Yes millets can be given to babies. Babies can be fed Popped/malted Millets powder; this is like a millet based substitute for baby food like Cerelac or others. Traditionally, children were given different forms of millets from 6 months up.
I do not know how to cook millets?
This is a common question people keep asking; first we need to understand that today our common food is Paddy Rice and Wheat.
Paddy belongs to the group of Husked grains – to which other small millets like Foxtail, Little, Kodo, Proso and Barnyard Millets also belong.
Wheat belongs to the Group of Naked Grains – to which other millets like Finger millet, Pearl millet and Jowar (Sorghum) belong.
Most people are more familiar with Ragi (Finger Millet), Jowar (Sorghum) and Bajra since these millets are consumed even today in different parts of our country and are a part of the local food culture.
In the case of husked grains like Paddy we process them in the rice mills to remove the husk and bran to get the conventional white Polished (Paddy) rice.
Similarly, the 5 different small millets which are husked can also be made into their respective rice forms.
These grains are less commonly known and are very much like the Paddy rice – so any millet rice can be cooked in the same way as Paddy rice.
The priority of our nation’s food security programme has bee promotion of rice and wheat. As a result millets, the “miracle grains” have gradually disappeared from the farms and also our diets. The cultural disconnect is too long and has made most of us unfamiliar with these grains to the extent that many of us have not even heard of these grains, leave alone consuming.
Millets can be consumed on a daily basis like any other grain. Chapattis & rice can be made up of millets. Apart from these, millets can be used to make laddus, Dalia and other dishes like – Saama Nippattu, Korra Murukku etc.
My children do not want to eat millets?
A lot of children do not like porridge made from dalia or oats but learn to like it over a period of time. Taste is cultivated and as parents we have to provide exposure to different textures, flavours etc. Start creating a taste for millets with e.g. laddus made from Popped millets and Millet mixes which can be used as drink by mixing with milk and then introduce it in the form of upma, mix millets in dosa/idli batter thus slowly introducing it into the diet.
A simple Jowar Pop can be very tasty food for the Kids, it is very easy to make and also a nutritious food rich in dietary fiber very essential for building immunity.
How often can I use millets in our food?
Millets can be consumed on a daily basis. They can either be used as it is or can be mixed with wheat and rice based products.
In order to get the millets back in to our home, we need to start in stages by using in small percentage in the beginning.
Gradually the proportion of millets can be increased. A simple way to begin may be by using millet’s rice along with the Paddy rice (White Rice). One can start with 10% of millets rice mixing and gradually increasing the proportion to 50%. In this way the taste would be retained together with the nutrient benefits of millets. Kids can also be given millets in the form of Ragi biscuits & Bajra chips. Chapattis can be baked using multigrain flour (a kind of flour made by mixing different varieties of millets).
Pure millets rice, millet idlis, pongal, pulao, khichdiCurd rice, Dosa, Idly, Puttu etc. can all be made with millets.
Are Millets hard to digest?
This is a misconception. For e.g. when one shifts from white, polished rice to unpolished rice the quantity of rice that you need to eat to feel satiated is much less since the unpolished rice has more bran and has a lower glycaemic index. As a result you feel hungry much later than you would with white, polished rice. In the same manner, the high fibre content of millets leads to slower digestion and a lower glycaemic index. Once one understands the nature of millets, one will find that much less quantities of millets are required to get the same amount of energy to keep us working. This is also why millets are excellent for diabetics.
Millets do not contain any gluten, a wheat protein that is hard for the human body to digest. Consequently, they are NOT acid-forming foods and are easy to digest. More on gluten here.
Won’t using millets be more expensive compared to Paddy rice or Wheat?
Millets have been known as poor people’s/hard working people’s food. Not all Millets are costly. Millets like Ragi and Bajra are comparatively cheaper and even today they are commonly consumed by the people in the form of Mudda (Kali) or Roti.
Millet products are comparatively more expensive than paddy rice or wheat because the millet grains are small and hence more difficult to process compared to Paddy. Government has invested extensively in Paddy cultivation and processing and as a result cost of processing is low. In the case of millets Government investment on processing and promotion has been minimal. Traditionally people processed millets manually but this is impossible if one wants to make millets available to a larger section of the population.
In the final analysis remember that for every kg of paddy rice / wheat you will need significantly lower quantities of millets. As a result there is a savings on the cost. In addition the hidden cost of reduction in medical expenses and improved health will lead to more value for the money that you spend on your food.
I do not have Diabetes, why should I take millets?
Millets are highly nutritious, non-glutinous and not acid forming food. Hence they’re soothing and easy to digest. They’re considered to be least allergenic & most digestible grains available.
Diabetes and other chronic diseases are known to have close link to the food that we consume.
Can millets be as tasty as the food cooked from Rice and Wheat?
Yes. Millets have been used to make tasty recipes like – Ragi cake, Bajra muffins, ragi pancakes, millet porridge & Malayali style puttu. Bajra-Jowar bread is known to be very delicious and is the fastest selling bread at many bakeries across the country.
Isn’t cooking millets more time consuming and difficult?
Millets are very much like any other commonly used grain; they can be cooked in the same forms as we cook the paddy rice or Wheat.
How do I know which millet I should eat?
Food and food habits are shaped by where you live. The easiest answer to this question is, like in the case of vegetables and fruits, eat millets that are local to your area.
Where can I buy millets?
Earth 360 Ventures, Kadiri, Andhra Pradesh. Email Dinesh at “millets dot dinesh at gmail dot com”
Kaulige Foods – Bangalore’s Millet Store offers home delivery of millets throughout Bangalore. Visit http://www.kaulige.com or call Arun at 9845490382. They also have a store at Brigade road.
Grameena Natural in Bangalore. Contact Sridhar by phone at 9738449133 and 9483048984 and by email at “mhs dot sridhar at gmail dot com”. Door delivery for orders over Rs 500. Transportation cost will be added extra.
Jaivik Mall, near Lalbagh Double Road gate, Bangalore. 080 65624197
Timbaktu Organic products: To order, call 08559 202149 / 202335 / 202339
Svad Products: To order, send an email to “svad dot organic at gmail dot com”
Navadarshanam products: These can be purchased at any Namdhari Fresh outlet in Bangalore.
reStore in Chennai
What are the health benefits of eating millets?
Millets are highly nutritious, non-glutinous and not acid forming food. Hence they’re soothing and easy to digest.
