This is great! I appreciate the effort taken to put together the nutritional content; really useful, thank you. I noticed that the content is for 100gm of dry grain. What would the nutritional content look like for 100gm of cooked grain? Would it increase or decrease greatly or slightly?
The measurement/estimation of almost all nutritional components are done on dry samples. So even if one were to test the cooked grains, these would be dried to remove the water content first.
But then, what is important to note is before cooking how is the sample prepared. Washing a natural rice – i.e. paddy or one of the millet rices, with at least some of its bran retained – will invariably lead to loss of bran to the wash water. So washing it multiple times before cooking would result in a cooked rice sample that will show much lower levels of minerals, fatty acids and fiber content. The cooking did not take that away, the washing did !
Here are a few Qs a friend shared in one of the closed groups I am part of. My short answers immediately follow these and further below is a longer answer to the best of my knowledge.
But first, the disclaimer: please note that I am not a trained doctor or dietitian. Please use my advise only AFTER you have understood and discussed it with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor and please exercise the precautionary principle – try changes in moderation; observe how your body responds; continue changes only after being convinced your body has benefited from the change in diet.
1. Are millets good for people with uric acid? or any info on millets for uric acid will be beneficial….. ( This was asked my my ex-colleague)
They most likely are, but certain cautions need to be exercised. Definitely consult your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor. and please exercise the precautionary principle. The longer answer below will throw some light on the matter.
2. Some one wrote a note to me – “it is said that millets contain goitrogens which causes hypothyroidism IS THIS TRUE” – Do you have any details?.
There are 9 different millets, studies have looked at just one of them (may be two, if we relax the reviewing standards). And even for the one millet (pearl / sajje / bajra) the study did not look at the effect of including the particular millet as part of a wholesome diet.
My advise would be to please discuss it with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor and please exercise the precautionary principle.
3. Is there any millet specific for gall stone?
Not that I know of. There might be. Please use the nutritional chart of millets ( https://dwiddly.files.wordpress.com/…/…/nutritionaltable.png ) and consult a nutritionist / dietitian / doctor with to see which of the millets would be most beneficial. There are also a few seasoned practitioners using millets to cure diseases and conditions. Seek their advise in an one on one consultation, rather than in a public setting. Discuss their advise with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor before changing your diet and always remember to practice the precautionary principle.
Now to the long answer / background …
A few general points to understand millets : Millets are high fiber, high mineral cereal grains. In their unpolished (bran still on) form they are extremely nutritious. Once the bran layer is removed (i.e. polished) their nutritional content is severely compromised, the degree being dependent on how much of the bran layer is lost.
The human body (and most animal bodies too, I suspect) seeks a sufficient quantity of water to digest millets, just as it would for any other high fiber, high mineral foods.
Reduced water intake is one of the primary aggravating factors for lower GI diseases/disorders/complications. I am guessing this is the primary motivation for quite a few dietitians and doctors (including some who practice ayurvedic principles) to outright reject millets saying they are not good for so and so patients.
If an individual is sufficiently in touch with their body and is able to identify their thirst signals and satiate the body’s request for water, or if they are able to prepare these millets as dishes that allow for sufficient/a little excess of water, or if they are able to keep reminding themselves and drink sufficient quantities of water, including millets in their diet may not be an issue.
But please remember to practice the precautionary principle and discuss it with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor before changing your diet.
I don’t know Tamil so well, may be one of our friends can share?
Though, knowing that spelt is an ancestor wheat and the climates in which Tamil is spoken, I have my doubts if there would bea Tamil weird for spelt ! 🙂
Hi Shalini, 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 could be 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 making changes in one’s 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.
Dear Kumar,
First the disclaimer: One needs to understand the individual’s constitution and work on their diet seeing how their body responds to changes. So please consult a medical adviser / dietician / doctor regularly to get the most informed answer.
From the way communities have included these grains in their diets and cuisines, we can see that pearl millet (bajra/kambu/sajje/sadda/…) is a food for winters -i.e. it warms up the body. Foxtail millet also warms up the body, many communities eat it with lot of butter milk and in some communities a small quantity of butter milk is added when cooking !
So one thing we can recognize from this is that what we eat it with, and how we cook it, has a lot of bearing on how the body receives it. Hope this helps.
Thanks for useful information about millets. Please inform which is the most useful millet and why. Please give few recipes for each millet for adults. Is it better to take millets in the form of porridge or solid form. Which millets are useful for controlling blood sugar level and cholesterol.
