2023 is declared as the international year of millets

Government of India’s proposal for the International Year of Millets was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and 2023 is being celebrated as the year of millets.‘Millets’ were among the first crops to be domesticated in India with several evidence of its consumption during the Indus valley civilization and are currently the traditional and staple food for people of several regions.In India, 2018 was declared as the National Year of millets and these wonder crops were branded as nutri cereals.

02/6Millets are good for the health

Millets are rich in antioxidants, fiber and protein. These are extremely easy to cook and can be made into delicious dishes within no time. Nutrition content, proper cultivation condition, the ease of cooking makes millets superior to processed foods. These wonder foods are extremely good in regulating cholesterol and blood sugar level, two of the major diseases which most of the population is dealing with currently.Millets are gluten free, and are hence good for those who find it difficult to process gluten loaded wheats and other flour.Millet consumption reduces triglycerides and C-reactive protein, which are known to cause cardiovascular disease.

03/6Millets for diabetes management

A 2021 research study led by the Smart Food Initiative at ICRISAT had found that those with diabetes who consumed millets daily saw a drop in the blood glucose level by 12-15%.The researchers said that millet consumption dropped the blood sugar level of diabetics to pre-diabetics levels.In case of pre-diabetic individuals the HbA1c lowered up to 17% and returned to the normal level.The study titled “A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Potential of Millets for Managing and Reducing the Risk of Developing Diabetes Mellitus” was published in the ‘Frontiers in Nutrition’. The study was a meta analysis of about 1,000 human subjects done from October 2017 to February 2021.READMORE

04/6Millets have low GI

The suitability of a food for diabetics is measured through GI or the glycemic index. The researchers found that millets have a low GI of 52.7. This is almost 30% lower than the GI of polished rice and refined wheat. It is even less than that of maize, another popular crop in the country. It was found that even during cooking, the GI of millets remained much lower than rice and maize.

05/6Know your millets

Millets are a group of small grained cereal crops. Millets comprise of Sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (cheena), Kodo millet (kodo), Barnyard millet (sawa, sanwa, jhangora), little millet (kutki), brown top millet, buckwheat millet (kuttu) and amaranth (chaulai).Sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet are known as major millets. Foxtail millet, kodo millet, barnyard millet, little millet and proso millets are known as minor millets.Amaranth and buckwheat are known as pseudo millets.

06/6How to add millets to diet to control diabetes?

What makes millet a good food is its availability and the ease of cooking.Cooking millets does not take much time and can be easily prepared within minutes.One can make delicious khichdi using millets.Millet flour can be used to make pancakes and rotis.