Regarding whether diabetics can eat millet, some people say they can eat it, and some people say they can't eat it. There is a lot of debate, so can diabetics eat millet at all? I'm going to talk about that today.
As the saying goes, "Millet is king". In the hearts of Chinese, the status of millet is unshakable: "millet" in "planting a grain of millet in spring, harvesting ten thousand seeds in autumn" and "millet" in "shejijiaguo" both refer to millet, and many people will use millet to nourish their bodies when they are sick.
Millet is also known as millet, called millet in the north, millet shelled into millet, its grain is small, about 1mm in diameter. Millet is one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world, originating in the Yellow River valley in northern China and was the main food crop in ancient China. Therefore, the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty belonged to the "Su culture". Millet grows drought-tolerant, with a wide variety of varieties, commonly known as "millet has five colors", there are white, red, yellow, black, orange, purple and other colors of millet, and there are also sticky millet. The earliest liquor in China was also made from millet.
1.Nutrients of millet
Data**: Food 911 Nutrition Inquiry
2.Comparison of millet and rice
Compared with millet and rice, millet is indeed superior. Although there is only one word difference between millet and rice, the former is a whole grain, and the latter is a refined grain. Data shows that millet is the most consumed whole grain in China. As the "first of the five grains", it does have many advantages in terms of nutrition.
High content of carotene Millet contains carotene, which is not found in ordinary grains, has a certain antioxidant effect, and can be converted into vitamin A in the human body.
High potassium content Among various staple foods, millet has a high potassium content, which is conducive to maintaining the normal rhythm of the heart. In addition, potassium and sodium can form an opposition in the body, and potassium supplementation can be beneficial for people with high blood pressure.
More Dietary Fiber Dietary fiber is known as the "intestinal cleanser", which helps to promote bowel movement, prevent constipation, and control blood sugar and blood lipid levels.
Rich in B vitamins Millet generally retains more B vitamins without much polishing, which can not only nourish the nerves, but also promote the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates in the body.
Most of them are unsaturated fatty acids, and the fat content of millet is 31 gram 100 grams, mostly unsaturated fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, oleic acid, etc., are beneficial to cardiovascular health.
9 times more vitamin E than rice Millet is relatively high in vitamin E, close to 9 times that of rice.
Rich in minerals and with a protein content of about 90 g 100 g, the quality is better than other cereals. In addition, millet is also rich in minerals such as selenium, calcium, copper, iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, etc. 100 grams of millet per day can meet more than 20% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin B1 for adults, as well as 14% of potassium and 32% of magnesium.
Millet has the effect of preventing and treating complications in diabetic patients. Millet is rich in vitamin B1, and for diabetic patients, vitamin B1 in blood vessel cells generally decreases, which can easily lead to microvascular complications and increase the risk of arteriosclerosis in diabetic patients. Regular consumption of millet can supplement vitamin B1, which has a protective effect on the hands, feet and optic nerves of diabetic patients.
Comparison of rice and millet.
Data**: Food Composition List of China (Sixth Edition), Peking University Medical Press, 2018
3.oneThe details make millet easy to raise sugar
Compared with other whole grains, millet can be said to be the most "fine" coarse grain, other coarse grains give people a feeling of being difficult to cook, chew and digest, while millet has small grains, is easy to cook, and is relatively easy to digest. However, its advantages are precisely its disadvantages.
This means that its glycemic index (GI) is not too low, but it is still better than rice. According to the Chinese Food Composition Table, the GI value of rice is 83, while that of small rice is 71.
Studies have shown that small rice (not pre-soaked, steamed for 20 minutes) has a GI value of 644；
small rice (soaked for 20 minutes, steamed for 40 minutes) with a GI of 79;
Millet cake (pure millet flour) with a GI value of 762；
Millet pancakes (75% millet flour, 25% wheat flour), GI 83;
Millet steamed buns, GI value 896；
And millet that is soaked for 20 minutes in advance and then boiled into porridge has a GI value of 936。
For people with high blood sugar, it is best not to drink pure millet porridge, or when cooking porridge, it can be paired with low-gi foods such as red beans and mung beans. Secondly, steaming rice is better than cooking porridge, do not soak it in advance before steaming rice and boiling porridge, as soaking in advance will increase the GI value; It's also good to make steamed buns and pancakes. If you want to eat blood sugar slower, it is also a way to eat some meat and vegetables, eat meat and vegetables first, and then eat staple foods, and your blood sugar will be more stable after meals.
4.Millet eats right to lower blood sugar
Frontiers in Nutrition published a study showing that eating millet can reduce the risk of developing type diabetes and help control blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
Staple food is always the most headache choice for diabetic patients, the most common rice, white flour is a very typical high-glycemic food, especially for diabetic patients with unstable blood sugar, blood sugar will fry when touched, how to choose a strong sense of satiety and do not raise blood sugar is the top priority of every diabetic patient's sugar control.