Thank you Vijayendran sir. There is no magic cereal. Each grain offers a bouquet of nutrients. It is for us to choose which ones we eat and which ones we don’t based on our dietary requirements, taste, cost, availability, etc. We advocate for diversification of the cereals one eats rather than seeking a magic bullet.
You will find different millet recipes on this blog and on other websites. Almost all millets help control blood sugar levels and cholestrol. But please note that a millet based diet cannot cure one of these conditions. Please do consult a dietician or your doctor before drastically changing your diet.
We cook millet (pro so or foxtail) along with brown rice and it tastes just as good. With extra fibre and nutrients it improves digestion dramatically and very healthy. My recipe for plain rice substitute is as under
Take half cup of rice preferably brown) add foxtail or proso millet for the other half. Clean and add 1:2.5 x water and cook in rice cooker. Tastes just like rice along with sambar, rasam or you can also cook it as pasta substitute for Italian dishes. My family likes it so am sure you will like it and feel healthy.
Note: millets are not expensive as mentioned in one of the post.for e.g rice I buy (organic brown is Rs 85 and organic millet is 60 for 500 g.
IT is a very useful information on millets but we would like to know the various recipes that can be prepared with each millet.And also which is the best millet of all those mentioned here, with less fat nutrient.
Thank you Vijayendran! There are a few recipes for each of the millets on this blog itself under the Recipes tab. You can also find many more recipes for millet based dishes online. Please search for these using any search engine/website like google, bing, yahoo, duck duck go etc.
The nutrient profile of the different millets do come across as having considerable fat content. Please note that the fat in millets are of a totally different kind when compared to the fat from animal sources or even the fat/oil from oil seeds. The fat content in cereals such as millets are very sought after component of many diets.
There is no one grain which is ‘the best’. Each millet has a nutrient profile that has certain beneficial aspects. For a healthy diet, please maintain a diversity in the cereals you consume – just as it is advisable to eat different vegetables, pulses, fruits, oil seeds, etc. There is no magic bullet.
Abey Abraham
Millets are getting popular and hence costlier. People who are used to rice find it easy to adopt some of the millets compared to wheat. South Indian rasam goes well with some of the millets just as rice.
It is best to have diversity in the food – we suggest that you increase the millets proportion in the food and avoid eating of White paddy rice. Change to unpolished paddy rice and when you use wheat for Chapathi add other millets grain to wheat and use. Gradually you can bring down the proportion of Paddy and wheat and shift to more millets based diet.
Thanks a lot for creating this very useful and informative blog page on millet. It really helps from knowing different millets, their nutritional value, where to buy and recipes on different millets.
Hi, I see that the fat in rice is much much lesser when compared to millets and wheat!! Of course carbohydrates content is high (high in wheat as well) and fibre is really low. But please, if fat is less in rice why not eat rice instead?
the paddy rice contains in its whole form(unpolished) contains fat, the rice bran oil that we are all using today is the product of processing the Paddy rice bran. India produce over 7 million tonnes of Rice bran from the rice mills present in the country, from this 9 lakh tonnes of rice bran is produced every year in our oil mills. The rice bran oil comes from the fat present in the rice bran. When you analyse the polished paddy rice it shows no fat. Remember these fat are natural part of any whole grain food and are very essential for our body to keep us healthy.
Hi
Wonderful recipe.
Also very good information on Millets.
Please keep posting on other indian cereals, foods, farming etc.
We should pass on this wealth to our kids.
Thanks again
Goutam
This is great! I appreciate the effort taken to put together the nutritional content; really useful, thank you. I noticed that the content is for 100gm of dry grain. What would the nutritional content look like for 100gm of cooked grain? Would it increase or decrease greatly or slightly?
LikeLike
The measurement/estimation of almost all nutritional components are done on dry samples. So even if one were to test the cooked grains, these would be dried to remove the water content first.
But then, what is important to note is before cooking how is the sample prepared. Washing a natural rice – i.e. paddy or one of the millet rices, with at least some of its bran retained – will invariably lead to loss of bran to the wash water. So washing it multiple times before cooking would result in a cooked rice sample that will show much lower levels of minerals, fatty acids and fiber content. The cooking did not take that away, the washing did !
LikeLike
Can these millets can be consumed by uric acid patient
LikeLike
C-Ping from a post on Facebook
Here are a few Qs a friend shared in one of the closed groups I am part of. My short answers immediately follow these and further below is a longer answer to the best of my knowledge.
But first, the disclaimer: please note that I am not a trained doctor or dietitian. Please use my advise only AFTER you have understood and discussed it with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor and please exercise the precautionary principle – try changes in moderation; observe how your body responds; continue changes only after being convinced your body has benefited from the change in diet.
