BEST CEREALS, THE HOLISTIC FOOD
(Cereals means food – writing this blog in such a details is to highlight the importance of the cereals)
Due to many misconceptions now
a days we are keeping cereals away from our food and increasing intake of
vegetables, fruits, pulses & beans. But when we study the cereals and
compare them with other food types cereals emerge as the best food we have. Cereals
offers such a great variety of nutrients and in an appropriate quantities
required by the body. We can say that they are the miracle of the nature and
the most holistic food on earth.
As we lost many
healthy traditions we are also losing the most holistic food from our diet. The
age old science of Ayurveda starts with cereals while informing about the
various food types, giving them the topmost importance. Let’s understand the
science about the Cereals in great detail. If you able to understand about the
Cereals you are very close to your health and you can resolve many of your
health issue. You can get read of tons of medicines. After all what our
forefathers were eating?
According to Ayurveda Cereals have Earth and Water as
their dominant elements, so naturally cereals or grains are sweet in taste and
heaviness is their main quality. They have to be cooked properly to make them
lighter and suitable for digestion. In the Indian context, wheat, rice, barley,
ragi, corn and different kind of millets (Jawar & Bajra) are the
cereals, the grains. In other parts of the world, you may also find oats, rye
and quinoa.
Let us first understand an essential topic in the
modern science’s perspective. We can divide the food types in 2 main
groups: macronutrients and micronutrients. To make it simple
macronutrients are those types we need in relatively large amounts, measured in
grams, as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibers and water. And the types we need
in minute, trace amounts, measured in milligrams or micrograms, are
micronutrients, as vitamins and minerals.
(1 gram= 1000 milligrams, 1 milligram= 1000 micrograms)
In general, what
is the need of each food type per person? One way to understand it is that our
total caloric requirement should be fulfilled as follows: 70-75% from
carbohydrates, 10-15% from proteins and 5-10% from fats.
Let’s see what an
Indian adult male weighing 70 kg will need as a recommended daily allowance
Chart One
Recommended Daily Allowance of an Adult Indian Man (70kg)
Macronutrients |
Micronutrients
|
||||
Vitamins
|
Minerals
|
||||
Carbohydrates
|
350
grams
|
Vit
A
|
1000
µg
|
Calcium
|
800
mg
|
Proteins
|
70
grams
|
Vit
B1
|
1.5
mg
|
Phosphorus
|
800
mg
|
Fats
|
40
grams
|
Vit
B2
|
2mg
|
Iron
|
10
mg
|
Fibres
|
30
grams
|
Vit
B3
|
20
mg
|
Copper
|
2
mg
|
Vit
B6
|
2mg
|
Iodine
|
200
µg
|
||
Vit
B9
|
150
µg
|
Magnesium
|
350
mg
|
||
Vit
B12
|
2-3
µg
|
||||
Vit
C
|
60
mg
|
||||
Vit
D
|
5
µg
|
||||
Vit
E
|
10
µg
|
||||
Vit
K
|
70
µg
|
||||
Here we can clearly differentiate the macro & micro
nutrients. The carbohydrates, proteins, fats and fibres are required in grams
and all others such as Vitamins & minerals in mg and microgram.
Just focus on the quantity of Vitamins and minerals we need. Compare these 50,
60,400 grams of macro nutrients with these few micrograms and milligrams of
micro-nutrients.
And
to fulfil this requirement they recommend to have following food types for an
adult doing moderate work
Chart Two
Food Items Required to Fulfil
Nutritional Needs
of a 70 kg Indian male adult performing moderate work
Food
Items
|
Vegetarian
|
Non-Vegetarian
|
Cereals,
grains
|
475
g
|
475
g
|
Pulses,
beans
|
80
g
|
65
g
|
Vegetables
|
200
g
|
200
g
|
Roots
& Tubers
|
100
g
|
100
g
|
Fruits
|
30
g
|
30
g
|
Fats
& Oils
|
40
g
|
40
g
|
Milk
|
200
ml
|
100
ml
|
Meat
& Fish
|
30
g
|
|
Eggs
|
30
g
|
|
Sugar
& Jaggery
|
40
g
|
40
g
|
Another way to estimate it is as follows. The average
daily need of carbohydrates per person is 4-6 g per kg of body weight. So for a
70 kg person, the requirement of carbohydrates will be around 280-420 g per
day. The daily need of protein is 1g/kg, so a 70 kg person will need 70 g of proteins per day. The daily need of fats is 0.5 to 0.6 grams / kg
body weight. So for 70 kg person it will be 35-42 grams/ day.
