Hummus From Us
Hummus Do You Know About Chick Peas?
Hummus is much more than a tasty way to eat chickpeas. Chickpeas provide protein, fiber, folate, minerals and carbohydrates such as raffinose that our own digestive enzymes cannot completely break down. Instead, when these carbohydrates continue into the large intestine, members of our intestinal microbiome can ferment them. In this way, a single food can provide nutrients directly to us while also providing food for the enormous microbial community living within us.
One of the reasons we decided to make this recipe and video was because of the results we have been seeing from eating hummus regularly. Weight loss has been one of them. Of course, hummus is not the whole reason we have been losing weight, but we believe it has definitely helped. We have also noticed how satisfied we feel after eating it—not stuffed or bloated, but as though our bodies are simply satisfied with less food.
We also wanted to make our hummus from the beginning rather than start with canned chickpeas, as many of the recipes we found online did. Starting with dry chickpeas allows us to control the ingredients from beginning to end, while also making a nutritious food remarkably economical to prepare.
Recipes for hummus come from many different cultures, especially those of the Middle East. Versions of chickpea-based dishes go back centuries, while hummus resembling what we eat today developed more recently. Tahini became an important part of these preparations during the medieval period.
Enjoy this delicious, healthy, multicultural everyday food.
‘Hummus From Us’ Recipe
1 lb chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 tsp baking soda
8 oz tahini
4 oz extra-virgin olive oil
2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz Key lime juice
1 cup water
1 garlic bulb, cloves smashed, peeled, and chopped
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
Drop 1 lb of chickpeas into 6 quarts of water. Add the baking soda. Let them soak overnight, or begin cooking them right away. Cook until tender.
Once tender, pour off the cooking water. We recommend saving some of it rather than throwing it away. Raffinose and other soluble compounds from the chickpeas can move into this water during soaking and cooking.
Pour the chickpeas into a food processor and add all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth, adding the reserved cooking water as needed to reach the consistency you prefer. Garnish as desired.
Hummus Science ?
Our Hummus From Us recipe combines chickpeas with tahini, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, lemon and lime juice, cumin, paprika, and salt. Together they provide a remarkably broad mixture of plant proteins, fiber, unsaturated fats, phospholipids, folate and other vitamins, and minerals.
We even save some of the water in which the chickpeas were cooked. Raffinose and other soluble compounds can move from the chickpeas into the cooking water, giving our intestinal microbes additional material to ferment.
Folate provides a good example of how the nutrients in something as simple as a chickpea become part of maintaining our bodies. Our cells need folate to make DNA. That becomes especially important in tissues where cells are constantly being produced. Bone marrow, for example, is continually making new red blood cells. Without enough folate, those developing cells cannot divide normally. Fewer functional red blood cells may be produced, and the abnormal cells that develop can be unusually large and fragile.
This matters because red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body. Impaired tissue oxygenation, or hypoxia, is involved in or associated with a remarkably broad range of diseases and pathological processes, including cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, cancer, ischemic injury, and inflammation.
We have also noticed something interesting from eating beans regularly: the gas they once produced has greatly diminished. The intestinal microbiome can adapt to foods repeatedly supplied to it, which is one reason we think of hummus not simply as food for ourselves, but as food for the ecosystem living within us.
Hummus More Reading Do You Want Me To Do?
Balancing Oxygen, Blood Sugar, and the Immune System
The folate found in chickpeas helps our cells make DNA and continually produce new cells, including red blood cells. Follow that connection further to see how nutrition, oxygen delivery, blood sugar, cellular energy, and immune function work together to maintain balance throughout the body.
→ Metabolic Balance: Oxygen, Blood Sugar & Immunity
The Birth of Living Cells
Life began when nature learned to capture energy and contain it. Explore how electron transfer and membranes made cells—and ultimately all living things—possible.
→ The Origins of Life: Electron Transfer & Membranes
Nutrients Of The Estuary
What we use and where to find it. A straightforward list of foods and nutrients that support membranes, movement, and the balanced conditions the body is built to maintain.
→ Natural Sources: Natural Nutrients
Cellular Aging & Phospholipids
Cell membranes are constantly repaired, replaced, and rebuilt throughout life. Explore how phospholipids support membrane structure, signaling, renewal, and the body’s ability to maintain healthy tissues.
→ Reverse Aging: Cell Renewal