Buckwheat IS a FRUIT

[Guest guest]

O.k folks I saved the arcticle about buckwheat, it came from my

Health Sience Institute newsletter.

 

Dear Reader,

 

When I sent you an e-Alert last June about the nutritional

value of buckwheat as a possible prebiotic (a carbohydrate

that prompts the growth of " friendly " bacteria in the

digestive tract), I didn't imagine that I'd have more to say

about buckwheat just a few months later.

 

Now a new study shows that buckwheat may also help diabetics

lower blood glucose levels. And when you consider that

buckwheat is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins,

minerals, and essential amino acids, then you've got a food

product that's primed and ready to become the next health-

food superstar.

 

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Something in the mix

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As I told you in the e-Alert " To the Waffle House "

(6/18/03), buckwheat is not a type of wheat or even a grain.

In fact, technically it's a fruit. And because previous

studies have shown that buckwheat may help increase insulin

sensitivity, researchers at the Department of Human

Nutritional Sciences at the University of Manitoba (UM) in

Canada devised a study to examine the effects of buckwheat

on elevated blood glucose levels.

 

The UM scientists chemically induced type 1 diabetes in

about 40 laboratory rats. The rats were fed either buckwheat

extract or a placebo. When their blood glucose

concentrations were measured, the rats given the buckwheat

had glucose levels that were reduced 12 to 19 percent. There

was no reduction of glucose concentration in any of the rats

that received only placebo.

 

The next step for the UM team will be to duplicate the test

in rats induced with type 2 diabetes. The researchers

predict that buckwheat will also lower glucose

concentrations in the type 2 test. This prediction is based

in part on previous studies that have shown how a component

of buckwheat called chiro-inositol may prompt cells to

become more insulin-sensitive.

 

In a news release issued by the American Chemical Society,

the lead author of the study, Carla G. Taylor, said their

research demonstrates that buckwheat may provide diabetics

with a " safe, easy and inexpensive way to lower glucose

levels and reduce the risk of complications. " But until

research can be done with human subjects, the researchers

can't yet estimate just how much buckwheat would need to be

eaten to create a beneficial effect on glucose levels.

 

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Helping the good guys

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Whether you eat buckwheat products to help with glucose

concentrations or to reap the benefits of B vitamins and

omega-3 fatty acids, there is another potential health

benefit to eating buckwheat. As I said in the June e-Alert,

researchers in Madrid, Spain, used a trial with rats to

demonstrate that buckwheat may act as a prebiotic,

encouraging the growth of probiotics - or friendly bacteria -

in the digestive tract.

 

At HSI we've written many times about the necessity of

probiotic organisms. In a healthy individual, these

beneficial bacteria inhabit the digestive tract in massive

numbers, crowding out harmful bacteria, aiding digestion,

and supporting immune function. This healthy " gut flora "

produces valuable nutrients (including certain B vitamins

and omega-3 fatty acids), digestive enzymes like lactase,

and immune chemicals that fight harmful bacteria and even

cancer cells.

 

But this critical ecosystem is fragile and can be easily

disturbed by any number of factors, including poor

nutrition, stress, surgery, parasitic infestation, and

synthetic drugs. When the number or activity level of your

good bacteria drops too low, it opens the door for harmful

bacteria to proliferate, allowing the opportunity for

diseases to develop.

 

Sufficient amounts of intestinal flora can be maintained

through dietary sources such as cultured products like

yogurt and kefir, and lignans such as flaxseed, carrots,

spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, millet, and... buckwheat!

 

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The way of the buckwheat

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I asked HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., for his opinion on

buckwheat, and he reminded me of the acronym " BROW, " which

can help us remember which grains pose potential problems

for diabetics. Dr. Spreen said: " Barley, rye, oat, and wheat

(BROW) are the high-gluten grains, so buckwheat would be

fine in their stead, as it is not a gluten-containing

product. Buckwheat is a good flour to use for lots of

purposes because it is difficult to refine, so to my

knowledge they don't bother.

 

" As an aside, for those who are trying to go 'gluten-free,'

oat seems to not bother gluten-sensitive people that much,

though it's in the BROW group. Personally, I've seen lots of

people allergic to wheat but able to tolerate both barley

and oat. Unprocessed forms are better, of course. "

 

A search on the Internet will quickly turn up several

sources that sell buckwheat. And many of those web sites

also provide buckwheat recipes that go beyond pancakes,

waffles, and noodles; the three food items that buckwheat is

most well known for. But if you do whip up some buckwheat

waffles, you might try sweetening them with buckwheat honey,

which happens to have much higher antioxidant levels than

typical lighter honeys.

 

It seems you just can't go wrong when you go with the

buckwheat.

 

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