This data will help you to understand the difference between the
need of macro and micro-nutrients. Today we are experiencing a strong change.
Everyone is focusing on the vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Many, many health
issues are being correlated with micro-nutrients deficiencies. As a
consequence, if a particular food item has a good content of one or another
vitamin or mineral, everybody will turn to it and consuming it becomes a
fashion, a healthy one. This has happened with products such as milk for
calcium; green leaves like spinach, pulses like soy beans for iron; pomegranate
for phosphorus; berries or guava for vitamin C; carrots for vitamin A; olives
for vitamin E; dates or figs for some of the B group vitamins; and meat
& Cheese for Vitamin B 12.
These days, people in general tend to prefer fruits
and vegetables because they have more vitamins, minerals and fibre. It is
something like being in front of a 7 ft tall person. Naturally, due to this particular
characteristic, he can very easily perform some work at heights others cannot
reach. But no one considers that he may be lacking so many other
qualities. He may not be very strong, his bones may be weak and he may have
certain health issues. On the other side, we have a person with an average
height who may not perform tasks at such heights. But he or she will have all
the average qualities, and will basically be strong enough to do the routine
work without much of health hindrances. In the same way, vegetables and fruits
may have good content of few vitamins and minerals, but lack several other
important nutrients to the surprisingly high amounts.
Let’s have a look at different food types to
know the facts.
Chart Three
NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF DIFFERENT FOOD TYPES
(We are considering here unpolished cereals and pulses, and
unrefined fats)
Food Item
|
Carbohydrates
|
Proteins
|
Fats
|
Minerals
|
Vitamins
|
Fibre
|
Water
|
Cereals
|
66.2-78.2 %
|
6.8-12.1%
|
0.5-1.7%
|
0.9-2.7%
|
B group vitamins (8 vitamins)
|
0.6-3.9%
|
11.9-14.9%
|
Pulses
|
54.5-60.9%
|
17.1- 28.2%
|
0.5- 1.7%
|
2.1-3.5%
|
B group vitamins (8 Vitamins)
|
0.7-5.3%
|
8.1-13.4 %
|
Leafy Vegetables
|
1.4-13 %
very few more
|
0.4-8%
|
0.1- 0.8%
|
0.6-3.4%
|
Vitamin A & C
|
0,8-4,8%
|
73-95%
|
Fruit Vegetables
|
2.2-17 %
very few more
|
0.4-4.1%
|
0.1-1.9%
few more |
0.3-1.6%
few more |
Vitamin A & C
|
0.5-3.0% few more
|
70-96.5 %
|
Fruits
|
3-30%
few more
|
0.2-1.8%
few more
|
0.1-1.5%
few more |
0.1-1.7%
few more
|
Vitamin C
|
0.5-5%
few more |
60-95.8 %
|
Roots & tubers
|
3.4-28 %
few more
|
0.2-2.5%
|
0.1-0.7%
|
0.4-2%
|
Vitamin B group & small amounts of Vitamin C
|
0.1-1.7%
|
60-94 %
few less |
Nuts & oil seeds
|
10-28.9 %
few more
|
13.9-25.3%
few less
few more
|
25.6-64.5% few less
|
0.6-6.4%
|
Vitamin A,D,E,K
|
1-10.9%
few more |
3-6.5 %
few more |
Oils
|
00.00%
|
00.00%
|
100%
|
very minimal
|
Vitamin A,D,E,K
|
00.00%
|
00.00 %
|
Fish & sea food
|
0.9-7 %
|
8.9-25.2%
Dried: 56-68 %
|
0.4-10.8%
few more |
0.9-3.2%
Dried: 12-17.4%
|
Vitamin D
Not much other vitamins
|
0.0%
|
53-83%
Dried: 5-18 %
|
Meat, poultry & eggs
|
0.1-3.7 %
|
13,3-26.6 %
|
0.9-13.7%
|
1.0-2.4%
|
B group vitamins
|
0.0%
|
68.8-79.4 %
|
Let’s do some mathematics for some more clarity. Now
considering the chart one, two & three an adult male with 70 kg of
weight and doing the moderate work if consumes 450-475 grams of cereals, this
will complete almost the 80-82% of his carbohydrates’ need and around 1/2 of
proteins’ requirement and it will provide just 4.5 grams of fats if we
consider it has 1 % of fats.
