Bella Adams
Millet has long been considered the food of kings. Dishes from this grain were prepared both on major holidays and on everyday days. The love and respect for millet porridge, the most popular millet dish, was instilled from early childhood, and all this was not by chance, because millet has a large number of nutrients, although we should not forget about contraindications. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Millet is a peeled millet seed. It was first grown in China and Mongolia about 5,000 years ago. For centuries, this cereal has been used in the diet in Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe.
Millet is widely used in cooking and is famous for its health benefits.
Millet composition
Nutritional value of millet per 100 g
- caloric content – 348 kcal (raw), 90 kcal (viscous porridge cooked in water);
- Carbohydrates (slow) – 69.3 g;
- Fats (saturated, mono- and polyunsaturated) – 3.3 g;
- Proteins (substitutable and essential acids) – 11.5 g.
Cooked millet porridge consists of 14% water.
It also contains fiber, starch, mono- and disaccharides.
Sugar content – 1.7 g: sucrose, glucose, fructose.
Substitutable amino acids: glutamic acid, alanine, proline, serine, aspartic acid, tyrosine, glycine, cysteine.
Proteins: leucine, phenylalanine and tyrosine, methionine and cysteine, valine, arginine, isoleucine, threonine, methionine, lysine, histidine, and tryptophan.
Vitamins: beta-carotene (20 mg), B1 (0.62 mg), B2 (40 mcg), B9 (0.04 mg), E (2600 mcg), PP (niacin) (1.55 mg).
Chemical composition: phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium calcium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt, iodine, fluorine.
Useful properties of millet
Millet is useful for people whose work involves both mental and physical activity.
Millet has medicinal properties:
- Improves memory, and relieves fatigue and irritability (B1).
- Cleanses the skin, strengthens hair, and makes it shiny and elastic (B2).
- Normalizes blood pressure (B5).
- Manganese has a positive effect on metabolism. It restores damaged cells, and bones, and heals wounds.
- Fluoride strengthens teeth.
- Copper slows down the aging process, and promotes cell regeneration.
- Strengthens the cardiovascular system due to the potassium content (211 mg).
- Prevents the formation of fatty deposits.
- Stimulates the process of hematopoiesis.
- Heals the liver.
- Complex carbohydrates, which are part of the porridge, are absorbed slowly, which prevents sudden spikes in blood sugar, which is very important for diabetics. Even with type 2 diabetes, doctors recommend using millet porridge in your diet. It promotes insulin production and can completely cure the disease.
- It has diaphoretic and diuretic properties. It removes harmful substances (toxins, toxins, antibiotics) with excess fluid, which has a beneficial effect on the body in case of diseases of the genitourinary system and kidneys. It helps with urolithiasis, cystitis, and gynecological diseases.
- It is a dietary product.
Millet in nutrition and cooking
Millet porridge cooked in water has a very low-calorie content, only 90 kcal per 100 g of the finished product. This allows it to be included in many diets.
This porridge removes already accumulated fat from the body and prevents the formation of new fat. Therefore, it is used for weight loss. If you need to lose weight urgently, there is the following recipe: take 450 ml of water for 150 g of cereal. Cook the porridge without salt and sugar, you can add 5 pieces of prunes or dried apricots.
Divide the resulting dish into several meals and eat it all day long, washed down with unsweetened tea or herbal infusion. This recipe allows you to lose 800-900 g per day.
Especially when losing weight, the combination of millet and pumpkin is useful. The final product has a calorie content of only 70 kcal per 100 g. Millet prevents the formation of fat, and pumpkin speeds up metabolic processes. Thus, the overall effect is enhanced. This porridge is especially good when cooked in a pot in the oven, as it preserves all the nutrients.
Millet porridge is cooked with water and milk. First, you need to prepare the cereal. Sort it out, and rinse it until the water is clear. Be sure to rinse with boiling water, you can even hold it for a few minutes to prevent the porridge from becoming bitter. Then pour plenty of water and cook until half cooked. Then drain off the excess water. If you are making milk porridge, add milk and cook until soft.
There are many different recipes for porridge: with pumpkin, cottage cheese, prunes, raisins, dried apricots, and nuts, and it’s all a matter of taste and imagination.
Millet porridge is most often seasoned with melted butter. But there are also recipes with the addition of oil: porridge with onions, cabbage, and mushrooms.
Millet is used not only for porridge but also for a wide variety of dishes: cutlets, casseroles, soups, cabbage rolls with millet, stews – you name it!
Millet porridge can be cooked in any way: on the stove, in a slow cooker, or in the oven. It all depends on personal preference and the availability of equipment.
Millet in medicine
Millet is widely used to treat various diseases.
The following recipe is useful for cystitis: Pour 200 g of millet into a liter jar and cover it with boiled water. For some time, stir the grains with a spoon so that the whitish coating mixes with the water. The cloudy water should be drunk in small sips. This “medicine” will relieve pain within a day, and to get rid of the disease completely, the infusion should be taken for 2 weeks.
In the case of diabetes mellitus, it is recommended to take millet groats ground in a coffee grinder once a week, one spoonful.
For the treatment of kidneys, especially in the case of pyelonephritis, the following remedy is used: pour 0.5 cups of washed millet with a liter of water, boil for 5 minutes, and let it cool. The resulting broth should be taken every 25 minutes, 1 tablespoon.
To prevent pressure ulcers, in ancient times, bags of millet were placed under a patient who could not get up.
Contraindications to millet consumption
The harmful properties of millet are quite relative. It can cause the increased gas formation and heaviness in the abdomen. This simply means that the consumption of millet cereal should be limited, but not abandoned altogether. And, as with any product, you shouldn’t eat millet all the time, otherwise, problems will definitely start.
Wheat groats can cause an allergic reaction. If you notice signs of an allergic reaction after eating millet, consult a doctor. And in the future, avoid foods that contain gluten.
If you are pregnant, you should limit the consumption of millet, as excessive gas formation is harmful to pregnant women.
If you have undergone surgery on internal organs, you should also limit the consumption of millet, but in the postoperative period, it can be consumed again.
In case of diabetes and a predisposition to it, millet should be taken with caution, because it contains quite a lot of starch.
To summarize, we can say that millet porridge is not only very tasty but also healthy and included in the diet. Millet will heal your body, eliminate toxins, help you lose weight, and give you vigor and optimism. Stay healthy!
