Egyptian food

Our family is learning about Egypt during the second half of June. We have eaten baba ganoush, kushari, pita bread, kofta kebab, fava beans, falafel, and lots of hummus. We found out from a friend who lived in Egypt that the word "hummus" just means garbanzo beans. So the next time you see black bean "hummus" at a store, go ahead and giggle at the silliness of calling it that.

While the food has been quite tasty, it has been unfriendly to weight loss efforts. I think our higher intake of pureed beans are mostly to blame. Breaking apart the cell walls of beans approximately doubles the insulin response after ingestion, per a 1986 study posted at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/9/3/260. So pureeing the garbanzo beans for hummus is not a good idea for those looking to minimize insulin responses. Also, mashing the fava beans in one's ful medames is going to cause an increase in insulin responses.

I wonder if the frequent consumption of mushy ful medames and hummus with tahini helps explain Egypt's unenviable position as one of the most obese countries in the world. (http://www.egyptindependent.com/study-egypt-tops-obesity-rate-among-adults-world/)

I'm never going to look at a bean burrito the same again after seeing that 1986 study. Sigh. I like refried beans.