(Calculation= 475 grams of cereal will have 332 grams of carbs if
we consider it has 70% of carbs , 475 grams of cereals will provide 38 grams of
proteins if we consider it has 8 % of proteins).
# These calculations are just to give you some direction. Please
don’t take them absolutely correct one.
If unpolished they provide good amount of fibres, almost the
same as vegetables and fruits, and a good amount of minerals almost like
vegetables (rather fruits has less minerals –refer the chart three) and B group
vitamins except Vitamin B12. It is important to remember that Vitamin B group
contains 8 vitamins, almost half of the total number of vitamins. So, having a
good quantity of this particular group, cereals have a major part of the
vitamins’ requirement. Concerning minerals, cereals have: Calcium, 0.01-0.05%,
Phosphorus, 0.17-0.35%, Iron, 2.8-8.8%.
Let’s calculate how much calcium
cereals give. 100 grams of Wheat has 41 mg of Calcium. Now if one has 475 grams
of wheat he will get 194.75 means almost 25 % of the need.
In a same way it will complete almost half the need of Phosphorus (100 gm
of wheat has 306 mg of Phosphorus) and the iron (100 gm wheat has 5.3 mg iron)
# From above calculation we can conclude that
Cereals are providing us almost 80-85% of the nutrients we need including 80 %
of Carbs, 50 % of proteins, half of the vitamins, most of the minerals
& fibre. What they lack is in fats, vitamins such as the fat soluble
vitamins A, D, E, K, as well as vitamins C and B 12, about 1/2 of the protein
requirement and some percentage of some minerals
Can you sense something what a magical things are inside this tiny seed of cereals.
Now,
let us see the data about the vegetables.
They have around 70-95% of water content, which can be replenished
by drinking plain water. They are extremely low in the content of
carbohydrates, proteins and fats. They also lack B group vitamins. The
percentage of minerals and fibres is almost the same as unpolished cereals and
pulses. And if you study their individual content of vitamins and minerals,
some vegetables will have a good amount of some but will lack others. For
example, green leafy vegetables have a good content of vitamin A, C and iron,
but they lack in Vitamin B group, almost 8 Vitamins. And all the fruit
vegetables such as gourds, cabbage or cauliflower have good amount of Vitamin
C, but a low content of calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, B group
Certainly you can conclude by yourself what you will get by eating 300-400 g of
vegetables and 300-400 g of cereals.
It is the same about fresh fruits.
It is the same about fresh fruits.
Again they a have very high percentage of water, about 60-95%. The
content of fibre in the fruits is 0.5-5.0 %, somewhat close to
unpolished cereals & pulses (Very few fruits have more fibre
content). They greatly lack in proteins and fats, and also have only 3-30% of
carbohydrates content. This makes them a poor source of
macro-nutrients. About the micro-nutrients, except for vitamin C, they are also
not such an extraordinary source of vitamins and minerals. Just as the
vegetables, some fruits have some vitamins and minerals but lack others.
With dates being the most wholesome one, having a high
content of minerals, whereas among vitamins they only have an important content
of the B 2.Apricots have good amount of vitamin A, banana has vitamin B 6 as
well as potassium and selenium, figs have vitamin B 6 and calcium, guava has
vitamin C.
Are you realizing something? Are you sensing something? What a serious mistake
we are making by shifting our focus from cereals to fruits and vegetables. Do
you see it? It is just as the story of the 7ft tall person and an average
person. While madly running after some vitamins and minerals we are losing much
more essential things. Surely this dangerous turn in our diet has made us
vulnerable to many new diseases.