1. Are millets good for people with uric acid? or any info on millets for uric acid will be beneficial….. ( This was asked my my ex-colleague)
They most likely are, but certain cautions need to be exercised. Definitely consult your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor. and please exercise the precautionary principle. The longer answer below will throw some light on the matter.
2. Some one wrote a note to me – “it is said that millets contain goitrogens which causes hypothyroidism IS THIS TRUE” – Do you have any details?.
Please see this article a doctor working on public health and I put together on this subject: https://millets.wordpress.com/20…/…/22/millets-and-goitre-2/
There are 9 different millets, studies have looked at just one of them (may be two, if we relax the reviewing standards). And even for the one millet (pearl / sajje / bajra) the study did not look at the effect of including the particular millet as part of a wholesome diet.
My advise would be to please discuss it with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor and please exercise the precautionary principle.
3. Is there any millet specific for gall stone?
Not that I know of. There might be. Please use the nutritional chart of millets ( https://dwiddly.files.wordpress.com/…/…/nutritionaltable.png ) and consult a nutritionist / dietitian / doctor with to see which of the millets would be most beneficial. There are also a few seasoned practitioners using millets to cure diseases and conditions. Seek their advise in an one on one consultation, rather than in a public setting. Discuss their advise with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor before changing your diet and always remember to practice the precautionary principle.
Now to the long answer / background …
A few general points to understand millets : Millets are high fiber, high mineral cereal grains. In their unpolished (bran still on) form they are extremely nutritious. Once the bran layer is removed (i.e. polished) their nutritional content is severely compromised, the degree being dependent on how much of the bran layer is lost.
The human body (and most animal bodies too, I suspect) seeks a sufficient quantity of water to digest millets, just as it would for any other high fiber, high mineral foods.
Reduced water intake is one of the primary aggravating factors for lower GI diseases/disorders/complications. I am guessing this is the primary motivation for quite a few dietitians and doctors (including some who practice ayurvedic principles) to outright reject millets saying they are not good for so and so patients.
If an individual is sufficiently in touch with their body and is able to identify their thirst signals and satiate the body’s request for water, or if they are able to prepare these millets as dishes that allow for sufficient/a little excess of water, or if they are able to keep reminding themselves and drink sufficient quantities of water, including millets in their diet may not be an issue.
But please remember to practice the precautionary principle and discuss it with your medical advisor / nutritionist / dietitian / doctor before changing your diet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi….what is “Spelt” grain called in Tamil.
LikeLike
I don’t know Tamil so well, may be one of our friends can share?
Though, knowing that spelt is an ancestor wheat and the climates in which Tamil is spoken, I have my doubts if there would bea Tamil weird for spelt ! 🙂
Apologies for the delayed reply …
LikeLike
Super valuable information about indian foods especially iron content in our foods is higher than dates it is very useful for my regular diet
LikeLike
I read that millets are bad for hypothyroidism. Is that true?
LikeLike
Hi Shalini, 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 could be 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 making changes in one’s 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.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Millets with rice is super
LikeLike
Hi, could some one tell which of the millets have cooling and which ones have warming(heating) effect on our body??
LikeLike
Dear Kumar,
First the disclaimer: One needs to understand the individual’s constitution and work on their diet seeing how their body responds to changes. So please consult a medical adviser / dietician / doctor regularly to get the most informed answer.
From the way communities have included these grains in their diets and cuisines, we can see that pearl millet (bajra/kambu/sajje/sadda/…) is a food for winters -i.e. it warms up the body. Foxtail millet also warms up the body, many communities eat it with lot of butter milk and in some communities a small quantity of butter milk is added when cooking !
So one thing we can recognize from this is that what we eat it with, and how we cook it, has a lot of bearing on how the body receives it. Hope this helps.
LikeLike
Thanks for useful information about millets. Please inform which is the most useful millet and why. Please give few recipes for each millet for adults. Is it better to take millets in the form of porridge or solid form. Which millets are useful for controlling blood sugar level and cholesterol.
LikeLike
Thank you Vijayendran sir. There is no magic cereal. Each grain offers a bouquet of nutrients. It is for us to choose which ones we eat and which ones we don’t based on our dietary requirements, taste, cost, availability, etc. We advocate for diversification of the cereals one eats rather than seeking a magic bullet.
You will find different millet recipes on this blog and on other websites. Almost all millets help control blood sugar levels and cholestrol. But please note that a millet based diet cannot cure one of these conditions. Please do consult a dietician or your doctor before drastically changing your diet.
