Millets can provide you with niacin, a kind of vitamin B
Millets are excellent source of copper, magnesium and phosphorous. They help you in losing weight, keep blood sugar levels in check and are even good for digestion since they are packed with fibres. But most of us don't give enough attention to millets. Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar shares a video on Instagram throwing light on the health benefits of millet. This makes for guideline 4 of her ongoing fitness project 2023. She also shows the proper way of cooking and consuming millets. According to her, poor cooking skills may come in the way of staying healthy. Because we don't want to take the pain of cooking, we end up buying alternatives like nachni chips or multi-grain bread to keep the millet consumption going. That's not a healthy way to eat millets. Packaged and processed food items can never give you the nutrition that comes from home-cooked fresh food.
Rujuta Diwekar says that millets are rich in fibre, amino acids, Vitamin B and minerals. One of the best ways to have this superfood is through homecooked bhakri.
You can eat millet bhakri with a sabzi, dal and chutney, every single day. If you still struggle with kneading dough (since it has the tendency to break easily), Rujuta shares a kitchen secret. Always knead the millet dough with warm water. And then, make roundels from it, and hand press them to create a bhakri, before you put them on your iron tava for cooking.
Apart from being inexpensive and easier to grow, here's why you must eat millets:
1. Niacin, a type of B Vitamin- found in millets - is useful in energy production, nerve health and keeps the digestive tract healthy.
2. The magnesium, zinc and fibre found in millets make it an excellent food for blood sugar regulation, especially for PCOD and diabetes.
3. The folic acid in millets helps with iron assimilation and improves skin, health and fertility.
Talking more about millets, the nutritionist states that you must never mix them all together (something like multigrain bread). Instead, go for a single millet at a time. To make it interesting, you can pair it up with jaggery and ghee. You can certainly have it with chutney that will amp up your experience.
Rujuta gives a quick seasonal guide for millets -
1. Bajra and Makai are for the winter. You can relish them with jaggery and ghee
2. Jowar is better for summers. Have it with a good chutney.
3.; Ragi is consumed all around the year and can even be turned into a dosa, laddoo etc. In fact, even bajra is an excellent ladoo to prevent hair loss.
"A millet bhakri a day, keeps the dullness away," Rujuta adds.
Millets are not a replacement for your rice and wheat roti. Of course, you can continue having them if you want.
(Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist based in Mumbai)
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