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The Hummus Diet: cause it works mate!

Yes, it sounds crazy, but you can eat hummus and actually get thin. Just don’t eat too much of them pita breads.

A friend of my parents (who’s a medical doctor, by the way) tried the Blood Type Diet a few years back. According to the theory, he was supposed to eat lots of proteins and very little carbohydrates if any. It didn’t go so well with meat so he tried hummus, and soon lost 16 kg (20 pounds).

It should come as no surprise to you if you know a bit about hummus. I already discussed the nutritional virtues of hummus in prior posts so I won’t go into too much details this time, but the fact is that hummus is really good for you. In every aspect.

Not only is it highly nutritional (as long as it’s made from dried chickpeas, not canned ones), but it’s also good for your metal health, and if it’s made properly (ok, recipe) than it should not make you heavy at all – just satiated for a few hours.

There have been times when I ate hummus and than couldn’t eat anything for 7 or 8 hours. That’s not bad for a 300-400 calories meal (a bowl of hummus, one pita, 2 falafel balls, lots of Arab/Israeli salad).

How does it work? Chickpeas, the main ingredient in hummus, contain complex carbohydrates, and has an extremely low glycemic index. In plain English: your body digests it slowly, giving you all the energy you need and keeping the level of suger in your blood balanced. Also, the rich content of tryptophan postpones the feeling of hunger.

I don’t think anybody can survive a diet built upon hummus alone. Anyhow, I’m eating hummus 3-5 times a week for some years now, and I haven’t gained weight. Most people in my family are overweighted, and I myself has a tendency to fatness. In the past I used various diets, but never has my weight been so stable as in these last few years.

26 Comments on The Hummus Diet: cause it works mate!

  1. im pretty sure that 16 kg would equal 35.2 pounds not 20

  2. Sounds cool! But 16 kg is actually 35 pounds. 20 pounds is only 9 kg. =)

  3. I think the point is that he/she lost weight, does it really matter how much??

    • Seriously who cares!! It helps I’ve been losing weight like crazy every time I need to snack i eat hummas and veggie chips and I’m losing weight like crazy ! I eat maybe 10 veggie chips with hummus and I’m not huge for hours!!! I love it!!! !!!!

  4. Hummus Girl // July 18, 2009 at 3:57 am // Reply

    I ate hummus 1-2 times a day for about two weeks and lost just over 10 pounds. I wasn’t trying to loose the weight, I was just busy and didn’t have time to make fancy meals and really liked the way it tasted. My version is really plain…in a magick bullet, combine one can of chickpeas (yes canned), apple cider vinegar about 1/4 of the way up the container, little bit of olive oil and a little bit of sea salt. Add a clove of garlic if you aren’t going to see anybody for 24 hours (that’s how long you’ll smell for). I don’t have it with any bread, I just eat it like icecream on a spoon and love it.

    It’s not for everybody, but it’s quick, easy and makes you feel full and satisfied. When I eat this once or twice a day for 2-3 days I really notice a difference in how flat my stomache is…it gets way flat, almost like it clears bloat or something.

    Good luck and enjoy!

    HG

  5. Katie Hanrahan // September 22, 2009 at 4:06 pm // Reply

    So, I am a freshman in college and my college requires that first year students purchase the meal plan (which gives us free food from the school), but the food offered by the plan has made my health go down the drain. I recently bought a steamer and a mini food processor so that I can make basmati brown rice and hummus in my dorm and (hopefully) lose a few pounds. Unfortunately, I only have canned garbanzos at the moment, but my first experimental batch of hummus came out bland and grainy. Any suggestions?

  6. With canned garbanzos, you can simply use it half of it and mix with olive oil and dried oregano. And half of lemon, too for a fresh taste. It always satisfy me.

  7. Daniel Becker // December 23, 2009 at 7:07 am // Reply

    ive been on a strictly hummus diet for almost a week now..
    i only eat two meals a day this way, one bowl of hummus, i add foul beans or garbanzo beans, olive oil and paprika. on the side i make a salad and i eat everything with only one piece of bread or one pita, the rest with vegetables.
    amazing!