Normally this feeling is due to the fact that Millets, owing to complex carbohydrates, keep us full for a long period of time unlike the Paddy rice (contain simple carbohydrates). Millets release glucose in to blood gradually without over loading with sudden surge of glucose like the White rice.
Eating millets will not only reduce your weight but will also give you the nutritional benefits which rice and wheat won’t provide. They’re considered to be least allergenic & most digestible grains available.
Can pregnant women consume millets?
Certainly they can consume millets. In fact, millets are ideal for pregnant mothers since several of them like ragi and bajra are rich in iron and calcium. The mothers who are having gestational diabetes should use millets in place of other grains; this will help control the problem.
Use of millets will help build immunity to the baby growing in the womb.
Millets are generally used as Bird feed. Can humans eat the same kind of millets?
Birds intuitively know the nutrition in the millets, they mainly eat the unprocessed whole grains. Millets are the preferred food by pet birds instead of paddy and wheat. The people who keep pet birds will be familiar with the millets grains they purchase for them. It is a paradox that it is here in the bird feed shops that these grains are available.
Today one of the largest demands for the millets is for the bird feed market. This often has created a mindset that these grains are for the birds and not for human consumption.
Humans can use the same millets after the required processing of dehusking just as in paddy.
Who all can use millets?
Anybody from new born babies to youngsters to adults to elderly people can consume millets. People who are healthy, sick, poor, rich, men, women and of social status can consume the millets the way we use Paddy and Wheat.
How does consuming millets help protect the environment?
Unlike rice and wheat that require many inputs in terms of soil fertility & water, millets grow well in dry regions as rain-fed crops. Consuming millets will support sustainable cropping practice whereby introducing diversity in our diets. Hence, there is no agro-ecological conflict.
How beneficial are millets for athletes?
Carbohydrates are important for athletes as it is a major source of energy for them. Millets are the only source of carbohydrates which does not have any starch in it and they release energy slowly allowing for improved stamina during long periods of intense activity.
If millets are so beneficial why aren’t they as prevalent as rice and wheat?
Change in area under major crops (Lakh Ha)
Crop/year |
1955 -56 |
1965 – 66 |
1975 – 76 |
1985 – 86 |
1995 – 96 |
2008 – 09 |
Jowar |
173.6 |
176.8 |
160.9 |
161.0 |
113.3 |
75.3 |
Bajra |
113.4 |
119.7 |
115.7 |
106.5 |
93.2 |
87.5 |
Ragi |
23.7 |
26.9 |
26.3 |
24.01. |
17.74 |
13.81 |
Small millets |
53.35 |
45.64 |
46.72 |
31.55 |
16.62 |
9.05 |
Maize |
37.0 |
48.0 |
60.3 |
58.0 |
59.8 |
81.74 |
Wheat |
123.7 |
125.7 |
204.5 |
230.0 |
250.1 |
277.5 |
Rice |
315.2 |
354.7 |
394.8 |
411.4 |
428.4 |
455.4 |
The Green revolution introduced by the govt in 1960 gave thrust to enhancing the production and promotion of Paddy and Wheat all over the country. Huge investments were made for creating a large infrastructure at the national level to enable the farmers to produce these two crops. ICAR, FCI, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of civil supplies were established to provide all the necessary technical and logistics support.
The subsequent Rs.2/kg paddy scheme and subsidies given to the farming of paddy and wheat in the name of national food security changed India’s eating and farming habits irrevocably. Today, policy and agricultural experts blame that single act for wiping out 85% of India’s millet farming.
Socially, millets were the food of the so-called lower classes. In the history of Post independent India it was unfortunate that millets did not receive suitable attention or support. When the green revolution was launched, the decision makers ignored the fact that millet, not paddy, was the rice of the middle-class Indian. It is an inherent caste system in food. It has been referred to as racism in food, where anything white like polished rice and refined flour is treated as superior even though it’s deadly for diet, and grains that are dark are put down as inferior.
With the way we have promoted our foods, today the cultivation, processing and marketing of these grains are less common to find.
Gradually situation is changing; people understand the value of millets which we have forgotten. There is increasing demand for the millets now, it is more common to find Ragi and other millets products in the market.
Wow! Super, fantastic!
A wonderful article that answers all the questions that the young generation has. Much needed information for all.
Sir,
I would like to use the contents of this article with reference in a presentation that I am preparing for a session on food and food habits. Request your permission for the same.
Thank you.
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I hope you went ahead and used it. All content on this site can be used for any purpose, we would appreciate an appropriate link back to the original item.
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Appreciate!!! Really nice article.
Six month back we have started switching to millet based foods.
Basically i have acid reflux issues and GERD. after switching feels really good..
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Will foxtail millets increase goitor? I m having hypothyroidism
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Dear Sharanya,
Please see this article … https://millets.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/millets-and-goitre-2/ and feel free to contact us if you have any Qs after reading that.
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Hello Dwiji, I am extremely thrilled to have discovered your article on millets. I am a Kannadiga living in Chennai now and so it was easy for us to adapt to millets. We have grown up eating jowar rotis called Bhakri in Dharwad and Hubballi. And Chennai introduced to us Foxtail, Kodo, Barnyard and Little millets. My son and I have now moved over to millet rotis in order to avoid gluten and we feel a lot more energetic and light on the stomach. However, frequent use of Pearl (bajra) and raagi is posing some heat issues to us too. We are now experimenting to see if a week long eating of jowar rotis as part of our lunch will help ease it out and if we can incorporate raagi and bajra, like once or twice a a week. I am a wellness blogger myself and spreading wellness is my passion. Once again, thank you for sharing such valuable info on millets. I browsed through some of the questions and your replies and gained a lot form them. Regards.
Weena
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thank you for the kind words and very happy to read about your move towards millet based meals.
Yes, Bajra is known to cause heat effects on many individuals. Have you come across kambu (pearl millet) koozah in / around Chennai? The interesting thing is that kambu koozah is consumed throughout the year, especially in summers. Koozah is a fermented preparation and this appears to change the way our body receives the same grain. In case you have not tried it, do try fermenting the pearl millet dough and then making it into roti. You could also try something like a pearl millet pita or a leavened bread.
Do try (in moderation and with adequate precaution) and share your experience.
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Well explained.
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thank you !
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Can we eat Millets twice a day?
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Yes, one can. And there are many families that follow such a diet.
