Falafel | Simple, Healthy and Delicious Recipe | The Oven Light Dinner (2024)

FAQs

Are falafels healthy for weight loss? ›

Falafel is a Middle Eastern dish made from chickpeas or fava beans. Provides essential nutrients such as protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Health benefits may include weight management, heart health support, and management of anemia.

Is baked falafel healthy? Yes! Baking instead of frying reduces the amount of fat and calories in this healthy falafel recipe! With protein and fiber rich chickpeas and loads of fresh herbs, these baked falafels are a great healthy meal!

Falafel has a good amount of micronutrients plus it is a good source of protein and fiber. This helps in curbing one's appetite, lowers one's risk of chronic disease, and supports healthy blood sugar. All these qualities put Falafel in the diabetes-friendly category.

In essence, the ingredient profile of falafel is in the least unhealthy. In fact, compared to other counterparts of the food, including chicken shawarma, falafel tops the list to contain the healthiest amount of all ingredients that are required by the body.

Falafel contains high amounts of protein and carbohydrates from chickpeas; it also has significant amounts of soluble fiber that helps to reduce the bad cholesterol from your body. Chickpeas are also rich in calcium, iron & potassium, making falafel a superb vegetarian food to replace meat.

In some ways, falafel's nutritional profile stacks up to red meat, since it's also full of nutrients like iron, folate, magnesium and vitamin B, Zozos says.

Falafel is high in many micronutrients and a good source of fiber and protein. As such, it may help curb your appetite, support healthy blood sugar, and lower your risk of chronic disease.

Go with the falafel. The gyro has more saturated fat, more calories, and (usually) more sodium than the falafel—or chicken or vegetable sandwich fillings—on most menus. Take Daphne's, a "California-fresh" West Coast chain with 56 restaurants that lists calories on its menus and Nutrition Facts on its Web site.

“Where the traditional falafel is the basic fried falafel comprising a mix of chickpeas, onions, garlic, herbs and spices, baked falafels are made using fresh herbs in the chickpea mixture,” says Chef Sati from Ophelia. Spraying baked falafels with olive oil before baking makes them crispy.

A binding ingredient can help keep it together, especially if you are using canned beans instead of dried. And the perfect binding ingredient for falafel is flour. Nothing fancy, just plain all-purpose flour. Add a few tablespoons at a time to your mixture, until you can press it easily into balls or patties.

Is falafel bad for cholesterol? ›

A 3.5 ounce serving of deep-fried falafel – no pita or toppings – has roughly 330 calories, 31 grams of carbohydrate, 17.5 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein and 294 milligrams of sodium. Falafel is also a good source of soluble fibre, the type that helps lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Exercise

Exercise is one of the best ways to help lower blood sugar in the short term, and regular exercise can help control blood sugar in the long term. Dr. Redmond explains that “exercise is the best way to instantly lower blood sugar, combined with drinking water.

increased thirst and a dry mouth. needing to pee frequently. tiredness. blurred vision.

Lapine's Green Falafel recipe (see below) offers plant protein and fiber in easy-to-make bite-sized servings. And with the addition of sunflower seeds, these balls are a fantastic source of zinc and selenium—perfect for supporting thyroid health and gut health in tandem.

Carbs. A falafel patty contains a little more than 5 grams of carbohydrates, the majority of which come from the chickpeas or fava beans. The food is high in complex carbohydrates and soluble fiber—the type of fiber that helps lower LDL cholesterol (known as the "bad" cholesterol).

Good For Blood Sugar Levels

Foods that are rich in fibre also help control your blood sugar levels. Fibre slows down digestion, and lets sugar transfer slowly from your digestive tract into your bloodstream. This means there is no sugar “high” after eating falafel, and no fatigue or irritation from a blood sugar crash.