Eating More of This Grain Can Give You Thicker Hair, Softer Skin, and Help Fight Brain Fog

Circulating by means of the identical grains all through the week? Quinoa, rice, and oatmeal are scrumptious in so many varieties, however typically it’s enjoyable to attempt one thing a bit of totally different. A current craze is gluten-free, barely nutty in taste, and fluffy in texture. It’s title is fonio.  

Because the smallest member of the millet household, fonio has been cultivated in West Africa for over 5,000 years. This nutritious grain is a staple for an estimated 4 million folks, because it grows rapidly and survives in drought. The perfect half? Its versatility. Create porridge, whip up a couscous, pop it on the range like puffed quinoa, or grind it into flour for baking. At roughly the identical value as quinoa (purchase from Thrive Market, $5.39), this tremendous grain makes for a scrumptious and sensible addition to your meal rotation.  

The Dietary Make-up of Fonio 

Based on Dr. Jerry Bailey, licensed nutritionist, acupuncturist, chiropractic, and useful drugs doctor at Lakeside Holistic Well being, fonio is a superb swap for easy carbs like white rice. “The make-up of fonio is what makes it such a wholesome and complicated grain in comparison with typical mass-produced grains/crops,” he says. “Per half cup of cooked fonio you get 39 grams of complicated carbohydrate, 2 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of fats together with 4 p.c of your day by day fiber necessities.”   

It’s true that this grain is carb heavy. “There are two grams of protein in a half cup serving of fonio, however the protein content material varies by cultivar and different elements. It’s decrease in protein than the main grains,” says Julie Miller Jones, PhD, LN, CNS, and Grain Meals Basis skilled. “Fonio is a supply of starch – about 80 p.c of the grain is starch by dry weight.” 

Fonio does supply a wholesome dose of carbohydrates, but it surely nonetheless has a low glycemic index (GI)  at about 49 in sort 2 diabetics and 35 in non-diabetics. (Why would the GI change from individual to individual? GI measures how a lot a meals will increase your blood sugar ranges on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being pure glucose. Many meals trigger an even bigger rise in blood sugar in diabetics.)  

The Significance of Amino Acids

Fonio accommodates a number of amino acids, together with methionine, leucine, valine, and cysteine. Methionine, leucine, and valine are all important amino acids – the physique can’t create them by itself. Cysteine is a nonessential amino acid, which means the physique can produce it by itself.  

Cysteine is essential to hair development, because it boosts energy and elasticity and enhances hair texture. Methionine, which the physique makes use of to develop and restore tissues, additionally promotes wholesome hair. As well as, it improves tone and pliability of the pores and skin and strengthens nails. Analysis exhibits that leucine might assist in therapeutic pores and skin and bones. Valine is vital for muscle development and tissue restore.  

Dr. Jones factors out that this grain doesn’t include all of the important amino acids. So, it’s not the perfect supply of protein. “Fonio – like most plant meals – are incomplete proteins, which means they don’t include all of the important amino acids in the correct amount,” she says. “Additional, whereas the variety of research on fonio are restricted, present knowledge counsel that fonio, in comparison with different main cereals, has a decrease content material of important amino acids. Nevertheless, fonio eaten with legumes or different complementary proteins can present the amino acids wanted to make a whole protein.”  

Although this grain is an incomplete protein, the amino acids it does have are useful. “Amino acids are the constructing blocks for proteins that become muscle tissue, immune cells, and specifically glutathione, our grasp antioxidant,” says Dr. Bailey. (Glutathione, which is produced by the liver, is made up of three amino acids: glycine, cysteine, and glutamic acid. It helps construct and restore tissues and aids in immunity.)   

Fonio won’t be as excessive in protein as quinoa or excessive in fiber as oatmeal, but it surely’s nonetheless a wholesome, tasty grain with vital advantages. Whether or not you utilize it to make a garlic-y pilaf or whip leftovers of it into fluffy pancakes, we’re certain you’ll discover inventive methods to serve it up!  

This text initially appeared on our sister website, For for Girls.

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