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Some people say millets are good while some others are talking of developing hypothyroidism if we take milkers on a regular basis. We also take vegetables, fish etc. So instead of rice can’t we take milkers like, Bajra,samai,, fox tail e c. Confusing what to believe. Please advise. Thanks
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Dear Pamela,
Thank you for writing to us and sharing your question. Any change can be difficult and a good way to over come these difficulties is by discussing with people. We welcome such discussions and hope the info you find on the blog and the many many comments over the years helps you in finding a resolution. First the disclaimer: please do not take any steps without due thought or without consulting your medical advisor/dietitian/doctor. I am not a medical doctor or a professional dietitian.
I had responded to similar concerns earlier, please see these here, here, and here. I had asked a public health research friend to do an initial study and his draft report is ready. I shall kick it up my to do list and we will share the report here on this blog in a few days. Please do read my earlier comments linked above to get the context for what I say below.
Each of us evaluate the benefits and risks of a decision. Moving towards a cereal diverse diet has various benefits that have been listed on this and many other websites. In most of the studies cited either the aspect of millets and hypothyroidism was not the objective of the study, and the experiments/data was not conducted/collected to establish this. There are a couple of studies that have looked at hypothyroidism in communities that have millets in their traditional diets. But these are (i) limited to particular millets and (ii) even there the conclusion is that the cause of the condition could be millets or something else in their diet. So bottom line is that we do not have a rigorous study either proving or disproving the hypothesis that millets cause hypothyroidism.
Hope this helps.
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I love reading through a post that will make men andwomen think. Also, thank you for allowingfor me to comment!
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you are welcome ! thank you for the kind words.
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nice read
https://meraterahrun.org/millets-in-the-market/
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Thank you for sharing !
I anchored the millets part of the Miles for Millets campaign that the good folks at Mera Terah Run took up in Dec. 2016. I am looking to write about the experience and the campaign in the next few days. We are also in the process of consolidating information spread across this blog, the MTR website and my writings on millets on my personal blog into a single website. Hope to have it ready in a few weeks/months. Will share it once we have it up and running.
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I started eating Millets and I started getting pimples…are Millets heat generating? If so how to include them in our daily diet?
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Hi Chinmayee,
Very happy to hear that you have started including millets in your diet. Some millets (pearl and foxtail especially) do have a heat generating effect in some people. Which ones have you tried?
You can probably avoid this effect by trying some of the other millets – barnyard, little, finger, proso, etc.
Another way to possibly reduce this effect is to prepare fermented items with foxtail or pearl as idlis , dosa etc.
As always, please practice the precautionary principle – implement changes in moderation, be observant and talk to your medical advisor / dietitian / doctor before trying something you heard from a friend / family or read about online / on social media.
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Can millets cause thyroid problems?what is the safe intake quantity per day?
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Dear Priya,
Please see this article that a public health researcher friend wrote on this subject. C-Ping the conclusion here …
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I had been taking millet since the day before yesterday. I am using foxtail for lunch alone. But i feel feverish and discomfort for the padt two days. Once in last year i took foxtail once and obbserved tge same condition. What is wrong in foxtail causing me discomfort ?
I soak it for nearly 2 hrs and pressure cook it and use it with Indian sambar And curd.
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Dear Jeevitha,
Thank you for writing to us. Apologies for the delayed reply.
It is possible that your body does not like foxtail millet. Yes, cooking it the same way that one prepares paddy rice is perfectly fine.
There are other millets – Little, Kodo, Proso, Barnyard, Brown Top, Pearl, Finger millets and Sorghum – that you could try based on where you live. Each of these are a separate grain with different taxonomy. I would ask that you try out some of these other ones if your discomfort is indeed being caused by foxtail millet.
Hope this helps.
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Dear Dwiji,
Appreciate your efforts on the areas related to millets.
I wished to move to a gluten free diet and was seeking a replacement for my daily intake of wheat based chapatis. Therefore, I have been following a diet high on millets (primarily Ragi, Jowar and Bajra) for the last 18 months or so.
Prior to moving to millets, I already had HypoThyroid which had come well under control and within range, through ayurvedic medication and practising certain pranayams. I routinely get my TSH tested.
After 18 months and numerous TSH tests during this period, I tend to conclude that Millets and Thyroid are indeed related. Despite following medications and Pranayaam, my TSH levels have remained on the higher side for quite a few months (though I do not feel any bodily discomforts).
I must continue with my gluten free diet. I am planning to now eliminate Ragi and Bajra based on what I have read here. I intend to continue with Jowar and mix these with some dal (pulses).
Would you have any advise for me?
Can I include some other variety of millets, if they are indeed relatively safer with Thyroid.
Regards
Vivek
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Dear Vivek,
Thank you for the kind words.
First the disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or dietitian. Please consult one as you try different foods to build a healthy diet suited for your body.
Have you been having R,B & J dry cooked, as in roti, cooked in water as in porridge, or fermented as idli dosa, koozh/ambli? I would request you to try the other forms and see if those help.
Though a little more expensive, I would suggest that you try some of small millets foxtail, little, proso, kodo, barnyard and brown top. Again their nutritional import will be different based on the form we eat it in. Each of these is a different grain and the label millets is just a convenient way to identify dry land farmed cereal grains.
As always, please exercise moderation and observe your body for changes, favorable or otherwise.
Hope this helps, do discuss with your medical advisor / dietitian / doctor and do not take my word for it.
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Article on millet is very informative..though I have been including,jowar,ragi ,barnyard,liitle,kudo and fox tail millet on and off…I want to take in regular basis to reduce my weight. I have hypothyroid…I have read the article regarding goitrogenous effect also…let me see I want to decrease my rice a d increase millet…as wheat,is also causing
Problems I will try to shift to millets.
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Dear Anandhi, thank you for sharing. Please make sure that you consult with a medical advisor/ dietitian / doctor to understand any changes in your health. Do let us know how you are doing as you include millets in your diet. Thank you!
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I have started taking millets since last 10days two times a day that is at 1PM and 9 PM. I notice that my body is getting heated up. It is very uncomfortable. I am consuming buttermilk, cucumber, barely water and such body cooling items. I left millets today and find that my body did not heated up. I am in a confusion now to continue millets or not. Pl send ADVISE immediately. SUDARSHAN.
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Dear Sudarshan,
Thank you for writing to us and sharing your experience. Very happy that you tried to incorporate millets into your diet. Can you please identify which millets you have tried? There are 9 different millets – foxtail, little, kodo, proso, barnyard, ragi, jowar, bajra and brown top. Some of these are considered heat generating while some are cooling. And even the heat generating ones when cooked in certain ways (for example fermented) the heat character is replaced by a cooling character. So please do share which millets you tried and what was prepared with those.
