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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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With obesity on the rise and diabetes following, here’s a natural and tasty food that can help control both.
Canadian researchers have found new evidence that buckwheat may be helpful in managing diabetes, a condition rapidly on the increase in Australia and New Zealand. The researchers found that an extract of buckwheat, fed to diabetic rats, lowered their blood-sugar levels by 12 to 19 per cent. Although buckwheat can’t cure diabetes, it’s now thought it could be useful in its management.
Despite its name, buckwheat isn’t a grain—it isn’t related to wheat in any way. It’s actually the seed of a plant related to rhubarb. The seeds are small and triangular with pointed ends. They are usually cooked directly or ground into a nutty-tasting flour.
Buckwheat contains relatively high levels of a natural substance called chiro-inositol (CI). CI is thought to make the body’s cells more sensitive to insulin or may act as an insulin mimic to lower blood sugar.
Buckwheat also has a relatively low glycaemic index (GI), which means it promotes a more gradual and favourable rise in blood-sugar levels in the blood after eating, compared to white rice, for example.
It is a good source of protein, thiamin, niacin, iron and magnesium.
How do you eat it?
Cook it
whole and eat it as “porridge” for breakfast.
Use it instead
of rice in pilafs and risottos—kasha is a popular
dish in Russian, Polish and Jewish cuisine.
Add
Japanese Soba noodles to broths.
Make
biscuits with buckwheat flour.
Prepare
Russian blinis (small pancakes made with buckwheat flour)
You can buy buckwheat from health food shops and some supermarkets. And note, it is also useful for people with an allergy to wheat or gluten. For a healthful and tasty buckwheat recipe, click here.
Extract from Signs of the Times, October 2004.
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