  8. I bought some hummas and the ingredients included tahini, lemon juice, grass roots sunflower oil (this will make the hummas smooth), garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper. This is the order the ingredients are listed so it would be most to least. Easy on the cayenne as it is overpowering. The texture is thick and smooth almost like natural peanut butter. Start with your organic cooked chick peas, then put into your food processor with a squeeze of lemon juice and add oil in small amounts until you get the right texture. The spices can be altered to suit your taste. I promise you it won’t be bland. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

  9. Daniel Becker // October 3, 2010 at 9:52 pm // Reply

    The results of the hummus diet.
    In about 40 days of eating just hummus and vegetables (I’m vegan so it wasn’t that hard), I lost 25 lbs.

    The Hummus diet works!

  10. Kimberly McCasland // January 8, 2011 at 10:12 pm // Reply

    Daniel Becker, could you send your diet to me?? I’d love to try this diet. I work all over the middle east and bring back dried chickpeas each time I come back from Afghanistan. I’ve ground some into flour (saw recipe for super creamy hummus using ground chickpeas) and have about 10 lbs of dried chickpeas from trip 6 weeks ago. I’d love to try your diet. I leave for Yemen in 1 month…so I’d love 4 weeks on your diet. (Amounts of salad/vegetables clarification would really help…and “1 bowl of hummus”, size of bowl or approximate amount would be great. THANKS!

  11. I have been eating hummus 4 nights a week for dinner with homemade pita chips, made from pita and hummus purchased form aladdins eatery in my city and I have lost 37 lbs since nov, thats like 4 months. The weeks I eat other healthy food for dinner I gain 3 lbs, the weeks I go back to the hummus 4 nights a week I lose, I went from 163..11/02/2010 to 126 today 3/30/11 size 14 to a 4 and some 2’s. I have not started working out at all either. I feel so much better when I eat the hummus for dinner, i also eat raw cauliflower instead of snacking on junk food. I eat eggs for breakfast and a small lunch, but for dinner I probably have 300 calories worth of pita chips( i bake in the oven ) and at least 1/2 a cup or more of hummus. I do eat whatever I want friday thru Sunday. I just dont eat as much of my meals on the weekends, I get fuller faster!
    I swear it works to help lose weight!!! I will eat this way for the rest of my life!!

  12. ..I just was introduced to hummus… havent made my own YET.. wondering, does it make you go to the bathroom a lot?! I’m losing weight, but it seems to be clearing things out.. i know it’s tmi but the people here seem they’d know……….. :/

  13. Cherelle, maybe your body is just getting used to chock full of fiber which hummus is full of and thus the “clearing out” process, but I am sure its a good thing because it is also ridding your body of a lot of toxins etc

  14. WOW! You are a fucking idiot, and what’s worse is you are clearly spreading bullshit that hummus helps you lose weight!

    NO! Eating less calories than you burn or burning more calories than you eat makes you lose weight!

    “Dieting” is not the way to lose weight (fat), make a lifestyle change.

    You are all lazy SOBs trying to find a quick shortcut. Guess what, none of you will go far in life!

  15. The eat right for your type book isn’t about loosing weight so much as it is about finding the right diet for each individual. It bothers me that you put it down in such a way & imply that hummus is healthy for everyone. I can’t deny I eat a lot of hummus & absolutely love it but each person is different & different things are healthy for different people. For example I thrive on a high protein diet, steak makes me feel amazing as long as I don’t combine it with to many carbohydrates but I would never tell everyone they should eat more steak because you’ll feel fantastic. When you get to a healthy state your body will tell you what it wants & what it doesn’t like. Diet is an individual thing & you have to find what works for you. This is what the blood type book stresses as well.

  16. LOL at boss. Come on now, calm down ahahaha

  17. I drink, work hard phyicaly and used to eat pizza and fast food ,changed by eating hummus and crackers for snaking while I drank and ate a small dinner wether it was a pizza or a Greek salad, it curbed my apitite , I didn’t want to eat a cow, just eat something lite or just less of it, I never felt like I was starving, even after drinking which I used to clean out the fridge, I was 250lbs and now 218lbs with in 6 months it’s not a quick fix but slowly slows you down hunger wise, if you find a low calorie hummus that you like , a low calorie chip or pita, or use it as a veggie dip, or even a replacement for sandwich spread, I think you can reach your goal, give it a shot , + it’s good for you. Good Luck!!!!!!!