LikeLike
We cook millet (pro so or foxtail) along with brown rice and it tastes just as good. With extra fibre and nutrients it improves digestion dramatically and very healthy. My recipe for plain rice substitute is as under
Take half cup of rice preferably brown) add foxtail or proso millet for the other half. Clean and add 1:2.5 x water and cook in rice cooker. Tastes just like rice along with sambar, rasam or you can also cook it as pasta substitute for Italian dishes. My family likes it so am sure you will like it and feel healthy.
Note: millets are not expensive as mentioned in one of the post.for e.g rice I buy (organic brown is Rs 85 and organic millet is 60 for 500 g.
LikeLike
IT is a very useful information on millets but we would like to know the various recipes that can be prepared with each millet.And also which is the best millet of all those mentioned here, with less fat nutrient.
LikeLike
Thank you Vijayendran! There are a few recipes for each of the millets on this blog itself under the Recipes tab. You can also find many more recipes for millet based dishes online. Please search for these using any search engine/website like google, bing, yahoo, duck duck go etc.
The nutrient profile of the different millets do come across as having considerable fat content. Please note that the fat in millets are of a totally different kind when compared to the fat from animal sources or even the fat/oil from oil seeds. The fat content in cereals such as millets are very sought after component of many diets.
There is no one grain which is ‘the best’. Each millet has a nutrient profile that has certain beneficial aspects. For a healthy diet, please maintain a diversity in the cereals you consume – just as it is advisable to eat different vegetables, pulses, fruits, oil seeds, etc. There is no magic bullet.
LikeLike
Hi I am new to this millets were can I get these Bangalore I mean in Bangalore
Which shops
LikeLike
Please contact kaulige foods for all your millets requirements – visit kaulige.com
LikeLike
“Nutrients in small millets, wheat and rice” – can you confirm whether composition is for raw 100 grams or cooked 100 gms ?
LikeLike
Dear Raghavendra,
The composition is for raw grains.
LikeLike
The Nutritional composition of millets/100gms is for the raw millets.
LikeLike
Abey Abraham
Millets are getting popular and hence costlier. People who are used to rice find it easy to adopt some of the millets compared to wheat. South Indian rasam goes well with some of the millets just as rice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi! A heartfelt kudos and thanks to the millets team for compiling all the info in one place. \this is fantastic.
LikeLike
how much calories does 1 cup of cooked foxtail millet consist of?
LikeLike
Hi, I have a question please. Is it OK to eat only these millets and skip rice altogether? Anxious for your answer. Thanks.
LikeLike
It is best to have diversity in the food – we suggest that you increase the millets proportion in the food and avoid eating of White paddy rice. Change to unpolished paddy rice and when you use wheat for Chapathi add other millets grain to wheat and use. Gradually you can bring down the proportion of Paddy and wheat and shift to more millets based diet.
LikeLike
Is ragi harmful for people with piles?
LikeLike
No. Ragi is not harmful. use it in the form of porridge. Rather than the Roti form.
LikeLike
Thanks a lot for creating this very useful and informative blog page on millet. It really helps from knowing different millets, their nutritional value, where to buy and recipes on different millets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pearl millet (kambu), Finger millet (kezhvaragu), Kodo millet (varagu), Foxtail millet (Tinai), Proso millet (panivaragu), Barnyard millet (kudraivali) and Little millet (samai)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi, I see that the fat in rice is much much lesser when compared to millets and wheat!! Of course carbohydrates content is high (high in wheat as well) and fibre is really low. But please, if fat is less in rice why not eat rice instead?
LikeLike
the paddy rice contains in its whole form(unpolished) contains fat, the rice bran oil that we are all using today is the product of processing the Paddy rice bran. India produce over 7 million tonnes of Rice bran from the rice mills present in the country, from this 9 lakh tonnes of rice bran is produced every year in our oil mills. The rice bran oil comes from the fat present in the rice bran. When you analyse the polished paddy rice it shows no fat. Remember these fat are natural part of any whole grain food and are very essential for our body to keep us healthy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear, Fat is very much essential as it give energy to work. Without fat we are nothing.
LikeLike
In the nutrients table, calcium, phosporous and thiamin should be in mg. not in gms.
LikeLike
Hai
This is the very best food for good health when compared to rice. one of the ancient tamil food when mixed with honey and some nuts/coconut.
Prabu
LikeLike
Hi
Wonderful recipe.
Also very good information on Millets.
Please keep posting on other indian cereals, foods, farming etc.
We should pass on this wealth to our kids.
Thanks again
Goutam
LikeLike
In the name column add a sub-column for any Indian language name
LikeLike