Chickpea

Why chickpea is rated high

Chickpeas are rated high FODMAP overall, with GOS and fructans as the subgroups behind it, and that overall rating is an estimate from what the pulse is made of rather than a figure measured at a weighed serving. The ladder for chickpeas is qualitative and it does climb across three rungs: a Small serving reads LOW, a Moderate serving reads MODERATE, and a Large serving reads HIGH. So the useful detail is that the turn happens early. A scoop that feels like a normal helping of beans is already past the bottom rung, and a dish where chickpeas are the main event rather than a garnish sits at the top of the ladder.

What changes your risk

• Where the serving sits on the ladder This is the whole story for chickpeas. A Small serving reads LOW, a Moderate serving reads MODERATE, and a Large serving reads HIGH, so the difference between a scattering over a salad and a bowl of chickpea stew is the difference between the bottom and the top rung.
• Draining and rinsing the can GOS is water-soluble and leaches into the liquid the beans sit in, so canned chickpeas tipped into a sieve and rinsed under cold running water until the foam is gone run lower than the same chickpeas boiled from dried with their cooking water kept in the dish.
• Cooking water versus cooking Heat does not break these carbohydrates down. Simmering in plenty of water and pouring it away carries some of them off, while roasting chickpeas into crisp snacks removes nothing, because nothing leaves the pea. Roasted chickpeas are also very easy to eat past a Small serving without noticing.
• Hummus and blended forms Blending does not change the load, it only makes the amount harder to judge. A dip eaten steadily with crackers stacks up well past where a measured scattering would sit.
• Stacking with other GOS foods Chickpeas beside other pulses, or in a meal that also carries cashews or pistachios, add their GOS to the same total. Several servings that each read low on their own can add up to a moderate or high load together.

Swaps

For the protein role in a bowl or curry, firm tofu is the reliable swap and it takes on the same spices well. Eggs, plain meat, poultry and fish fill the same slot in a main meal, and quinoa adds plant protein to a salad. For the crunch and bulk that roasted chickpeas or a chickpea salad give, try peanuts, walnuts, macadamias, pecans or pumpkin seeds, or a base of rice, potato or polenta. There is no honest way to substitute one pulse for another here: lentils, kidney beans, baked beans and soy beans all carry GOS for the same reason chickpeas do, so they do not lighten the load. For hummus specifically there is no like for like swap that keeps the pulse, so a dip built on something else entirely, such as a roasted red bell pepper dip made with garlic-infused oil, is the more honest answer.

How to lower the load

Buy chickpeas canned rather than dried when the goal is to keep the load down, because the drain and rinse step only exists with a can. Tip them into a sieve, rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear, and never pour the can liquid into the pot or use it as an egg substitute in baking. Treat them as a garnish rather than a base: a scattering over a salad or into a grain bowl sits at a different rung than a stew built on them. When eating out, the risk is that a chickpea dish arrives as the main body of the plate, so a salad with chickpeas listed after several other ingredients is a safer read than a chickpea bowl or a falafel plate, which is nearly all pulse.

Common questions

are chickpeas low fodmap

Chickpeas are rated high FODMAP overall, estimated from their composition, because of GOS and fructans. The ladder does start lower: a Small serving reads LOW, a Moderate serving reads MODERATE, and a Large serving reads HIGH.

how much chickpeas can i eat

The ladder is qualitative rather than weighed, and it puts a Small serving at LOW, a Moderate serving at MODERATE, and a Large serving at HIGH. In practice that means a scattering rather than a helping, and it is the canned, drained and rinsed ones that run lowest.

is hummus high fodmap

Hummus is made from chickpeas, so it carries the same GOS and fructans, and most recipes also include garlic. It is also very easy to eat well past a Small serving with a dip, which is what usually pushes it up the ladder.

do canned chickpeas have fewer fodmaps than dried

Yes, drained and rinsed canned chickpeas run consistently lower, because GOS is water-soluble and some of it moves out into the canning liquid. Chickpeas boiled from dried keep more of it, especially when the cooking water stays in the dish.