Hummus: Paleo Staple Or Diet Disaster...

   Cledith...

Cindy...

"Most guys will fight to know you. Some guys will deny you're a real person, and some will just ignore you." The zealot. The atheist. The agnostic." 

I have received questions over many seemingly attractive diet items in the past. To Paleo, or not to Paleo, that's is the question. Hummus seems to be at top of the list of many Paleo well wishers, and they are wishing to keep it there.

Hummus is essentially Chickpeas lemons and garlic all mashed together. Um, um good right. Many Middle Eastern dish's contain this rather rich concoction, and the more Paleo-tuned folks tend to question on a regular basis weather or not if Hummus is from the Paleo train, or if it derails the train all together.

Simply looking at the main ingredient-Chickpeas-leaves us with the simplest of answers. No. Hummus/chickpeas are not Paleo. Paleo avoids legumes and Chickpeas are pulses.

But I can hear the riff-raff in the background now, somehow vying for this apparent Middle Eastern delicacy on their plate. "Can I make it more Paleo"?

It pains me to make something "fit" into a system that was just really meant to employ good habits, not religious dogma. First, dispel with the Paleo religion and just apply the beneficial portions without the caveman doctrine.

Hunter gathers didn't have pancakes, microwaves, silverware, stoves or the like, so using any makes you very un-paleo, and condemning those who do from your Paleo throne makes you a"Paleo-Douche". Instead lets call ourselves "Paleo-Posers" until we coin a better term. A Paleo Poser doesn't fret if his ancestors killing dinosaurs ate what he ate, he simply eats the shit that doesn't hurt him, and eats what makes him better at life...meat, nuts, seed, green vegetables, coconut, clarified butter. And again, Pulses, Grains, Legumes are not in the good category. The why, the how, and the maybe not are below.

Quick Lectin Primer:

Again Lectins are proteins present in legumes, grains,nightshades and the like. Along with other very inflammatory items, these little suckers wreak havoc on the gut as we have addressed before. 

The readers digest version is this; if well tasting nutritious, protein and carbohydrate containing items like Legumes had no defenses to endless animal predators, they would have become extinct long ago. Their germ or endosperm is very toxic to all consuming, it is just demonstrated differently, and some creatures who get a taste are just brighter than others. For instance, we are usually not immediately sensitive on the surface in any recognizable way like a much smaller creature, so we tend to neglect the health concerns that develop over the months and years which could be entirely contributed to gut health, molested by Lectin consumption.

Lectins, among others things, not only possess an anti-nutrient effect on every other item you ingest, but they have a magical way of permeation the gut lining, entering the blood stream, and making the body essentially attack itself. Otherwise known as auto-immune, cancer, MS, ALA, Celiacs...get the picture...bad juju.

I'm not on a pulpit, I could give a rats ass if caveman had Donato's Pizza or not. If I could make a large deluxe pie healthy I'd eat that shit every night. And though I have tried making it Paleo, pizza is still out. But others believe chickpeas and like items may be able to be put back in.

Sprouting, Pressure, Selling-out:

As I mentioned in the above I am all to willing to forgo any and every type of caveman declarations in favor of a chocolate cake fest. That is to say as long as that chocolate cake did not wreck my insides, and add mounds to my outsides. But while the cakes on the chopping block, legumes are in the colander waiting for the germ to....you guessed it germinate, or sprout. 

In an advent to make those ever so toxic chickpeas, alfalfa, seeds, or legumes allowable again...not Palao, just non-injurious. Many folks advocate pressure cooking said items, or soaking them until the drastically inflammatory enzymes sprout themselves clean away.

 Sprouting legumes, and or grains for that matter, is said to break down the more complex negative factors of the foods into simple more beneficial ones. Sprouts may have increased digestive capabilities, higher protein, less starch, and a less combative nature as far as gut irritants and intoxicants go. But is less bad ok?

True the Phytic Acid (a well known anti-mineral offender found in grains and legumes everywhere) does diminish, but it does not leave. Other hazardous enzymes may become non-existent within the process, but Lectins as we spoke of above still remain, along with saponins which bear an odd resemblance to Phytates. 

If you will recall just recently form When Helping Becomes Hurting, alcoholics don't just drink less. Addicts stop the bad, or they remain under its control. Taking a bad and making it slightly less bad by letting it sit in a rather humid environment rinsing it several times a day to ensure it doesn't go sour sounds like a lot to do for some "not as bad chickpea lemon dip". The long and short of it is, Most things aren't Paleo perfect and that's ok, as long as they don't jack us up. Legumes most certainly do damage in various degrees to everyone, and pressuring them into submission, or drowning doesn't seem to make them surrender anytime soon.

*Attention PCFers. If you have yet to post your OPEN WOD #1 scores, do so here, and now. As you may know CFHQ did not publish OPEN WOD #2 this week. Next week the game picks back up. However PCF will continue "Fridays Fittest" @ 6pm every Friday until May. This Friday the 25th we will make teams, and work together.

Strength:

Rest

For Time

20-Double Unders

10-Swings 55/70

20-Box Jumps

10-Burpees

3 Rounds

Post time to comments.

Comments

[holly]

11:56 + (overhead Joshys commands):)

[runmelrun]

6:31
OH with 55? wow, impressive Holly! nice work!

[Mo]

8:26+ 24" box

Dang Hollypaige you are strong!
Mitchell you amaze me! I can never catch ur assss lol

Make it a great day! See y'all PCFers tonite :)

[Jen D]

10:09 m + (45 # overhead)

Have fun tonight everyone, sorry I won't be able to make it, but in my absence I made a nice final workout recommendation to end the night with... I think all of you will love it, enjoy... ;)

[Renee]

9:50 Thanks for the push to finish under 10 min Chas!

Way to go Holly....you Bad Ass:)

Mitchell and Mo you girls are amazing athlete's. I'm always trying to keep up with the 2 of you. Some day I'll be able to hang...closer;)

See you all tonight! I hope there's no more DU's (Josh)

[NP]

10:21 70# OH.

Wonder what instigated the hummus post?

[Mindy]

Have a great time tonight all!!!! Home nursing a nasty case of strep throat...don't think I've had this since I was a kid!!

Missin' me some PCF!!

[Franchise]

8:45+
7o lb. overhead
Finally able to do double unders unbroken for 20 reps. Something clicked today in my tiny lil brain.
Probaly no sleep and 12 hrs of poker last night helped. Ya underdig?

[tyler w]

6:42
(75 lb dumbbell)

[Dana]

Missed 105# power clean by SO little. Still pissed off!!

[#10]

9:02++
33" BOX
SWINGS OH.