Ragi, also known as Finger Millet, has the highest potassium and calcium content of any millet, as well as most grains and cereals. The list doesn’t end there. Ragi is also high in polyphenols and dietary fiber, both of which have numerous health advantages.
Finger millet, often known as ragi, is a cereal popular in South India and several African countries. It is regarded as a weight-loss miracle grain. Finger millet has a lot of fiber and is high in calcium.
It is regarded as the most effective treatment for diabetics. It’s also a popular infant meal in southern India. Finger millet porridge is provided to babies as young as 28 days old to aid digestion. This will assist strengthen the baby’s bones by providing the body with a lot of calcium and iron.
Ragi
Ragi, formally known as Eleusine coracana, is an annual grain crop that is widely grown in tropical Africa and Asia, including Ethiopia, India, and Sri Lanka. Finger millet, being densely packed with nutrients, provides essential health benefits such as improving digestion, lowering the risk of heart disease, slowing ageing, and managing diabetes.
The Ragi is also known as finger millet in English due to the look of the grain’s head, which has five spikes and so resembles the five fingers attached to the palm of the hand. Prior to the 1950s, organically grown whole grains such as ragi were considered a traditional diet until rice became India’s main meal.
This variety of annual grass grows up to a height of 1 to 2 m, belongs to the Gramineae botanical family. The leaves are slender and green, measuring between 30 and 70 cm. Straight or curving branches contain seeds organized in florets that might be brown, red, or purple in color.
Ragi plant seeds are dried, cleaned, and stored as grains as they mature. Thus, commercially available ragi is either in the form of nutritious super grains or threshed under high pressure and sold as flour after various processing procedures such as milling and malting have been used.
Nutritional Facts
Ragi has an excellent nutritional profile, with high levels of critical micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, and all of the required macronutrients such as carbs, fiber, fats, and proteins. The nutrition values in a 100-gram serving of ragi flour, according to the nutrient are as follows:
- Energy: 305 kJ
- Carbohydrates: 53.5 g
- Dietary fiber: 22.6 g
- Fat: 1.9 g
- Protein: 7.4 g
- Calcium: 344 mg
- Iron: 11.3 mg
- Magnesium: 154 mg
- Phosphorus: 183 mg
- Potassium: 538 mg
- Sodium: 2 mg
- Zinc: 1.7 mg
- Water: 11 g
Aside from these essential nutrients, it is strong in antioxidants like as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin C, folic acid, and others. It also contains amino acids such as isoleucine, tryptophan, valine, methionine, and threonine. Ragi is high in a number of nutrients that are necessary for health.
Health Benefits of Ragi
Ragi, as previously said, is a grain superfood. It is the only gluten-free grain and can assist with a number of digestive and allergy disorders. This is a tiny grain that cannot be refined or treated, its nutrients are kept in their native condition.
The sugar level of any grain increases with refining, whereas Ragi, an unrefined and unprocessed grain, has a low sugar content. Ragi has the following health benefits:
1. Helps in Weight Loss
Ragi is a fibrous grain that helps you feel fuller for longer. It suppresses your appetite, protecting you from overeating. It is also high in many nutrients that aid with weight control. Finger millet contains tryptophans, which have been related to weight loss.
Ragi has a lot of fiber, which keeps your stomach full and prevents you from having cravings. Ragi’s high dietary fiber content makes it useful in a weight loss diet by keeping stomach fuller for longer and boosting digestive system.
2. Skin Rejuvenation
Ragi has an amazing ability to keep skin looking young and healthy. Its important amino acids, such as methionine and lysine, make skin tissues less prone to wrinkles and sagging. Skin revitalization is one of the most prevalent Finger millet flour benefits.
Ragi offers skin-healthy revitalizing and beautifying effects. It is high in amino acids like methionine and lysine, and antioxidants like vitamin C, which have anti-aging and skin-vitalizing qualities, that also delivering a refreshing look and radiant shine to skin.
