Millets Vs Wheat

It is in human nature to compare things. I would like to start with the disclaimer that in nature's scheme of things all are good and bestowed with the blessings and grace of the almighty. If its not unique it would not have found its way to existence since Nature does not create carbon copies.

The objective of the article is not to pitch eatable one against the another and identify which is superior but to understand the nature of things and strike a balance if we can in our daily intake.

Some of the millets are really superior to Wheat and examples are as follows:

• Barnyard Millet (Jhangora) Contains nearly 3 times minerals and nearly 8 times fiber and nearly 3 times Iron than Wheat. Contains one of the highest amounts of digestive fibre among millets.
• Finger Millet (Ragi) contains nearly 1.8 times minerals and nearly 3 times fiber and 8.4 times calcium than Wheat. Contains the maximum amount of Calcium among millets.
• Pearl Millet contains nearly 5.2 times fiber and nearly 3 times Iron than Wheat. It Contains the maximum amount of IRON content among the millets.

Wheat is one of the naked grains variety which is touted to have good amounts of protein, decent levels of Iron and carbohydrates and it makes a fairly balanced diet. Should we make Wheat as the staple diet with 100% of our intake with wheat? Probably not. Lets find out why.

Gluten

Gluten is the protein found in wheat. It gives wheat the elastic quality that helps it rise and keep its shape while making bread. It does so by creating a gluten network in the dough to trap carbon dioxide during fermentation. This causes the dough to rise and results in a chewy texture.

Over time, wheat varieties that have more gluten have been selected for cultivation. Foods rich in gluten are fairly acid-forming since it is not easy for our bodies to digest gluten. An acidic environment is created in the body which leads to a host of problems – fatigue, acidity, obesity, cancer, diarrhea to name a few.

Today, we eat a diet in which gluten forms a major component whereas our ancestors who ate wheat did so along with many other grains that did not contain gluten. Our bodies can process a little bit of gluten (not in the case of people with celiac disease who cannot eat any gluten) but not if wheat and wheat products become the staple in our diet. Most, if not all, processed food contain gluten – biscuits, noodles, pizza, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals. These foods are the mainstay of our diet today.

Millets are grains that do not have any gluten. Those who have experimented with rolling out ragi, jowar or bajra rotis will vouch for how much easier it is to roll out wheat rotis. However, this makes millets easy to digest and mildly acidic, if not alkaline. If your diet is rich in gluten, consider adding millets to your diet to help create a more alkaline medium in your body. This will go a long way towards improving your health.

Generally health care experts who are genuinely interested in our welfare should  recommend that we should mix wheat with substantial portion of Millets (may 50:50 when we start and slowly move to 20:80 in favor of millets).

I shall leave it to your wisdom to take a decision on how and what you want to eat.

Article by Rags Gopalan...