Need a healthy dip? Try Hummus!

In between meals it’s nice to have something to munch on. Whether it’s while you’re cooking dinner and your tummy is rumbling, or you get caught at work late and need something to tide you over until you get home. The best thing to do is keep smart snack foods around to help prevent over indulgence on junk food.

One food a lot of patients ask about is dip. Dips add flavor to crunchy snacks like vegetables, crackers, tortilla chips, and pita chips. Most dips you buy at the store or even make at home tend to be loaded with things like mayonnaise and cream cheese. Not that having a little bit of those things is awful, but there are some better choices out there. In addition, those store bought dips and dip packets are loaded with artificial flavors, Monosodium Glutamate, and preservatives. Well no matter which Hauser Diet animal you are, hummus is a great dip for everyone! Hummus is a Mediterranean-based dip that is made with chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, and garlic. Let’s see how you can fit this health food into your Hauser Diet!

Hummus is considered a fat
Even though hummus is made from chickpeas, also knows as garbanzo beans, which are complex carbs, a big chunk of the calories come from fat. This is because the other primary ingredients are olive oil and tahini, a high fat sesame seed paste. Each Hauser Diet is allowed some fat.

•	Lions and Otters are able to have the most fat of all the diets, so it excellent for them to dip veggies or some chicken pieces in.
•	Because Bears can have a little of every kind of food, hummus is a great spread for a sandwich.
•	Monkeys and Giraffes will want to use it sparingly, but as a way to dress up a pita pocket with cucumber and tomato, or any veggie-based food.

The best thing about it is that you can have more hummus for fewer calories than other fats. For example, 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise would be 1 fat equivalent on the Hauser Diet where as 2 tablespoons of hummus would equal 1 fat equivalent. That’s a 6 to 1 ratio! So, as you can see, you can eat a lot more hummus. Who doesn’t love that?!

Hummus is healthy!
The only carbs that hummus does have comes from fiber. In just one serving of hummus, or two tablespoons, you get approximately 15% of the fiber you need for the day. That’s a lot for such a little bit of food…a good thing for Lions and Otter to know since they don’t take in a lot of the foods that are high in fiber. It also gives a good dose of healthy fat from olive oil.

It has many uses!
While the high protein Hauser Diets (Lion and Otter) may want to stick with dipping cut up veggies like carrots, bell peppers, or mushrooms in hummus, the other animals can choose to use it for tortilla chips and crackers in addition to veggies. It’s also a great thing to spread onto a tortilla and make a wrap!

Buy it at the store or even better, make it at home!
There are a few different brands of hummus. My favorite is Cedars because the ingredients are pure and simple. Other brands out there include corn syrup in their hummus. We think it tastes better too. Cedars comes in more than 10 different flavors, so I’m sure you can find at least one that is tempting to you!

On the other hand, hummus is very easy to make at home! That way you can add what ever flavors you’re in the mood for. For a basic hummus you use chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, lots of garlic, salt, and pepper. Throw everything but the olive oil in the food processor. Then drizzle the oil in while you’re processing the mixture. That’s it, you’re ready to eat!