Another strong recommendation: please do gradual changes in diet and not a sudden shift. The body needs to get used to changing conditions. In some people a sudden changeover may not be a big deal, but for most it is an issue.
In conclusion, please consult your medical advisor/doctor/dietitian and discuss the above advise before implementing the same. There are many advantages to including millets in ones diet. Each of us are unique and our bodies react differently to different conditions. We need to understand these signals and match our activities and actions to best suit our needs.
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Sudarshan,
Even i had same problem. My experience is, for people who’s body is of heat type cannot consume millet all 3 times a day. After trying out many combinations, i am now following diet where positive millet (foxtail/little milles/Barnyard/Kodo) once a day and remaining meals with Raagi/Maize/Jowar etc . I use positive millet for Dosa batter along with urad dal. For afternoon jowar/maize roti and night Raagi. The day i use foxtail/little milles/Barnyard/Kodo for my meals, i will make sure to use moong dal along with vegetables to cool the body and raagi for dinner. i do use rice in between to balance heat, preferably next day when i eat positive millet for my meals. I do consume butter milk/cucumber and Barley. Proso millet (less fiber compare to positive millet)causes less heat so including them in diet also helps. With above combination, i am not feeling much heat problem.
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thank you for sharing your experience Suneetha and very happy to know about the many ways in which you have adapted your meals to how your body responds to different foods. Though I should say I am surprised that even Little and Barnyard millet seem to have a heating effect on your body.
On another note, have you tried observing how your body responds to fermented dishes made from these ‘warming’ millets? Pearl millet is a classic example – when made into rotis it is considered as warming and eaten primarily in winters (gujarat, rajasthan, and some other parts north India) but in is consumed all through the year, including in summers as kambu koozh a dish in which the same pearl millets are boiled and fermented. Do try it sometime and share your experience. Thank you !
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Can thyroid patients use millets
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I’m not an expert and I would strongly advise consulting a doctor, dietician or medical advisor.
A friend and I did do some digging on the subject and have written about it. Please find the article at … https://millets.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/millets-and-goitre-2/
Hope it helps. Feel free to ask any questions that might remain even after having read that.
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Hi , tell me whether all these millets can be fried, powdered and used as nutritional powder which we give to children.
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Roasted cereal grains ground into flour and prepared as a porridge or gruel has been used by many as a weaning food for babies and as a nutritional boost for growing children. Do practice the pre-cautionary principle though – start in moderate quantities; observe how it agrees with your child; have them drink lots of water if s/he is feeling some discomfort.
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You’re so cool! I don’t think I have read through a single thing like that before. So great to discover another person with a few original thoughts on this topic. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This website is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!|
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Thank you for your glowing review ! We are glad that you like our blog/site.
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Hi Dwiji,
You may find these interesting:
A Millets Revival Could Solve India’s Malnutrition Problem, Benefit Farmers
It is a nicely researched article. Also it has given me links to many organisations involved in researching on millets.
There is an ancient method of farming that Dr. Khadar has been conducting research on in Mysore for over a decade.
He calls it Kadu Krishi. Pleased with my involvement, he has invited me to visit. I plan to live in Mysore and work the fields myself for about two months, to understand it properly, starting next week. As I learn, I will blog and share.
In principle, it involves a system which naturally elements usage of fertilisers and chemicals, while conserving water greatly. One column of growth’s shedding (of say oder or leaf) becomes fertiliser/chemical for the next column and so on. It is more than simply organic farming. A combination of many millets, other grains and cereals are grown as mixed crop to achieve this.
Very exited!!!
Thank you.
Regards,
Amar.
ps: Is there a direct email id to which I can write and reach you please?
________________________________
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Thank you for sharing Amar !
Yes, the article you mentioned ( http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/a-millets-revival-could-solve-indias-malnutrition-problem-benefit-farmers-31717 ) does have some good information. I am a technical consultant for the DHAN foundation millet project and work closely with Karthikeyan.
There are many flavours of sustainable farming, each suited to its local conditions and interests of the developer/farmer. I hope you have a good time in Mysore learning about the method practiced by Dr. Khader and blogging about it.
You can find my contact information by clicking on my name or photo near this comment. Feel free to drop me a mail or to message me.
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Hi Dwiji I tried writing to you at the email address I got by clicking on your picture but it didn’t work 😥
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My email address is dwiji@themillet.org
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Thank you Dwiji
In many ways your blog site already contains so much relevant information that there is very little I can add
Thanks again for your encouragement
Regards Amar
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Hi Amar, thank you ! Yes this blog has come together as a source of good information on millets, their cultivation and consumption. There are multiple authors contributing to it and we hope to build on this foundation going forward.
But, there is always scope for more, especially more ideas and perspectives. Thank you for translating and sharing Dr. Khader’s talks. Do share your perspectives too on these issues in your blog. I feel your diverse back ground and interests would help us see things differently.
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Hi Dwiji
Thank you Your appreciation is encouraging
Dr Khader liked this article and has given me a write up in Kannada to translate and publish
I’m finding it challenging since my Kannada is poor
Will do it but will need time
I would love to connect with other people who are writing or talking on the subject
Sadly I’m finding it difficult to get much information on the Internet
Request you help me connect with others having common interest
Also please see this following video
Thank you
Regards
Amar
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Thanks lot for maintaining web page. I have a query. I attended Dr Khader’s session 3 months ago and went thro his video and understand the importance and started using all varieties of millet in my meals. My experience is if our body is of heat type and if we eat it on daily basis then we get in to excess heat problem. I do eat greens, veggies, buttermilk etc. after using these 2-3 days heat comes down but again creeps when i start eating millet. For healthy living i want to eat them but because of this problem i have to stopped. I need to solution for this problem. we can manage to eat veggies along with millet but does not really help much as it did not work for me. many of friends also complains same and stopped it even though we know it is good. it is good to spread info on side effect and cure for same.
Hope i get solution i can start eating them agaian
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Dear Ms. Suneethi, thank you for writing to us and sharing your questions and concerns.
First the disclaimer, I’ve been studying millets for a few years now and have developed some expertise in different topics related to their cultivation, processing and consumption especially from the nutrition perspective. But, I’m not a doctor or a dietician. So please try anything you might infer from my sharings after discussing with your medical advisor/dietician/doctor.
