Buckwheat
- Is actually a fruit seed related to rhubarb and sorrel and so is not a true cereal but a pseudocereal.
- 1 cup of buckwheat will provide the following % Daily Values (%DV):
- 34 % Manganese
- 25% Tryptophan
- 21% Magnesium
- 12.5% Copper - It is rich in fibre and plant lignans. These lignans are converted in the bowel by bacteria there to mammalian lignans such as enterolactone which helps protect the breast against hormone sensitive tumours by blocking the action of endogenous hormones.
FODMAP Friendly
- FODMAPs are readily digestible carbohydrates and sugar alcohols.
- For more information on FODMAPs - Click here
Cardiovascular Disease Protection
- This 'grain' is rich in magnesium, important for vascular dilation
- Epidemiological studies of the Yi Chinese population who have a high consumption of buckwheat, had a very favourable lipid profile with low total cholesterol levels, low LDL cholesterol (the 'bad' cholesterol) and high levels of HDL (the 'good' cholesterol)
- The lipid lowering action of buckwheat is due to rutin and other flavonoid compounds. It is an antioxidant in its own right but rutin also extends the action of Vitamin C another powerful antioxidant in the body.
- Atherosclerosis is essentially a chronic inflammatory process where lipid (LDL) deposits in the blood vessel wall become oxidized (inflamed). Antioxidants such as rutin and vitamin C can help dampen down this oxidization process thus limiting vascular damage and slowing down occlusion of blood vessels.
- Mammalian lignans also protect the heart.
D-chiro inositol (graphic below): Insulin Resistant Disease and Diabetes
- Buckwheat is rich in d-chiro-inositol
- It is thought that d-chiro-inositol makes cells more sensitive to insulin
- It may also act like an insulin mimic
- Thus d-chiro-inositol may be important in insulin resistant states such as pre-diabetes, Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
- Many studies have show a significant blood glucose lowering effect of buckwheat
