Did you know that consuming flour, made of super grains like Ragi, can multiply the nutrition value in your regular diet? Ragi Flour (Atta) is loaded with dietary fibre, amino acids, and other vital nutrients, which is why nutritionists and experts highly recommend it. Besides, Ragi (finger mille) is considered a viable choice for weight loss. It is heavily packed with a variety of nutrients and offers important health benefits. Ragi flour benefits include improved digestion, reduced risk of heart disease, slowing down of aging, and diabetes control. Before you choose to invest in ragi flour, here is everything you should know about ragi benefits and side effects, also ragi nutrition facts and uses.
Ragi Flour Nutrition Facts and Value
Ragi flour is loaded with essential nutrients that should be in our diet, but are often skipped in a regular diet. It is rich in dietary fibres, proteins, potassium, and carbohydrates. Minerals such as calcium and iron are abundant in Ragi flour. Besides, vitamins such as thiamine and riboflavin are also present to complete the recommended dietary intake of nutrients. Lets understand finger millet nutrition breakdown to comprehend the exact values.
Given below are the Ragi Nutritional value per 100g:
| Essential Nutrients | Ragi Nutritional Value per 100g |
|---|---|
| Ragi Calories | 455 Kcal |
| Total Fat | 3.4 g |
| Trans Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 4.8 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 80 g |
| Potassium | 267 mg |
| Sugars | 0.6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2.7 g |
| Ragi Protein | 13 g |
| Vitamins | Thiamine (5%), Riboflavin (7.6%), Niacin (3.7%), Vit C (7%), Vit E (4.6%) |
| Calcium | 1.3% |
| Iron | 26% |
13 Ragi Benefits
The below-mentioned benefits of eating Ragi flour (Atta) will help you take a simple step to change your food preferences and transform your health.
1. High in Dietary Fibres
100 g of Ragi Flour fortifies about 14 g of dietary fibre. It helps in keeping the stomach fuller for a long time and prevents unnecessary consumption of calories. Ragi flour is rich in insoluble fibre that does not dissolve in water and travels through the stomach without being processed, assisting other food items moving through the digestive tract. Hence, ragi flour helps in digestion and relieves constipation.
Also Read : Healthy Food Alternatives
2. Fortifies antioxidants
Ragi atta is one of the antioxidant-rich flours which helps in fighting infections and preventing oxidation. It also helps in reducing the risk of cancer in some cases.
3. Loaded with Proteins and Amino Acids
Another finger millet benefits is loaded with protein and amino acids, it’s main protein content that is present is Eleusinian and has a lot of biological importance. This protein helps avoid starvation and is considered a safe vegetarian source of protein.
Also, Ragi is made up of several essential amino acids, making it a special source of high-quality proteins from plants. It provides below amino acids:
- Methionine– helps in reviving skin and hair health
- Valine and Isoleucine– Restores damaged muscle tissues
- Threonine– Helps teeth and enamel to shape correctly and protects the mouth from gum disease
4. Helps for Weight Loss
As you consume Ragi atta, it fills your stomach and keeps it full for a longer time. This prevents overeating and ultimately leads to weight loss. Besides, it has a much lower fat content than all the other cereals, and this fat is healthy (unsaturated) fat. As a viable option to substitute ordinary wheat flour, anyone trying to lose weight can choose ragi flour.
5. Supports a Gluten-Free diet
As compared to other types of cereals, Ragi is naturally gluten-free. It can be used as a perfect substitute for ordinary flour to make chapatis, dosas, and other food items. This is the reason Ragi Flour is highly recommended for gluten-intolerants and patients of celiac disease. However, it is essential to note that the best time to consume ragi is in the morning since its digestive process is more elaborate because it is fibre-rich. It is typically not viable to eat ragi at night, particularly for those with digestive problems and allergies to gluten.
Also Read : Millet Benefits
6. Improves Bowel Movement
One of the major ragi atta benefits is that it enhances the digestion of food in your body. It assists the flow of food into your intestines and preserves the water in your body for waste disposal purposes. Hence, it improves bowel movement. You can savor various dishes of ragi and make sure you have a balanced life. This nutritious cereal will keep you fit and healthy all day long, ranging from ragi dosas to ragi balls.
