All the advantages of buckwheat. Plus one
This so-called pseudo cereal has in fact the same use as its relatives cereal grains and boasts, notoriously, many nutritional properties.
In the kitchen it is known above all for two dishes of the Lombard tradition: the pizzoccheri and the polenta taragna. In fact, it is no coincidence that the areas in which it is grown are mainly in Valtellina and Trentino Alto Adige.
It is a non-cereal not to be underestimated for its extraordinary nutritional characteristics.
The question we are most often interested in is: does it contain gluten? The answer is no: buckwheat is a gluten free seed.
It is rich in minerals such as magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, selenium and phosphorus, vitamins of group B and E and fiber. It is also an excellent source of vegetable protein, its seeds contain it 18% protein and provide essential amino acids (lysine, threonine and tryptophan). It is also a source of antioxidants, such as rutin and tannins.
I study
And precisely thanks to the properties antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, it seems to contribute in a particular way to the quality of life after a resection surgery pancreas. It supports it a study conducted by the Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis (Create), and from the University of Rome Sapienza. In essence, the researchers selected 18 patients, operated on for 3 years of pancreatic resection, not undergoing chemotherapy and with a body mass index of less than 19. Within the sample group, two subgroups were monitored which were monitored for a long time, first , during and after the analysis. The first group was given a snack of 70 grams of malted buckwheat per day, while the second was given an equivalent, but rice-based snack. In the first group, at the end of the observation period, the patients had improved their nutritional status, increasing the intestinal ability to absorb food. In addition, patients reported reducing abdominal pain (very common in this clinical picture) and a substantial decrease in steatorrhea (stools with undigested fat), frequent in this type of patient.
The pancreas, this unknown
In Greek πάγκρεας, it means "everything" and "meat" and it is a very important gland attached to the digestive system. Yet it often happens that ordinary people (doctors are obviously excluded!) Do not know how to indicate their tasks.
The main function of this organ is to produce pancreatic juice, which is used to digest certain substances in the small intestine, including carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, and to produce insulin and glucagon, the purpose of which is to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood. Despite being an indispensable gland for vital functions, it is still possible to live without a pancreas or without a portion of it. But after a pancreatectomy it is clear that lifestyle becomes precious and fundamental. And buckwheat seems to be the most suitable food.
Buckwheat
Ndoes not belong to the botanical family of grasses, but to that of the polygonaceae is it stands out for mostly for the high biological value of proteins, higher than that of any other product of plant origin. A few decades ago it was grown in the Alpine valleys, especially in Valtellina and South Tyrol is on the Apennines. Today this precious crop has almost completely disappeared and Italy imports this food from other producing countries (mainly China, the USA, Tanzania, the Netherlands and Poland).
Emanuela Di Pasqua,
May 2018
updated in April 2020
by Barbara Roncarolo
Ph. Credits: Pixabay + Pixabay
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