There are 9 different millets that are available in today’s market place. They ask belling to the grasses family just like all other cereal grains we eat. Proso and little millet are closely related. The remaining, pearl, foxtail, kodo, barnyard, brown top, finger millets and sorghum are fairly spread out in terms of their evolution. Each of these have their own nutritional and cultivational offerings.
Pearl millet (बाजर /ಸಜ್ಜೆ), foxtail millet (काकुन/ನವಣೆ) and to some extent brown top millet (फ़िकारा/ಕೋರಲೆ) are known traditionally to be ‘warming’ foods in some parts of the country and are typically eaten in the cooler months of the year. Ways in which communities traditionally ‘break the heat’ in these grains is by preparing it using excess water, eating them in their fermented form, and as you have already shared eating it with foods that are ‘cooling’.
As far as I’ve observed when I’ve eaten these grains, and from traditional food systems, the other grains are not so ‘warming’.
Now, I have intended respect for Dr. Khader and his contributions in helping people live healthier. But, I do feel that there is a place for whole grain paddy rice (also called unpolished paddy rice) and unrefined/while grain wheat flour (cream/light brown coloured) in our diets. The polished white paddy rice and refined flour/madia should be reduced to a minimum and if possible removed completely from our diets. But I do see value for the traditional paddy rice and traditional wheat varieties in our diets – they supplement the nutrition that millets provide and increase the diversity of our food system.
So, I could not see from your sharing which millets you tried and hope gradual (or otherwise) your transition to millet based diet was. Some bodies can get used to change in no time; some take their time.
It’s great that you have been observing your body reacts to different food items and are taking necessary steps. If you need more specific information regarding your particular situation, please consult your medical advisor/dietician/doctor.
Hope this has been helpfull.
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Thanks for the detail information. Good to have a platform where we can share our concerns and get details on same. appreciate your time and effort in this regard
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You are welcome ! And thank you!!
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that’s good, thanks for sharing,.. I think this is great blog
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Thank you !
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Is millet harmful for birds in summer season..?
some suggest me not to feed birds millet in summer bcz its too energetic n hot for birds and hv harmful effects..Is it true??
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Birds are fairly selective about what they eat. If the birds you refer to are free birds, don’t worry they’ll let you know.
If they are caged birds, see if you give a choice what they’ll eat first.
In either case, do make sure there’s sufficient water that they can drink to cool down, if at all they feel hot.
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Thank you for a wonderful article I particularly loved the interaction your readers have had and your replies
I heard about one Dr Khader, visited him in Mysore This changed my understanding of food and much more
I have been trying to help people understand the advantages of replacing rice & wheat with millets I write in a blog site and share Dr Khader’s findings Please take a look at one of his works I have translated into English
Thank you
Regards
Amar
manufactureinindiablog@wordpress.com
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Thank you for writing to us, Amar. Yes, Dr. Khader is quite the motivator and has influenced so many people rethink food and decisions about food.
for brevity I’ve deleted the text extract from the blog and retained there link. I’ve added your blog to my reading list.
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Sir, I have hyper thyroidism. Read somewhere that millets will trigger thyroid resulting in goiter..pl clarify..
Thank you
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Dear Madam, thank you for writing to us.
We had received similar enquiries earlier. So we asked a friend of ours to do some preliminary research on the supposed goitrogenic effects of millets. Recently, we have shared our findings from the initial study at https://millets.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/millets-and-goitre-2/. If you have any questions after reading that, do write to us and we can discuss it in more detail.
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http://thepaleodiet.com/millet-gluten-free-grain-avoid/
Can you comment on this!
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Dear Sathyan, thank you for writing to us.
We had received this query earlier and recently a friend of ours did some preliminary research on the supposed goitrogenic effects of millets. We have shared our findings from the initial study at https://millets.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/millets-and-goitre-2/. If you have any questions after reading that, do write to us and we can discuss it in more detail.
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Hi, Iam Siva, founder of food – tech magazine http://squapl.com/food-tech we like to support innovations in millets farming, retail and consuming (recipes). In case you like to partner for promoting millets please do write back to me sivadinesh@squapl.com. It is not a solicitation email and we genuinely support millets and food tech space.
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Hi….I stay in delhi where we have all seasons winter and summer. Can you please suggest which millets are good for summer weather and which are good for winter.
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Pearl and Foxtail Millet are generally considered to be warming. The other millets are considered to be cooling. One can add buttermilk to one’s diet in the warmer summer months to cool down and improve digestion. Likewise, increasing oil seeds (mustard, sesame) in the winter months is a traditional method of warming up and improving digestion in winter months.
I always advise a few basic practices when making changes in one’s diet: (i) please make gradual changes rather than a sudden shift – it helps the body adapt to the new diet. (ii) please observe how your body responds, our bodies do not follow textbooks or prescriptions and most importantly (iii) please consult a medical advisor / dietitian / doctor and get their opinion of how to interpret your observations.
Hope this helps !
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Dear Sir
Today I got this link millets WordPress & read info about varieties of millets & various comments posted.
Sir I have many questions, could you please email me your email id & contact no on kapoorlalit2001@yahoo.com or sms on 7500330350 or Whatsapp on 8962234629. Will be very grateful to you, I have been wanting to know about different types of millets & it’s benefits & recipes since a long time, almost 2 years, today I got the link & some information.
Thanks for creating awareness about these forgotten wonder grains.
Awaiting your kind reply.
Thanks
Lalit Krishna Das
SRI Vrindavan Dham
Mathura – UP
MOBILE – 07500330350
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Dear Sir,
thank you for writing to us and your kind words.
Please browse through this website for some information on millets. We are putting together another website as a more comprehensive source of information regarding millets. It should be ready in a few months. I shall share it as soon as it is ready.
If you have any specific questions about millets, their cultivation, characteristics, or usage, feel free to contact me at dwiji@themillet.org
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Hello Sir,
Nice information on Millets.
I have some queries on benefits of Jawar (Millets) over Wheat.
1) Could you please give me a nutritional value comparison for Millets vs Wheat. As I tries to search on internet but got 2 different values especially for Dietary Fiber. One article says wheat is having more Dietary Fiber vs Millets where as another was showing Millets is having more Dietary Fiber than wheat.
2) Does, more Dietary Fiber means hard to digest?
3) As you said that “This is a misconception that Millets hard to digest’. You said in above article that Millets are easy to digest than wheat.Is there any other reason of Millets are easy to digest than wheat?
4)Also, do we have any educational/medical/research document that cleary shows that ‘Millets are easy to digest than wheat because of so & so reason.
Also, are you a research scientist, if you don’t mind then could you please share your profession.
