A healthy diet is the need of the hour which can provide essential and adequate nutrients that are required for the proper function, growth and development of your body.
A diet that contains the proper proportions carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in necessary to maintain good health.
A number of different small-grained cereal grasses are collectively described as ‘Millets’. Millets are one of the oldest cultivated foods known to humans. Two main groups of millets are major millets (sorghum and pearl millet) and small millets based on the grain size. Off late, the classification is also an indication of the area under these crops. Both major and small millets have traditionally been the main components of the food basket of the poor people in India. The group of small millets is represented by six species, namely finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.)), little millet (Panicum sumatrance), kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum (L.)), foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.)), barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea (L.)) and proso millet (Panicum miliaceum (L.)), representing the area grown in that order. These crops have traditionally been the indispensable component of dry farming system in India and elsewhere.
Health Benefits of Millets and its Potentials
The good carbohydrates – Dietary Fiber
A diet that contains the proper proportions carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in necessary to maintain good health.
A number of different small-grained cereal grasses are collectively described as ‘Millets’. Millets are one of the oldest cultivated foods known to humans. Two main groups of millets are major millets (sorghum and pearl millet) and small millets based on the grain size. Off late, the classification is also an indication of the area under these crops. Both major and small millets have traditionally been the main components of the food basket of the poor people in India. The group of small millets is represented by six species, namely finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.)), little millet (Panicum sumatrance), kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum (L.)), foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.)), barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea (L.)) and proso millet (Panicum miliaceum (L.)), representing the area grown in that order. These crops have traditionally been the indispensable component of dry farming system in India and elsewhere.
Health Benefits of Millets and its Potentials
- Nutient Dense
- Rich in phytochemicals
- Probiotics and Prebiotics
- Nutraceutical.
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| Nutritional and Health Benefits of Millets and its Potentials |
- Eat as much as you want
- Satiety is achieved
- Digests slowly – Low GI
- Slows down absorption of Sugars and Cholesterol from other foods
- Improves Bowel motility
- Lignans, an essential phyto nutrient present in millet, act against different types of hormone- dependent cancers(breast cancer) and reduces the risk of heart disease.
- Regular consumption of millet is very beneficial for men and women suffering from signs of cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
- Millet -A high source of insoluble fiber, beneficial against breast cancer and gall stone formation in women
- Millets are high in phosphorus content-which helps in maintaining the cell structure of the human body.
- Phosphorus helps in the formation of the mineral matrix of the bone and is also an essential component of ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate), which is the energy currency of the body. This mineral is a very important constituent of nucleic acids, which are the building blocks of genetic code.
- A single cup of millet provides around 24.0% of the body’s daily phosphorus requirement.
- Recent research has indicated that the regular consumption of millet is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
- This is mainly due to the fact that whole grains like millet are a rich source of magnesium, which acts as a co-factor in a number of enzymatic reactions in the body, regulating the secretion of glucose and insulin.
- Magnesium is also beneficial in reducing the frequency of migraine attacks. It is even very useful for people who are suffering from atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease.