Millets

For the bigger cause
Most of us predominantly use wheat products or rice as our staple food. In most households: semolina, vermicelli, wheat flour, broken wheat, rice, puffed rice, rice flakes and hand pounded rice are used.  Apart from these there are so many other cereals and grains which can be included in our diet. One just needs to take that little extra interest and effort.
Why should you use diverse flours?
Different flours have different percentages of vitamins and minerals. The following are compared with WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR for better understanding:
1. Bajra /pearl millet has 2 times the iron content and 4 times the carotene. It has the highest folic acid content amoung all flours. 
2. Kuttu ka atta/ Italian millet/foxtail millet has 4 times more crude fibre. More fibre keeps you full for longer and helps in keeping the digestive tract clean. 
3. Ragi / finger millet has 6 times more calcium. This is of special importance to people with lactose intolerance. 
4. Jowar / Sorghum has high magnesium content. Magnesium is required for cellular metabolism and bone health.
5. Maize flour has higher content of almost all the essential amino acids. 
What can you do?
Slowly include different flours in your daily cooking. There are many recipes available on the net. Some ways of using them are:
• Thalipet /roti 
• Multigrain chapathis
• Homemade cakes and biscuits
• Homemade breads
• Dry snacks
Due to the hype in media, only a few grains are showcased as healthy. The big picture involves the government policies, export- import policies and corporate dominance. On our part, we can break the trend and help the local farmers by supporting the crops that they grow. They might not be backed by big corporates but hopefully the increased demand in their crops will motivate them to stay afloat. Slowly but steadily, it can turn into a win-win situation.