Please help me to get more knowledge on Millets.
Thanks for great informative article.
Thanks Viren
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Dear Viru,
thank you for the detailed questions. Please see the nutritional table comparing different millets with wheat, paddy rice and quinoa. Jowar, also called Sorghum, is comparable to wheat in almost all standard nutritional parameters. Both wheat and sorghum (jowar) have comparable fiber content. Though please note that maida, also called white or all purpose flour will be much poorer in fiber content as compared to sorghum flour or whole wheat flour.
More fiber, up to a practical limit, will help in digesting the food better. When it becomes too much, the body tends to reject the food and clears it out of the system. In fact high fiber foods (many derived from whole grain millets) are commonly used as laxatives and/or stool bulking agents to treat constipation.
There are many studies that have been done by researchers in different countries comparing the ease of digesting millet compared to wheat. Digestion involved two primary processes – absorption of nutrients and removal of the portions that cannot be absorbed by the body. Many communities across the world have experienced that on both these counts many of the millets out perform wheat. I do not have a ready reference to such a study, but I will try to find a few of these and share it here on this website in the near future.
Yes, I am a researcher, though not formally trained in food sciences, I have been observing, experimenting and researching about food for a long time now. Apologies that the website does not have an easily identifiable page of who we are. I shall update the template soon so that this deficiency is corrected. From my author’s page: I am an independent technology developer focused on sustainable solutions mostly in the agriculture and allied sectors. Over the past 3 years I have been studying, understanding and working towards improving millet cultivation practices, millet processing and cooking with millets.
Currently I am working on developing simple tools and machines to enable millet processing at a small scale with reduced drudgery and enhanced output. And I work on popularizing and promoting millets by facilitating discussions, conducting workshops and giving talks on different aspects of millets from cultivation, through processing to consumption in various fora.
Hope the above information and links helped. Feel free to ask if you have any other Qs.
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Could. Help me further by advisi ng if people with one shrunk kidney can consume fox millet or tenai in Tamil,
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I always advise a few basic practices when making changes in one’s diet: (i) please make gradual changes rather than a sudden shift – it helps the body adapt to the new diet. (ii) please observe how your body responds, our bodies do not follow textbooks or prescriptions and most importantly (iii) please consult a medical advisor / dietitian / doctor and get their opinion of how to interpret your observations.
I am not trained formally in special diets and what I’m sharing here is general information and should not be used as a definitive answer to your question. One does feel more thirsty after eating millets and drinking sufficient water helps improve the digestion of foods and absorption of nutrients. To the best of my knowledge, millets (including foxtail millet) do not overly tax the kidneys. If you do decide to try including millets in your diet, please practice the above three principles. Best of luck and do share your experience with us !
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I have been consuming all the varieties of Millets mentioned by you over the last year and i can see great improvement in my overall health and bowel movements.
I shifted to Millets after being suspected for Gluten Intolerance (for which awareness in India is very poor). Though white rice and wheat are more palatable than millets, once i made the shift to polished varieties of Millets such as Kodo and Barnyard there was no turning back. Now i have worked my way up to unpolished varieties and find them harder to consume because of their strong odour and sometimes taste.
On average I consume about 3 different types of millets per week for lunch (typically small millets) and 2 types as fermented product in breakfast(idli/dosa), typically Ragi and Bajra. Since the shift to millets and more whole grain such as brown rice, brown basmati rice, i have found that my weight is stable and no crazy bloating like i used to have before. I find Ragi and Bajra the most palatable and tasty of all the millets listed but find them harder to digest than small millets unless fermented.
I have a few questions for you..
1. While researching Millets and Pregnancy i came across various articles that said Millets have thyroid suppressing properties and must be consumed only in moderation. Is this true? I had borderline hypothyroidism before and I am worried now that i am carrying a baby and pregnancy is a time that thyroidism can affect me.
2. Is Millets better consumed in fermented form than cooked form? Like nuts i understand Millets also have phytic properties and absorption is better when soaked or fermented. Since the quantity of Millet I consume is so less compared to say white rice, i want it to have a big impact on my nutritional absorption rates.
3. What consists of a portion size of Millets? Eg. I cannot consume more than 1/6th a cup of cooked unpolished Kodo ,Barnyard or Foxtail for lunch. Which i think maybe alarmingly low..? Also help you understand my concern expressed in question 2. Semi polished variety would be 1/4th a cup at best.
Thanks for sharing this long post. I really want others to benefit from experience and learning over the last year.
Other Readers please note:
For those who are wondering about weigh-tloss. After my shift to millets and away from gluten I lost 6 kgs in 7 weeks! Yes you heard that right. For those of you with Gluten Intolerance, these grains are a miracle!!
Love
Abs
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Dear Abs,
Thank you for the detailed note and the questions, I’m very happy to hear about your millet journey. Let me start by answering your questions to the best of my abilities. First with the disclaimer that please do not take measures without due thought or without consulting your medical advisor/dietician/doctor.
1. Millets and hypothyroidism … I had responded to similar concerns earlier, please see these here, here, and here. I had asked a public health research friend to do an initial study and his draft report is ready. I shall kick it up my to do list and we will share the report here on this blog in a few days. Please do read my earlier comments linked above to get the context for what I say below.
Each of us evaluate the benefits and risks of a decision. Moving towards a cereal diverse diet has various benefits that have been listed on this and many other websites. In most of the studies cited either the aspect of millets and hypothyroidism was not the objective of the study, and the experiments/data was not conducted/collected to establish this. There are a couple of studies that have looked at hypothyroidism in communities that have millets in their traditional diets. But these are (i) limited to particular millets and (ii) even there the conclusion is that the cause of the condition could be millets or something else in their diet. So bottom line is that we do not have a rigorous study either proving or disproving the hypothesis that millets cause hypothyroidism.
2. Millets – soaked & fermented: My personal preference is whatever needs the least work – so typically I eat my cereal grains as plain old rice that we can eat with every thing else. Though I do like fermented stuff – from idli to dosa to injera to sourdough bread. Yes, there are studies that show that bio-availability increases when some of the things are fermented. Though I am not sure if it would be any different if one eats these in their un-fermented form but with say butter milk, the mother of all probiotics. 🙂
3. Serving size/meal portion … the quantity that makes you feel full is the optimum serving size/meal portion. It might be a full cup or it might be a 1/6th of a cup. The bran layer is the most nutritious layer of a husked cereal grain. The bran layer contains almost all the fatty acids, a good proportion of the mineral and soluble fiber contents of the grain. As the grain is polished, more and more of the bran layer is removed, depleting the nutritional value of the rice. This is true whether it is paddy rice or any of the millet rice. The fatty acid, mineral and fiber content of millet rices are so much more than that in paddy rice. So a much smaller quantity of an unpolished millet rice will make them feel full as compared to the quantity of the same grain’s polished version.
