Falafel "side effects" - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Tara D · 07-02-2007, 11:05 PM

Ok, I ate some falafel yesterday...well, a little more than some! I had 10 falafel patties over the course of lunch and dinner. I've only eaten falafel a few other times, and in smaller quantities in the past. A few hours after eating them, I was SUPER bloated! Anyone else have this happen with falafel??!!

zenor77 · 07-02-2007, 11:43 PM

Were they made from a mix? Those mixes have quite a bit of sodium in them.

kaplods · 07-03-2007, 12:33 AM

falafel is made from chickpeas, so 10 patties could easily be the equivalent of a can or more of baked beans. The fiber, and essential "beaniness" can cause some gastric disturbances.

Tara D · 07-03-2007, 07:24 AM

Yes, it was definitely bloating of the gastrointestinal type.

HocusPocus · 07-03-2007, 08:18 AM

Oh geez, that's a lot of fiber! Hope you feel better soon!

clairec · 07-03-2007, 08:28 AM

yeah, they do fill you up. I can't eat that many :/

Glory87 · 07-03-2007, 12:16 PM

I've had it happen with homemade chickpea hummus - you have to use the power of beans wisely

Spinymouse · 07-03-2007, 11:21 PM

Yeah - I once had something like a hybrid between dal and soup - chickpea based and very dense - and although it was just a medium sized bowl of it, afterward I felt like I never wanted to eat again for the rest of my life, and that feeling lasted at least a day!
Maybe we have a "diet" trick discovered here (?!)

Tara D · 07-04-2007, 07:03 AM

Thanks, everyone. It took about a day to recover...

I had eaten some falafel (a smaller amount) during a trip to New York a few weeks ago, and I can't recall any issues. Soooo...after having that falafel, I had a craving to eat it again on Sunday, and I got it from a Lebanese restaurant nearby. From the looks of it, they proabably used both fava beans and chickpeas, so definitely lots of fiber. At least my craving is gone! Don't know when I'll have the courage to eat them again!

charolastra00 · 07-04-2007, 10:37 PM

I make them at home so I can bake them rather than have them fried like at most restaurants. I have to be VERY careful and eat them on HUGE beds of lettuce or else I could just go at it. :P I normally have 2 or 3 small patties-which for me are chickpeas that are roughly mashed, so some is puree and some whole chickpeas are in there, pureed onion and green onions, a few cloves of garlic, and some seasoning- to go with 2 handfuls of spinach or wild greens. But they're OH so good!