At this point, one question may come to your mind. Why not
emphasize on a high pulses (Protein) diet and less cereals?
As per the previous calculations, instead of 475 g of cereals, we would be
eating 475 g of pulses. If we do so, we will get around 275 g of carbohydrates
(If we consider pulses has 58% of Carbs) and 104 g of proteins (If we consider
pulses has 22% of protein). The lack of carbohydrates will be very high.
Remember carbs are the most significant source of energy for our body. Also we
will get unnecessary high amount of proteins. Note that here we are talking
about proteins from pulses not from nuts, dairy & meat. The proteins
from such sources have fats with them. Fats take care of side effects of extra
proteins.
Now a day’s science is talking about side effects due
to high protein diet. At the same time, when we will compare these food
types having the wisdom of Ayurveda as the reference, you will understand very
clearly why such a big quantity of pulses is actually dangerous for us.
Let us shift then to whatever the old age wisdom of Ayurveda has to say on this
matter. The food we need on daily basis has to have the predominance of earth
and water elements. We get water from the liquids we drink such as water, milk,
butter milk, juices, tea or coffee, among others. And for the earth, cereals,
pulses and nuts are very important sources. Otherwise, how could we get earth
from vegetables and fruits? They have very high amount of water element. Even
fatty substances such as oil and ghee lack in earth, having a high amount of
the water element.
Ayurveda also comments about the tastes. The most important taste to fulfil our
body demands is sweet. (What they want to say is high carb food) And cereals
are the most important food item with the dominance of sweet taste. The unique
concentration of earth and water in the cereals makes them fully appropriate to
fulfil our needs, our body requirements.
On the other hand, what would happen if we replace cereals
for pulses? What would be the effect if we decided to eat more pulses and fewer
cereals? All the pulses have astringent or bitter tastes along with sweet. Just
have sprouted pulses or cooked pulses or soup of pulses, and you will get an
astringent or bitter taste, together with a feeling of dryness in the mouth. As
these tastes have wind(air) element in excess they will increase the air
element in the body.By eating high amounts of pulses Vata (air, gases) will
increase a lot, giving you the subsequent troubles. You can try eating lots of
pulses and experience the gases due to Vata.
And you know what this excess Vata can do? All the degenerative diseases will
catch you. That is why you cannot substitute cereals with pulses. Besides, your
sensitive body will not give you the signal of satisfaction after eating a meal
based on pulses instead of a cereal based meal. Try it. Your wise body knows
what it needs!
The same happens with fruits and vegetables. Try it. Just eat fruits and
vegetables instead of cereals and pulses when you get a very good hunger. See
what happens. On one side, you will not get that feeling of satisfaction as
with cereals. On the other, you will feel hunger sooner, maybe in the next 2-3
hours. As there is lack of the earth element in the food, your body will be
hungry soon again.
What about replacing cereals by
nuts & oily seeds?
Well, all of them contain high amount of fats. The nuts and oily seeds have
25-65% of fats, 14-25% of proteins and 10-29% of carbohydrates. In any case
although oils and fats are an essential part of our diet, of a healthy diet
indeed, such a high amount of fat is not at all recommendable. You know the
consequences.
In order to have a meal that includes all our body
requirements, actually we have to choose the best combination. That is a cereal
based meal with a moderate amount of pulses, a moderate amount of oils, oily
seeds, nuts and dairy, and a minimal quantity of vegetables and fruits. Are you
surprise? We suppose so, but it may also remind you something. Got it? Yes, our
parents’ food. The food our grandparents were eating few decades back. It was
huge amount of cereals with some pulses and fats, and a least amount of
vegetables and fruits. And compare their health with ours. Now
you may understand the secret behind.
Even the countries where people eat non-vegetarian food every day, both in the
eastern and in the western parts of the world, their food used to be cereals
based with some amount of non-veg., which means fat and proteins. Now it has
changed to mainly non-veg. based food with small amount of cereals, creating
many diseases. Like in the Southern part of Spain the food was rice &
fish but now it has changed to high amount of meat. In India still today people
eating non veg eat along with cereals such as rice, wheat, millets etc.
