spread that is made from chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) that have been cooked and mashed, then blended with tahini (a paste made from sesame seeds), olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Chickpeas have been cultivated throughout the Middle East and India for thousands of years; some sources say they were growing in the gardens of Babylon. As long ago as about 400 B.C., Socrates and Plato were writing about the benefits of hummus in their diets. By 1200 A.D., many countries in the Mediterranean Basin listed hummus as a staple food. Many regions around the world claim to be the place where hummus originated, but hummus has been around for so long, and in so many variations, that its true origin has been lost in antiquity.
