Cereals are very important for our diet as they represent the main source of carbohydrates.
Gluten-free cereals can be consumed without health risks by people suffering from celiac disease but should be included in everyone’s diet, to ensure a varied diet that provides the body with all the nutrients it needs.
Gluten-free cereals: what they are and what advantages they have for nutrition
Gluten-free grains include corn, rice, millet, oats and teff as well as pseudocereals, i.e. buckwheat and quinoa.
People with celiac disease must include these cereals in their daily diet. People intolerant to gluten can also consume oats, as long as they are certified gluten-free.
Obviously gluten-free cereals are not only intended for celiac people, but can be consumed by everyone. The most important rule behind a healthy diet is in fact that of varying foods often, and this also applies to cereals.
Cereals are very important from a nutritional point of view and should be consumed every day, because they represent the main source of carbohydrates in our diet, substances that should cover about 55% of our daily energy needs.
In addition to carbohydrates, cereals provide good amounts of fiber , very important for intestinal well-being, and micronutrients essential for our health, such as vitamins and minerals.
For culture and tradition in our country a lot of wheat and rice are consumed , but little space is given to minor cereals. This causes our diet to be often monotonous, while nature offers us a great variety of products to draw from to meet nutritional needs and taste.
Millet, buckwheat, quinoa and other gluten-free grains should therefore become part of our diet to ensure variety of nutrients and flavors.
Index
- Rice
- Corn
- Teff
- Mile
- Oats
- Sorghum
- Buckwheat
- Quinoa
- Amaranth
Rice
Rice ( Oryza sativa) is one of the most important cereals for human nutrition and is the staple food for about one billion people in the world.
Rice grains are rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber, have a low fat content and have proteins with a good biological value. Rice also contains B vitamins and mineral salts, including potassium and magnesium.
It should be borne in mind that the processing of brown rice to refined involves an impoverishment of the nutritional components and a partial loss of fiber, vitamins and proteins and an enrichment of starch. To overcome this problem, the parbolization process is used: parboiled rice preserves the nutritional value of brown rice.
Among the carbohydrates present in rice, starch stands out, which in the grains of this cereal is composed of 80% of small granules that make this cereal particularly digestible.
The high digestibility of rice, combined with hypoallergenicity and nutritional characteristics make this cereal suitable for everyone’s diet, especially children, the elderly and the debilitated.
Corn
Maize ( Zea mais ) is the third most cultivated cereal in the world, after wheat and rice. In human nutrition it is hardly consumed in the form of grains: corn flour is more widespread, from which polenta is obtained. In addition to providing complex carbohydrates and fiber, corn has a good content of vitamin E and B vitamins including biotin (vitamin B8), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and thiamine (vitamin B1). Yellow corn is also a good source of provitamin A.
Teff
Teff is a cereal originating from some areas of Africa and still little known and used in our country. It is perhaps the smallest cereal in the world and yet its grains have excellent nutritional characteristics, as they are rich in proteins of high biological value.
It also contains low glycemic index carbohydrates and high amounts of fiber, as well as mineral salts, among which calcium stands out.
The consumption of teff is therefore particularly suitable for diabetics, for those who are intolerant to gluten and for those who may experience calcium deficiencies, including vegans and postmenopausal women.
Mile
In the past, millet (Panicum miliaceum) was mainly used for feeding farm animals, but recently the use of this cereal for human consumption has been re-evaluated mainly because the shelled grains of millet do not contain gluten, therefore the their consumption is indicated in those suffering from celiac disease.
Introducing millet into the diet is useful for everyone since the grains of this minor cereal are rich in complex carbohydrates that are easily digested even by children, the elderly, pregnant women and in all situations where digestion is slowed down or difficult.
Oats
In the past, oats played a very important role in human nutrition which has been gradually lost to make room for other cereals. The interest in the nutritional properties of oats has recently been rediscovered as this cereal has proved useful in the prevention of metabolic diseases, by controlling blood cholesterol levels.
Today oats are marketed in the form of flakes and flour used to make biscuits, diet products and to prepare porridge, a typical dish of Anglo-Saxon cuisine. In addition to containing carbohydrates and fibers, compared to other cereals, Avena sativa has a higher content of proteins (12.6-14.9%), lipids and iron.
Sorghum
Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) is a minor cereal not very common for human consumption but particularly interesting from a nutritional point of view for the high amount of fiber capable of increasing the sense of satiety, regulating the absorption of nutrients and improving transit intestinal.
Thanks to its characteristics, sorghum is not only useful for celiacs but also for people with intestinal problems such as constipation and poor digestion.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum ) is a pseudo-cereal used mainly in the form of flour, with which the famous Valtellina pizzoccheri and yaki soba, spaghetti of Japanese cuisine are prepared. Buckwheat flour is also used in the preparation of cakes and to enrich bread dough.
Buckwheat grains consist mainly of easily digestible starch, as well as proteins with good biological value, B vitamins and mineral salts including iron, zinc, selenium and potassium.
Quinoa
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a pseudo-cereal that is generally eaten in grains. The small quinoa seeds are particularly appreciated for the high content of high biological value proteins as well as for the absence of gluten, characteristics that make it particularly suitable for the diet of celiac people and for those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Quinoa also contains good amounts of mineral salts, B vitamins and vitamin E.
Amaranth
Amaranth too, like buckwheat and quinoa, is not part of the cereal family but is considered like cereals for its nutritional properties and for the way it is consumed.
In fact, amaranth contains high amounts of carbohydrates but, unlike the seeds of Graminaceae, it contains much more proteins and is naturally gluten-free.
The proteins present in amaranth seeds have a high biological value, i.e. they contain essential amino acids that our body is unable to synthesize. Furthermore, amaranth seeds have a low glycemic index.
The consumption of amaranth is recommended to everyone, in particular to those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, to those who must keep their blood sugar under control and to those suffering from gluten intolerance.
A monotonous diet can be boring and above all lead more often to dietary deficiencies, especially as regards vitamins and minerals.
Introducing other grains into the diet is of great help in providing the body with all the nutrients it needs