You
will be surprised to know what Non-veg food has? It has approximately 9-26% of
proteins, 0.4-14% of fats and very, very low amount of carbohydrates, just 0.1-7
%. And again very high amount of water 68-79%. So it seems logical to have
cereals with Non-veg food.
Story
of a Patient:
Here we have a female patient in her thirties or early forties with a long list
of complaints. The list starts with a complaint of tiredness, as she is unable
to perform neither her day to day physical duties nor her regular exercise. In
fact, any exertion gives her pain all over the body, joint pain, backache,
headache, etc. The list goes further with complaints about hair fall, skin
dryness, tanning, giddiness, insomnia and menstrual problems such as irregular
manses, premenstrual pain. Then she talks about some serious issues such as
hormonal imbalance, thyroid problems, low BP, low haemoglobin, deficiency of
many vitamins and minerals, mostly vitamin B 12, vitamin D, calcium, iron, etc.
And her list does not stop here. Actually, now we have new lists. First, the
list of the specialists she had consulted. Physician, orthopaedic surgeon,
dermatologist, endocrinologist, gynaecologist, nutritionist and many more. And
then, that one with the medicines she was prescribed. Multivitamin tablets,
calcium supplement, iron, vitamin E, hormonal therapy, vitamin D and vitamin B
12 injections followed by tablets, as well as tablets for the thyroid and
tablets for balancing the irritability, mood swings and getting good
sleep, pain killers, antacids, creams for the skin, bam for the joints and many
more.
You must be tired just by reading her lists of complaints and medicines. Can
you imagine what must be happening to the poor lady and her family? Oh, I
forgot some other medicines: oils for hair fall and omega 3 capsules. And
this is just the list with modern medicines, since she also tried other pathies and
household remedies. Some Ayurvedic medicines, tonics and treatments were also
there, as massage and steams, shirodara and other Panchakarma treatments.
And of course, acupressure, acupuncture, homoeopathy, psychoanalysis, yoga,
different meditation techniques, flax seeds, neem juice, aloe
Vera, almond oil, olive oil. It is almost an endless list. And despite all her
efforts, the complaints were unmoved. What went wrong?
This brings to my mind the story of an old lady who wanted to advise her
grandsons. She asked them to search for her lost pin outside her hut. They
searched and searched but were unable to find it. Finally the old lady found it
inside the hut. She knew they were going to be upset with her. And certainly,
they blamed her. But then she explained that she wanted to enlighten them. The
answers to your questions are inside you, close to you. Do not try to
find them outside.
In the case of our young lady, the answer was immediately clear. However, we
went through all her routine, her daily activities, her food habits. As I
thought, she was not eating when she was hungry; or even if she ate, instead of
having cereals she used to drink good quantities of tea, coffee or juices, or
used to eat fruits or salads. At lunch or dinner she used to take just one or
two very tiny chapatti and a spoonful of rice with lots of vegetables and
salad, total deprivation of Cereals. What to say about oil andghee? She
was just consuming few drops. Everything was just a confirmation of my
presumptions about her. All her complaints and deficiencies were nothing but
excessPitta and Vata in her body. The
external medicines and treatments might have supported her for some time and up
to some extent. But they were certainly not a solution.
And why did she undergo so many changes and reductions in her diet? Because she
read some article on vitamins and minerals, or on weight loss, or on healthy
food, or maybe a doctor or any diet specialist advised her in this direction. I
asked her one single question. Are you happy with this few inches loss, this
few kg loss and such a huge gain of complaints, this unhealthy face and
irritable mind? Also I was able to throw light on the fact that as she reduced
her consumption of cereals her complaints started, before that she was fine.
Yes it is fine if after doing some changes in her diet she is feeling better,
all the parameters of the health are fine. But if everything is going upside
down then be cautious about your food.
As she understood the reason behind her problem she started eating normal food with
good amount of carbs and oils. Her complaints, along with her different
doctors, medicines and treatments reduced very soon. Now she has a healthy body
and mind, works a lot, does regular exercise, eats well and has put her
weight-scale in a cupboard.