  18. I don’t see why people have to be mean, rude and down right ugly when you respond to someones genuine question and some of the responses given. We all have had our own experiences and some are different than others. DIFFERENT from yours does not make it WRONG. I am a 41 year old female and a mother of an 18 and 8 year old sons and am 5’1″ and weigh 102lbs and am in awesome shape. I think their is SOME truth in every response, however peoples metabolism and lifestyle if different. My point is….. compassion and truthful kind words from YOUR experience and not discounting someone elses.

  19. Boss, way to be an imbecilic troll with nothing constructive to say!

    How is ‘dieting’ any lazier than ‘making a lifestyle change’?

    Did you even consider that eating mostly hummus may be quite healthy, assuming other essential nutrients are not entirely abandoned? Or that it is still possible to partake in a hummus diet while ‘eating less calories than you burn or burning more calories than you eat’? (BTW, that is a redundant statement… not that we should expect any different from an empty-headed blight upon the internet such as yourself)

    Here’s an idea: think for at least 5 seconds before you post childish insults and/or statements without a logical foundation. Better yet, never post again… anywhere.

  20. Cherry Carver // November 25, 2013 at 7:22 am // Reply

    @Katie Hanrahan: Peel your garbanzo beans before processing. They pop right out of the skins. It makes the hummus very smooth. Also, for those of you worried about fat, leave out the olive oil and tahini, and just drizzle a little organic, expeller-pressed sesame oil over the top of your mixture.

  21. recipe for Hummus is: 1 can of chick peas drained 2 cloves of garlic (less if your not into a really strong garlic taste.. or more if you like) a little splash of olive oil, 1/2 lemon squeezed, a splash of water and 1 tbsp. of Tahini oh and add a little dash of salt. (or leave it out if your salt conscious) blend in a blender until smooth. Enjoy

    This is an authentic recipe from the Middle East that my grandfather had always used. The store bought and all of the imitated ways does not compare to this. It really helps with reducing how hungry you feel and you can eat it with whole wheat pita bread if your not into eating white pita bread. ( or you could dip vegetables in it)

    Everybody has a different way that would help them reach there goals. There is no wrong way. I am a 29 year old mother of 4 and my oldest is 12. I have been trying to lose weight since I was 11. I am 5’7 and 260lbs. I am very active, I run marathons, walk every day and I eat healthy but yet I cannot shed my weight. It will go down then right back up. I have been this weight since my twins almost 8 years ago and have not gained since. The doctors tell me I lie about my life style and my family tell me I need to take it easy since they see how hard I work.
    I will never give up on my goal and I will continue to try new things to see if they will help me.

    I hope no one else gives up on there goals. I know this is an old post but if I can run into it so can others.

    Good Luck everyone…….

  22. CherryDavis // June 8, 2017 at 9:07 am // Reply

    I will try this hummus thing! I just began eating it about a year or two ago after being vegetarian and now vegan. I will attempt to use it more often with veggies and in wraps. I do believe this will keep me fuller longer and losing weight!

  23. Sherry cockrill // July 22, 2017 at 7:31 pm // Reply

    I am just now Loing hummus the store bought with Stacy chips. It does seem to keep me fuller. I am also using Thrive. It is also wonderful! SherryLCockrill.Le-Cel.com. Please check it out. I feel better than I have in years and sleep better. It’s all natural vitiamins and supplements.

    • Shooky Galili // July 23, 2017 at 7:03 am // Reply

      Sherry – sorry to disappoint you, but store bought hummus is not healthy, nor does it have the same nutritional values freshly made hummus have. You can either make your hummus yourself from dried chickpeas and raw tahini, or eat it in a restaurant / hummus place that make a fresh batch every day. Store bought hummus is a processed food, usually containing inferior fats and preservatives.

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