A few general comments about some of the points that have come up in your sharing.
4. Yes, millets are quite a boon for those with gluten intolerance – the degree of comfort and ease that it brings is life changing.
5. Weight loss is another effect of moving to a better diet. A diverse cereal diet is not just good for the gut, it is also good for the body as a whole.
6. Relative to polished rices, the unpolished ones have a stronger flavor in both taste and odor. One way to reduce this would be to soak the unpolished millet rice in water for say 20 minutes and rinsing it out well before cooking. But please note that the water you have soaked and washed the rice in would have taken away a significant proportion of the nutrient content. You could either use it for some other more spicy preparation, feed it a pet or use it to water plants in your garden.
7. Very happy to hear that you have moved to semi/un-polished paddy rice too ! 🙂
8. Almost all millets when cooked in their dry form (roti) will seek more water (compared to say, a wheat roti) when being digested. This makes it seem like it is harder to digest. Happy to read that you did try out and discovered that in idli/dosa form it is much easier to digest. Yes, the fermentation does make it easier for the body to digest it, but so does the amount of water we typically use to prepare the batter.
Apologies for the slight delay in approving and replying to your comment, it was a pleasure to read your insights and share my thoughts on the matter. Feel free to write to us if you have any other Qs.
We wish you a safe and natural pregnancy and child birth.
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Great Article! Thanks for excellent write up
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Can anybody inform where to get the millet Kodo dehusked ? We have good quantity in MP here but do not have the facility to separate husk . Contact +919425676512
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Dear Avinash, thank you for writing. Where are you located in MP? There are some machines available in the market that do a decent job of dehusking kodo millet. With a little bit of training and reorientation, and the right set of tools it is possible to start processing millets, though it will take a little while before a unit can become self sustaining. I shall call you sometime soon to know more about the millet production in your area and discuss about processing millets.
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A very good article. Thanks for the insights. We have been consuming the wheat alternatives like bajra, ragi and jowar on regular basis but I heared first time about rice alternatives like millet rice, foxtail millet rice, kodo millet rice, proso millet rice, barnyard millet rice, etc.
Can you also please tell any store in Hyderabad where I can get these.
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thank you ! Very happy to hear about the cereal diversification in your diets! Yes, the millet rices we have written about and promote are not very well known among many people today. But they are a very good source of nutrition and are amenable to be used in different dishes from various cuisines.
There are various stores in Hyderabad that sell millets, please search for them online. You can also get it from Sahaja Aharam either online or in their store.
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Hi can we know where can we get the finger Miller or the yellow variety of Miller can be purchased which is de husked is there a small machine which can assist in this process. The husked variety is very chewy while the taste is good n nutty.
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Finger millet is a red/black coloured millet called ragi/nachni/madua. There are two millets- foxtail (navane/korra/thinai/kakun) and proso (baragu / varagu / pani varagu/cheena) – that would fit your description of a yellow colored husked grain that has a nice slightly nutty taste. Though Proso millet is a little more chewy (in its cooked rice form), slightly bigger in size and not as hard a rice kernel when compared to foxtail millet.
You can find these on some online stores. There are a few links in our where to buy section, but there are many more you can locate from general web searching.
Hope this helps!
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How often can millet be consumed? Coz I happen to read in another site that it reduces thyroid activity. Pls advice
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Hi Aarthi, we are starting to hear this concern more often. It is not something we are able to find good scientific publications for. We do know that various communities in different parts of the world, not just India, have lived on millet based diets for not just centuries but millenia. There are atleast 15 to 20 families in our own friend circle, including my own, that have been eating millets regularly for more than 3 years now. In our houses rice doesn’t just mean paddy rice, it might also mean little millet rice, foxtail millet rice, kodo millet rice, proso millet rice, barnyard millet rice, etc.
As I have been mentioning in other comments, one needs to practice two things when it comes to food – (i) please try anything new in moderation and (ii) observe your body and discuss with your medical advisor/dietician/doctor to understand what is happening.
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We read a lot about refined foods like rice, wheat, maida, and also sugar which cause diabetes and othet lifestyle diseases. and also we read a lot about junk foods, bakery products, fried foods, canned foods etc which cause lot of health complications. But we have not stopped eating them.
Whereas a small news item appears we believe that and stop eating these foods. Remember many times what is tasty to our tongue is not good for our health and what is good for our health is not tasty.
Decide your self
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Awakening information I also suggest to all senio citizens in Mussourie to have chapatis of mixed flour of wheat rice gram millet Amranthan fox nut and then no need of any pill of vitamin B complex or Calcium and no need of non veg for protein. Fox nut has 13% easily digestible protein Amranthan has 9% calcium digestible. Our foods are just medicines we spoil their nutrients by frying
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There was a film made called “Timbaktu” . Does anyone know how to view the whole film for free online for other farmers to see? Or if there is a charge to view it or to order it please tell.
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can i giv ragi millet to my 9 month old child in form of puttu
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you can give the ragi to 9 month old baby, it is preferable in liquid form. like a porridge.
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I have started using kodo millet,barnyard millet and foxtail millet as a
replacement for rice after going through your article .Thanks for the info.
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where to buy millets in america
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how to get all variety of millets in usa
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This is a very useful blog to know and restructure our lost traditional lifestyle. Thanks
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Hi,
Thanks for your reply.Now we are in process of finding healthy and tasty food from millets. We tried Kambu(Bajra) flour koozh for my family but it is liitle bit bitter taste how to overcome this?? Can you please explain..
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I am eating everyday replacement of white rice. Using for dose and idle. Really I have lost 3kgs within 2months. Thank u very much.
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Very useful information. The government should encourage the farmers to cultivate the millets instead of Rice and Wheat.Also they should educate the public about nutrition facts and health aspects. Government is spending a lot on medical expenses. Instead they should subsidise and give to all ( Like free rice in PDS in Tamilnadu and in other states)
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I’m having one doubt, i.e. can we consume mixing of Raggi, Bajra and Jowar at a time.
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when cooking varagu / samai we get husk smell (Noi) is there a way to get rid of the smell while preparing food?