How should diabetics eat millet? Aunt Guo has been suffering from diabetes for 8 years, and recently saw that millet porridge is good for the stomach, rich in nutrients, and millet is also good for blood sugar, so Aunt Guo replaced her breakfast with millet porridge. After eating for a few days, the blood sugar not only did not stabilize, but it was as high as 15 during postprandial monitoring2！This is Aunt Guo has not seen such a high blood sugar in the past two years, and she thinks it is the reason for millet porridge. But some of the patients around me are eating millet porridge, but the blood sugar has not risen so high, Aunt Guo is confused, how do diabetics eat millet? Can you drink millet porridge? It has a lot to do with the way the food is cooked.
This is because millet porridge takes a long time to boil in water, and the gelatinizing effect of porridge is very obvious, and the body absorbs it very well, so blood sugar will rise significantly in a short period of time. It is a truth that everyone often says, "eat dry and not thin".
5.Diabetics eat millet is a matter of quantity and cooking
Compared with the fine staple foods that are usually eaten, such as white rice, white noodles, white steamed buns and other foods, they lose a lot of wheat bran due to the degree of processing is too fine, the loss of dietary fiber is serious, the digestion and absorption speed is faster, glucose is easy to enter the blood quickly, and has a greater impact on blood sugar, and their glycemic index can be as high as more than 80, or even more than 90. Relatively speaking, the rate of glycemic rise of millet is bound to be much slower, and it is a better choice to replace the delicate staple food with millet.
Millet is also divided into coarse millet and fine millet, coarse millet is rougher, their glycemic rate may be lower, more fine millet, if eating millet has a greater impact on blood sugar, it is recommended to eat small rice, do not eat millet porridge, or millet porridge cooking time should not be too long, because long-term cooking will increase the degree of starch gelatinization, so that starch is easier to decompose into glucose to be absorbed, which has a greater impact on blood sugar. It can also be combined with the same thickness and fineness, such as adding buckwheat, oats, quinoa, black rice and other foods with a glycemic rate of less than 50, which can reduce the glycemic rate of millet.
Although the glycemic index of millet is not a very high category, diabetics need to control their intake, and the same is true for other staple foods, and it is recommended that the intake of staple foods in a meal is about two taels. For diabetics, there are many better foods that can replace staple foods, such as potato foods, such as yams, potatoes, and purple potatoes, which have a lower glycemic index and can also provide rich carbohydrates; Coarse grain pasta, such as multigrain noodles, buckwheat noodles, wotou, multigrain steamed buns, mixed bean rice, if diabetics who love to eat white rice, they can add more whole grains such as mixed beans and brown rice, which can reduce the glycemic index and maintain a better level of blood sugar after meals.
The new version of the Dietary Guidelines for Residents recommends that adults should consume 200 300 grams of cereals per day, including 50 150 grams of whole grains and mixed beans. Millet can be on the table a lot, but it can't just be a staple food. The staple food should be thick and thin, and coarse grains account for about 1 3 of the staple food. Millet can be mixed with rice and boiled into two rice, which is perfect if you add some beans.
Eat potatoes in the morning, beans in the afternoon, and millet in the evening, from the perspective of food diversification, it is best to eat enough 3 kinds of coarse grains every day, and you can eat one for each meal, such as potatoes in the morning, beans in the afternoon, and millet in the evening. But "eat potatoes in the morning, beans in the afternoon, and millet in the evening" is just a suggestion, and you don't have to do it strictly.
With a handful of peanuts, millet has a disadvantage - it has a lower lysine content. If lysine is deficient, it can lead to reduced protein utilization. When boiling millet porridge, adding a handful of peanuts can improve this problem, the protein content of peanuts is more than 20%, of which the lysine content is higher, and the combination with millet can help improve the protein utilization.
6.How to choose millet
Good millet, leave bran on your hands after grabbing it. Porridge made of fresh millet, the rice oil is very thick, mellow and sticky; Because of the long-term storage, the porridge and rice oil boiled out of the porridge become less and the taste becomes worse. Here are 4 ways to help you choose a high-quality new millet.
Look at the grains and color: Fresh millet, the size of the rice grains is very uniform, the color is golden yellow, the gloss is good, and it looks very full. Due to water loss and moisture, Chen millet has uneven particles, whitish color, and dullness.
Smell: Normal millet has a fresh fragrance, if there is a hala smell, musty smell, or a weak rice fragrance, it may be aged millet.
Test hardness and feel: new rice is harder than old rice, bite it with your teeth when buying, if you bite it, it is old millet. Grab a handful of millet in your hand, the new rice is looser, and it will flow out like sand between your fingers; Aged rice has a greasy feel and is more likely to stick to your hands.
See if there is bran: when buying millet, you can grab a handful and then let go, if there is bran left in your hand, it means that it is fresh, if it is not likely to be aged millet, the bran has already precipitated to the bottom.
Regarding millet to lower blood sugar, in fact, it is talking about delaying the rise of blood sugar after meals, mainly because millet has a relatively low glycemic index compared with rice and wheat, so it is more suitable as a staple food for diabetic friends. However, it is necessary to pay attention to reasonable cooking methods, but also to pay attention to good amounts, and pay attention to other kinds of food to achieve balanced nutrition.