Hummus: Health benefits and tasty homemade recipe

Saturday, December 22, 2012 by: Eric L. Zielinski
Tags: Hummus, recipes, chickpeas

(NaturalNews) Even though the chickpea has been cultivated for more than 7,000 years and variations of hummus have been made for much of that time, the health benefits are oftentimes overlooked. With ingredients including freshly squeezed lemon juice, fresh garlic, tahini, and chickpeas, hummus contains several vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for a healthy diet.

The importance of chickpeas

The main ingredient in hummus is the garbanzo bean, also known as the chickpea. Like most legumes, they have been heralded for their fiber content which has been linked to normalized blood lipid regulation. A recent study has also shown that we can obtain health benefits from garbanzo beans that are consumed at much smaller amounts over a shorter period of time. In this study, it took only one week of garbanzo bean consumption to improve participants' control of blood sugar and insulin secretion. Equally important, only one-third of a cup of the beans per day was needed to provide these related health benefits.

Between 65-75 percent of the fiber found in garbanzo beans is insoluble fiber, and recent studies have shown that garbanzo bean fiber can be metabolized by bacteria in the colon to produce relatively large amounts of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic, propionic, and butyric acid. These SCFAs provide fuel to the cells that line the intestinal wall. By supporting the energy needs of intestinal cells, the SCFAs made from garbanzo fibers can help lower risk of colon problems, including your risk of colon cancer.

The nutrients in one cup of cooked chickpeas are as follows: molybdenum (164 percent of daily value); manganese (86 percent); folate (71 percent); fiber (50 percent); tryptophan (44 percent); protein (29 percent); copper (29 percent); phosphorus (28 percent); iron (26 percent).

Momma Z's hummus recipe

Prep time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 15 Minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 (19 ounce) can of garbanzo beans, drained
3 tablespoons of tahini (sesame-seed paste)
3 tablespoons of lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
1 tablespoon of honey
2 tablespoons of purified water, or as needed
1/4 cup of Spanish olive oil, divided
1 tsp. of Herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon of chopped, fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried

Directions:

1. Combine into food processor or blender: garlic, sea salt, garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, honey, purified water and two tablespoons of oil. Process until smooth. Spoon into a 16 ounce container.
2. Put herbs on top and drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil over the top.
3. Freezes or refrigerates well.

Sources for this article include:

http://hummus.jp/history_en.html
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4407/2
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=58

About the author:
Eric L. Zielinski, DC (c), MPH (c) has devoted his life to natural health and wellness for over a decade. Inspired by the timeless principles in the Bible, Eric's mission is to seek out ways to provide people with simple, evidenced-based tools that they need to achieve the Abundant Life. Formally trained as a chiropractor, Eric's primary approach is to serve his patients and clients through natural health care, nutrition counseling, spiritual mentorship, and empowering life strategies!

Eric is available for long distance consultations and wellness coaching to help YOU reach your health goals. For more information click here or visit his website www.DrEricZ.com.