As early as 8,000 years ago, flatbreads made from millet were consumed in China and Mesopotamia. However, millet is not only the oldest, but also the grain richest in minerals. Thanks to the abundant vitamins and nutrients it contains, the small grains make you feel full, healthy and beautiful. Nevertheless, millet is still rarely found in German kitchens.
Health maker millet
Probably the most significant property of millet is that it is one of the gluten-free cereals. This means that it is not particularly suitable for baking bread, but it is a valuable food for people with gluten allergies, gastrointestinal problems or celiac disease.
Unlike many cereals, millet is not acid-forming, but base-forming, which in turn leads to less mucus formation in the body. Millet porridge is a recommended, healthy food, especially for colds and flu-like effects.
However, millet is also a real beauty elixir in everyday life. Due to the contained kiselic acid and fluorine, the teeth, bones and nails are strengthened and skin and hair smoothed and made to shine.
Millet – valuable ingredients for a healthy body.
Millet is healthiest in its original form, that is, with the husk. However, whole millet, which is also called brown millet, must cook for a very long time until it becomes soft and is therefore often only available as brown millet flour. But even processed, hulled millet, which is usually offered as millet flakes, millet grains or millet groats, is full of valuable ingredients. These include iron, which is important for blood formation and oxygen supply, calcium, magnesium, B and E vitamins, and provitamin A.
In addition to all the minerals and trace elements are in a millet grain about:
- 70 percent carbohydrates
- 10 percent protein
- 5 percent fat
Thus, 100 grams of millet hit 311 kilocalories – but in 100 grams of unsweetened millet porridge is only 120 kcal.
Slim and healthy thanks to millet
It is not for nothing that the ancient Germanic name “Hirsi” stands for “satiety, nutritiousness”. The yellow grains swell strongly and thus quickly fill the stomach. As a result, fewer calories are absorbed and blood sugar fluctuations are kept low. Millet can thus protect against obesity and diabetes.
But although the grain tastes good and fills you up, cooking with millet has been all but forgotten in Europe since the introduction of higher-yielding staple foods – potatoes, corn and rice. While the grain remains popular in North Africa and Asia, millet is now mainly used as bird food in Germany.
Cook healthy recipes with millet
However, due to its numerous positive properties, millet has recently gained importance in whole foods. Meanwhile, there are plenty of delicious millet recipes – from the classic millet porridge or millet groats to millet salad, millet casserole, millet gnocchi, millet pancakes and even pizza dough with millet.
In any case, however, millet should always be combined with fruit or vegetables so that the body can optimally utilize the many vitamins and minerals.