7. Has Anti-Inflammatory Characteristics
Ragi Flour is rich in antioxidants that lower the risk of infections and inflammation caused due to consumption of processed food. Therefore, this flour has anti-inflammatory characteristics.
8. It Does Not Cause a Spike in Blood Sugar Levels
Ragi flour benefits in diabetes. For instant energy, Ragi calories and carbohydrates are may be high, but it also contains a plethora of phytates, tannins, polyphenols-plant chemicals that slow down the process digestion. Ragi Flour is useful for people with diabetes as it can reduce elevated blood sugar and does not cause a spike in the same levels.
9. Improves Bone Density
It is a rich source of Calcium which helps in strengthening and improving bone density. It can assist in restoring maximum bone density and relieving the symptoms of osteoporosis. Youngsters can include ragi flour in their regular diet. Still, middle-aged and older adults need to eat measured ragi servings to increase bone health while preventing gastrointestinal and kidney disorders.
10. Improves Heart Health
This flour is content with Magnesium (137 milligrams, approx.), which maintains nerve function and a healthy heartbeat. Being a great source of dietary fibres, Ragi atta benefits in reducing bad cholesterol and improves overall heart health.
11. Can Treat Anemia
Another health benefits of ragi flour is that it treats anemia. Ragi (finger millet) is a great iron source that acts as a boon for people with low hemoglobin, thereby effectively treating anemia.
Also Read : Types of Millets
12. Improves Brain Health
Ragi Flour has high levels of Tryptophan, an amino acid that enhances nerve impulses’ conduction, stimulating memory centers in the brain and calming the mind. The amino acids present in ragi act as a natural relaxant as well. For individuals with frequent migraine attacks, Ragi may also be very useful.
13. Prevents Wrinkles and Skin Disorders
It is rich in Vitamin B3 (Niacin), which enables healthy skin, preventing wrinkles, and improving skin quality. If you are willing to include it in your regular diet, you can shop for Ragi flour online to get good deals and several brands to choose from.
Ragi Side Effects (Finger Millet)
Given below are some ragi side effects which should be kept in mind before adding it to your daily diet:
1. As compared to other food items, Ragi takes more time to digest. This implies that those who often face constipation should not consume ragi flour regularly.
2. People who already have a renal condition should avoid regular consumption of ragi because of its high protein content, which can harm their body’s kidney function.
3. Ragi should be avoided by people who have sensitive reactions to foods because it can cause diarrhoea and stomach gas in some people.
4. One of the major finger millet side effects includes goitrogenic chemicals, which might aggravate thyroid problems in those who already have them. As a result, avoid consuming ragi.
Ragi Flour Uses
If you are wondering how to incorporate this flour in your diet, here are some ragi flour uses you should take note of:
1. Staple Dishes: Ragi flour can be readily used to prepare basic Indian dishes such as ragi dosa, rotis, idlis, upma, parathas, and some desserts (mithais) such as ladoo, halwa, and barfi.
2. Healthy Snacks: This flour can be used to make nutritious yet delicious snacks such as multi-flour chakli and nachni crackers. Binging on such healthy snacks would not harm your body in any way, and would satisfy your hunger easily.
3. Multi-Grain Breads: Bread made with ragi flour would be 10x healthier than common variants. This bread can be included in your breakfast everyday to fill your body with essential nutrients.
4. Premium Dishes: You can always innovate and prepare premium dishes by finger millet flour uses such as methi thalipeeth (a maharashtrian dish), ragi roti with kadhai paneer stuffing, rich ragi pancakes, and many more.
FAQs
No, Ragi does not cause weight gain. It is a great source of dietary fibre which keeps the body active and fuller for a longer time. This prevents overeating and leads to weight loss.
Yes, according to several studies conducted on the same, Ragi far supersedes Wheat. It is gluten-free, low in calories, rich in dietary fibres, proteins, and amino acids. Ragi flour benefits the digestion process and aids in weight loss too.
It is possible in some cases. Ragi is rich in Tryptophan amino acid that helps manage insomnia, depression, and anxiety and is therefore good for sound sleep.
It is not advisable for people with Kidney disorders to include ragi in their regular diet. They need to eat measured ragi servings to increase bone health while preventing gastrointestinal and kidney diseases.