Did you understand why the focus has gone to minerals and vitamins, the micro-nutrients?
All these complaints have been rooted down to a lack of vitamins and minerals.
Naturally fruits and vegetables, and so many medicines have come into play. But
no one focused towards macro-nutrients. The real root cause is lacking in
macro-nutrients, in quantity as well as in quality.
Mother Nature has provided most of the micro-nutrients together with the
macro-nutrients. If you go through the Chart three you will understand that
except for very, very few, you will get most of the micro-nutrients by
consuming cereals, pulses, dairy and oils. Instead, the opposite will not
happen. A multivitamin capsule or a calcium supplement will not give you
carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Nor will do it the fruits and vegetables.
Last but not least, let us give a quick thought to the economics of the
subject. The most important food is the cheapest of all even today. Again,
thanks to Mother Nature. Even the so called poorest people can be healthy by
fulfilling most of their needs having plenty of cereals. We are always happy
when we read or hear that the price of vegetables and fruits has risen. Let the
farmers grow more cereals, pulses and oil seeds instead of fruits and
vegetables for themselves and for others. May they get good income from growing
what is really important!
Choose a right cereal (again regional) for you and go back to Cereals!
Some suggestions---
1 Eat only after getting hunger. Otherwise you cannot digest
cereals (Or in that case anything) and will have to face side effects of
indigestion.
2 Satisfy your hunger. You should not feel like eating every now
& then.
3 Be flexible. Due to various reasons such as your life style,
exertion, climate, your intensity of hunger fluctuates. So be wise and change
the quality & quantity accordingly. If you have very light hunger go
for very light from of cereals such as popped or puffed rice (Churmura, lahya)
and if you have very strong hunger go for Roti, Parathas. And for moderate
hunger rice, khichadi, lighter Roti such as Phulka, chapati.
4 Preferably choose regional cereals – In south Rice and Ragi, In
North Wheat and rice from North etc.
5 know the qualities of cereals
Rice -- is sweet and slightly astringent, oily (means not dry),
cold in nature, increases vigor, light (as compared to wheat), diuretic, good
for health. e.g. Red rice, Basmati, Kalimoong, Jeera, Aambemohar , Kolum,
Sonamasuri etc.
There
are thousands of varieties. Use the locally grown rice. It is suitable for that
particular climate.
Use hand pounded one or single polished rice. It retains all the goodness of
rice. Ayurveda keeps it on the top of the list in cereals. Fortunately modern
science is coming up with the research that no other cereal can give variety of
nutrients like rice.
This is the
biggest misconception that rice causes weight gain. If that was the case then
whole of china, south East Asia, south India, Konkan region in Maharashtra were
full of obese people as their staple food is rice.
Wheat – Is heavy, oily, sweet, increases
vigor and strength, life enhancing, helps to clear bowel, reduces Vata, Pitta
and helps in joining bones. As it is heavier in nature, it is a staple food for
Northern parts of India. Ayurveda suggests to avoid wheat to lose weight.
Barley (Jav)– Is cold, heavy, dry, sweet, helps to clear bowel ,increases
stool quantity (means more fibrous), reduces Kapha, Pitta and
increases Vata and also reduces fats and urine. (Due to its dry quality)
Sorghum (Jawari - Indian
millet) – Cold, light, dry and sweet. Good for the middle part of the
Indian continent . Again very good to lose weight.
Bajara (Indian millet) – Hot, heavy, dry,
sweet, increases Vata and pitta and increases digestive fire. Good in northern
and middle part of India, especially in winters as it hot in nature.
Ragi (Nachani) - Cold, light, sweet. Due it’s cooling and lighter
qualities it is a very good cereal for southern part of India.
6 Most important is listen to your wise body and learn lessons
from your own experience!
Dr.Santosh Vyavahare.
(MD-I BHMS)
(Refer from Dr Nikhil Mehta)
(Refer from Dr Nikhil Mehta)
Reference books
Book of Biochemistry (For MBBS students, India) by U.
Satyanarayana & U. Chkrapani Edition 2013
Nutritive Values of Indian Food by National Institute of
Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad, India
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