I was flipping through the latest Chatelaine on my lunch break the other day and came across a “nutrition bite” about how hummus is the “New skinny dip”. Apparently a recent study found that people who eat hummus also tend to “eat more fibre and healthy polyunsaturated fats and less sugar and overall fat than people who didn’t” eat hummus. In addition, the waist sizes of people who ate hummus were “on average two inches smaller than those who avoided the dip.”

Chatelaine’s conclusion? That hummus is “a slam dunk”. My conclusion? That people who eat healthy diets tend to eat healthy diets and be thinner than people who eat unhealthy diets. Hummus is just one food that can be consumed as part of a healthy diet. It’s not a magical weight loss elixir.

If you enjoy hummus (and you should!) then go ahead and continue to enjoy it. However, if you don’t enjoy hummus don’t feel like you’re doomed to a life of obesity and Doritos. There are plenty of other healthy foods that you can consume. And don’t think that you can add hummus to an otherwise unhealthy diet and lose weight. Putting hummus on those Doritos doesn’t make them healthy.