3. Fights Anemia
Ragi is a high-quality source of natural iron. That is why it is excellent for people who have low cholesterol and anemia. Vitamin C levels tend to rise when this millet is allowed to grow. Finger millet is an iron-rich food that can help those who have low hemoglobin levels in their blood, thus curing anemia.
Ragi is also an excellent source of iron. Because anemia is caused by an iron shortage in the body, including ragi foods in diet will help alleviate anemia. Finger millet is high in iron, which helps with iron deficiency. Anemia is caused by a lack of hemoglobin, which is caused by iron deficiency.
4. Beneficial for Hair
Ragi has several nutrients that support hair health and prevent different hair-related issues such as hair loss, grey hair, dandruff, and so on. Because ragi is a natural relaxant, it also reduces stress-related hair loss. Finger millet is high in protein and aids in the prevention of hair loss.
Ragi is a high-protein meal, as its nutritional value reveals. Hair is made entirely of protein, and a deficiency of keratin protein in the body causes hair loss. Eating Ragi can help prevent hair loss and give the body with enough of protein. Finger millet is also known to prevent premature hair greying.
5. Aids in Diabetes
Ragi is the wonder grain for diabetics because of its nutritional benefits. It has dietary fibers, polyphenols, phytates, tannins, amino acids, and other minerals that help manage blood sugar levels. A high-fiber diet inhibits glucose absorption in the body.
Ragi intake regularly can help lower risk of diabetes. This is a healthy breakfast choice for diabetics. It helps to lower cholesterol levels in the body. It decreases oxidative stress and inflammation, which are either causes of diabetes or promotes it.
6. Promotes a Gluten-Free Diet
Ragi, which is naturally gluten-free, may readily be replaced for wheat in chapatis, dosas, and sweets or mithais, and is often advised for celiac sufferers. Finger millet is a healthy source of carbohydrates; it is gluten-free and ideal for gluten-intolerant people.
Ragi flour is the greatest nondairy calcium sources. It contains several vital amino acids. Finger millet is high in fiber, its digestion process is more complex, and eating Finger millet at night is typically not advised especially for people with digestive issues or gluten allergies.
Also Read: Coconut Oil For Skin And Hair: Benefits, Uses And Side Effects
How To Use
Ragi is so little that it cannot be polished very much, which means it keeps all of the nice stuff. Chapatis, bhakris, chilla, dosas, porridges, cakes, pancakes, parathas, and cookies may all be made with ragi flour!
Upma can be made with whole ragi. The whole Finger millet is cleaned for a few seconds, and then the surplus water is drained and set aside. Finger millet can now absorb the remaining water and swell slightly.
Ragi can also be made into malt. It has been immersed for 12 hours. The roots are then extracted after being knotted for 2–3 days. After that, the grains are dry roasted, ground into a fine powder, and sieved.
Finger millet flour can be ground and used to make cakes, puddings, and porridge. In Nepal and many parts of Africa, the flour is fermented into a drink. Animal feed is made from the straw of finger millet.
Side Effects
Ragi is safe to consume, those with kidney issues may experience negative effects. It contains a lot of calcium, which can cause kidney stones and raise oxalic acid levels in the body.
Finger millet should also be avoided by persons who suffer from indigestion, gas, or constipation because it takes a long time to digest. It has a high protein content, which might induce pain and indigestion.
Ragi is also bad for babies because it takes a long time to digest due to its high protein content. It is a heavy food for babies; therefore avoid giving it to them.
Summary
Ragi is a nutritious cuisine that is ideal for people of all ages. Ragi has an incredible nutritional content, and because it is gluten-free, it is also an important part of a vegan diet. It is the ideal diet component for fitness enthusiasts and people who want to make good food choices every day.
It would be reasonable to label Finger millet a super food based only on its health advantages. Ragi has drawn interest for its possible use as a functional food as well. These dark red pearls, which are a great source of calcium, protein, and iron, undoubtedly merit further attention.