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is there any machinery to dehusk the millets like saamai thinai varagu etc as we have for paddy
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Hi
Is quinoa and foxtaila millet one and the same?
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No, they are different.
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hi, the indigenous peoples of the Malaya peninsular still plant millet (pretty sure it’s foxtail ver.) in forest clearings and process it with lots of fun, pounding it in a carved wooden mortar in the house. When it’s pounded the smell from it is really amazing, like Rivita biscuits being baked. But it’s hard work and hand-blistering.
There are six stages to the process (not including harvesting and hanging the stalks up every where in the house):
1. turning the grain in a pan on the fire to heat the grain.
2. pounding in the mortar, often by three or four men together, who have to get the timing right, get a rhythm going so they don’t hit each other’s poles
3. sifting off the husk with a tray
4. separation of broken grains from non-broken with a very skilled movement of a tray
5. re-pounding of unbroken grain
6. sifting and separation again.
The typical preparation of the millet is done with the help of the local cooking pot, the bamboo tube. Millet is put in bamboo tubes with water and cooked with a stick to stir it (also needs washing first or else will be bitter to taste).
the cooked millet from the bamboo is like cake and it’s delicious and filling. It’s also easy to plant, as one only needs to scatter seed and it grows almost wildly. It also treats the ground better than other crops.
They call it PEY.
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Hi mozerella
I came to interesting by your comment in millet.WordPress. the processing of millets is more important than consuming, I am researching on millet consuming , it seems to me you have great data in traditional processing, if you don’t mind, could you share me the whole knowledge with me , that is great helpful to me……..
Heartful regards,,
I will be waiting….
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Dear Radha Krishna,
Thank you for writing on this thread ! I had not seen Mozerella’s comment on the blog. Indeed, it would be good to hear more from him/her about the millet processing traditions in the Malay peninsula.
Since 2012, there are quite a few documentaries and reports on traditional method of millet processing by tribal communities, and some non tribal too, here in India. Do search the web and you should be able to find these.
Thanks again and happy exploring the world of millets and millet processing !
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Hi,
Your article is highly impressive and we are back with tradition food awareness in this stage. Can you pls explain millets are hot or cold to the body.
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i think it depends on the specific millet variety. i think pearl millet produces heat and will be eaten during winters. i have seen people eat it during summers too. to counter act it from overheating the body you always consume it with buttermilk. it is heating because it has a high oil content.
this is in regards to pearl millet. i’m not sure about other millets.
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Very well compiled information on Millets. But the reality , especially in some very remote tribal-rural areas is that the area is shrinking on these crops and being diveretd to cash crops. Can any organizations/NGOS be interested to share strategieson how to improve this situation. Thanks. Kiran , Pune
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Kiran, the tribal people are actually the real millet experts, they know how to store and process the millet without destroying its nutritional value like the modern mass produced millets by factories. The tribal people have stated these factory produced millets are not good.
Gandhi saw production differently, a network of villages can produce more efficiently than a single factory because they output quality not junk quantity. GDP is based on what is produced, not what is actually effectively consumed. It is not a true indicator of wealth. A lot of what is mass produced gets thrown into the trash due to poor quality. But a lot of what a village produces actually gets consumed due to higher quality and better product knowledge, as long as its a product that village is an expert in producing historically and its a product of practical use and need like food, and its a product sold to consumers who are experts in handling that product. these days many people don’t know how to cook, so a lot of millet is cooked in the wrong way and thrown into the trash. People eat millet, but a lot of it is spoiled due to bad processing and storage, and so it doesn’t digest and actually feed a person. What actually gets consumed effectively is a better indicator of economics not GDP.
Subash Palekar argues it is the tribal people who are better at agriculture than anyone else. Tribal people need to stick to the crops they are experts in because its hard to regain lost knowledge which can help us today.
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Kiran, in addition, I emphasize the word need. Many NGOs are not correct in their approach and management, They make villagers, artisans and tribals produce unneeded things like pillowcases that can’t be easily washed, coasters, key chains, just little trinkets and things of no need. They apply amazing skill and talent to unneeded items or hard to clean, hard to maintain items. I have seen some designers make better use of their skill painting kitchen cabinets, doing home and office murals, hotel murals or temple murals. I think Kala Madhyam in Bangalore does these murals.
What gets produced has to be of need, is produced expertly and the person who is consuming it knows what they’re doing to give that product respect and success in utility, it shouldn’t end up in the trash or at a garage sale or thrift store in order to get rid of it. Someone told me every time she gets a gift she immediately gives it away because she has too much stuff in her house.
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People are growing millet in their backyards in their urban homes and husking it at home. What would be better is if a villager could come to the home as a horticulturalist and grow and process the millet in the urban home garden or to teach how to do so. This is called garden consulting.
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you wrote
“In the case of husked grains like Paddy we process them in the rice mills to remove the husk and bran to get the conventional white Polished (Paddy) rice.”
husk is inedible. however are you removing the bran and germ from the millets? i thought this is the nutritious part of the grain so why remove it?
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There must be polished millets out there. However, we are not talking about removing the bran and germ. Husked grains are only dehusked.
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hi, got your site from The Hindu.. absolutely amazing.. so far i was using ragi flour only.. I will try more for my family.. I would like to see the pictures of the millets.. so that its easy to find in the super markets. any idea of availability of millets in gulf countries?
thanks in advance
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Many many thanks for reintroducing age-old dishes and saving us from the junk food barrage. I will encourage all my acquaintances with this information..
Regards,
Arvind
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Really good article in Hindu today!!
An eye opener for all who eat daily rice and wheat…
We will try to incorporate in our daily diet.
regards,
chandu
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hi i am reena from chennai .i ve read your article in THE HINDU newspaper,it was very interesting as well as very informative that inspired me to to go through your website.you are explaining it in very detail it will be very useful.could you please show the pictures with the millets.thanks , regards
reena
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I am a millet eater twice a week. Iam impressed by your article and the facts. I want to increase in my diet. But Dr. says I am in pottasium in the range.Pl. furnish data and suggetion in this angle.
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Thanks.
Linda
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I have been eating millet for years from the health food stores here in New Jersey. What kind am I getting? It’s yellow.
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It could be Proso millet or Foxtail millet.
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Can we take millets in night times for dinner?
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Dear Sathya, it is a common advise by dietitians and doctors that we should have digested our dinner before going to sleep. Some people are just fine even when they don’t follow this advise.
Millet based foods digest gradually, so if having it for dinner, it is a good idea to have an early dinner.
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