Everyone wishes to make themselves healthier by adopting the best diet choices because whatever goes inside our bodies greatly impacts our daily performance! One way to begin your health journey is by incorporating jowar flour into your daily diet.
Jowar, also known as sorghum, is a cereal grain found in tropical and subtropical climates. Labeled as the fifth most important cereal crop grown in India, many cultures have already recognized its endless health benefits.
8 Amazing Health Benefits of Jowar Flour
Jowar atta is packed with amazing nutrients that are necessary for your health. Here are all the right reasons you must incorporate this powerhouse into your daily diet.
1. Better for People with Diabetes
Jowar is a complex carbohydrate. It takes time to absorb in your bloodstream, reducing the sudden spike in your insulin which is a blessing for people with diabetes.
Jowar also contains bran, which is rich in tannin. People living with diabetes struggle because sugars directly attack their bodies. Tannin is a component that secretes enzymes that reduce the absorption of sugar and starch in your body, regulating glucose and insulin levels.
2. Rich in Fiber and Micronutrients
A deficiency of necessary micronutrients can prove to be extremely expensive for your health. Micronutrients are a group of nutrients consisting of minerals and vitamins required to produce energy, bone health and balance fluid. Research by the United Sorghum Checkoff Program stated that sorghum flour is filled with micronutrients like vitamin B, phosphorus, copper, iron, zinc, selenium and more.
Sorghum flour is also rich in fiber. Eating more fiber has several benefits because it cannot be digested easily, keeping you full for a longer time and resisting your urge to binge eat. And compared to other grains, jowar contains more fiber in a single serving, fulfilling your daily fiber need!
3. Manages Your Cholesterol Levels
The presence of policosanols in jowar flour makes it great for people struggling to manage their cholesterol levels because policosanols reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) and encourage the growth of HDL (good cholesterol). They manage your cholesterol levels and can become a great dietary supplement.
4. Reduces Risk of Cancer and Boosts Immunity
Jowar is filled with antioxidants that reduce the presence of free radicals and oxidative stress to protect your cells from their damage that can cause cancer cells to grow in your body.
Further, a study published in the Nutrition Reviews journal observed that sorghum is a suitable ingredient for forming oral rehydration solutions and can be used as an additional treatment to boost HIV patients’ immune responses.
5. Reduces Inflammation
Jowar flour contains plenty of phytochemical antioxidants that hold anti-inflammatory properties necessary to keep your heart healthy. Hence, it can be said that jowar is great for reducing the chances of heart disease.
6. Supports Brain Health
Vitamin B is responsible for performing essential brain functions like producing energy, repairing your DNA and signaling molecules for better neurological functioning. And jowar contains a good amount of vitamin B6, making it an excellent supplement for boosting your brain health.
7. Contains Wound Healing Properties
Per 100g of jowar contains vitamin K approximately 5% of the recommended value. According to some studies, vitamin K is believed to be a potent antioxidant that can improve wound healing. It gives better control of the entire healing process in merely a short term.
8. Improves Your Blood Circulation
Iron is responsible to improve your blood circulation, while copper helps your body absorb iron better, stimulating cell growth, developing red blood cells and increasing blood circulation. And every 100g of jowar contains 8.4mg of iron, vital for developing new blood cells.
Making Jowar Flour a Daily Part of Your Diet
Jowar is one of the healthiest additions to fulfill your daily carbohydrate intake to make a balanced diet. Talking about a balanced diet, you should consume at least 55-60% carbohydrates and one or one and a half serving of jowar twice a day can fulfill this criterion.
The best part about jowar flour is that you can include it for breakfast, lunch and even dinner! For example:
- Make delicious porridge by mixing jaggery and milk for kids who are fussy eaters
- Mix jowar flour with wheat flour to make multigrain atta for rotis
- Take a 2:1 ratio (two parts jowar flour and one part rice flour) for South Indian dishes like idlis and dosas
Since the consistency of sorghum flour is denser than other ingredients like whole wheat, it takes a while to get used to the taste. Hence, it is best to mix it with other grains to get accumulated to its texture.
Author Bio
Kunal Tambe is a part of the content marketing team at Two Brothers Organic Farms. With his team, he works tirelessly to create awareness about organic farming, food sovereignty, sustainable practices, nutrition, climate change and a myriad of issues that surround these topics. His content offers value to farmers, the agriculture industry and to end consumers. Besides writing and developing content strategies, he loves adventure sports and listening to classical music.
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