Uncooked Oatmeal Vs Cooked Oatmeal Comparison

We only have data available for 100 grams of each cooked and uncooked oat bran. As the cooked oatmeal have significant amount of water in it, it skews the comparison proportionately. The difference is such that cooked oatmeal food displays lower numbers for every element as water contributes to make up good chunk of 100 grams of sample being considered. Below comparison hence should be taken into consideration with this point in mind. The comparison has been broken down by type of elements i.e. proximates, minerals and vitamins.

Prioximates

Minerals

Vitamins

Verdict

Though this comparison easily gives an impression that uncooked oatmeal is the way to go as it has higher portion of every nutrient. The main thing to keep in mind is that it is not easy to digest and often not the tastier of the two. However there are products like Muesli, Granola out there which do use a portion of uncooked oats for making and as they have other tasty ingredients as well, it relatively easier to eat.

References

USDA – Uncooked dry Oat Bran

USDA – Cooked Oat Bran

Image by Farmanac being used here under creative commons licence

Oats Nutrition Breakdown

Oatmeal is made from Oats. Oats in its basic form is a whole grain food with high amount of fiber and packed with good amount of protein. It fits the bill for one of the best breakfasts as it keeps you full for long enough to keep you away from those high calorie sugary snack. Taking oatmeal once a day promotes great health by building good body, help in excess weight loss, building immune system and cutting down risks of diseases or ill health.  Its natural to ask what does oatmeal contain for it to contribute in so many ways? Well, oatmeal is made from oats which has some key ingredients which contribute to health. Below are the key components of oats which aid us in many ways

1. Great Protein Source
2. Good source of Anti-Oxidants
3. High in soluble dietary fiber
4. Good source insoluble dietary fiber
5. Made up of best type of Carbohydrates, the complex carbohydrates
6. Contains Phytonutrients and Beta Glucan

These above components bring in some key benefits which are essential for us to know. The below section will touch up on that in detail.

1. Great Protein Source

Oatmeal (oats) are one of the very good source of protein which is one of the most essential nutrients we need for healthy living. Quality of protein available in a food source is defined by the number and the amount of each essential amino acids (EAA) that get supplied by them. As most of our food items don't supply all the 9 EAAs in sufficient levels and hence they require us to eat other food items along with them to make up for the remaining EAAs. This is a critical problem for vegetarian as most of their diets provide an incomplete set of EAAs. On the contrary Oatmeal is a great food which provides all EAAs in suffiecient quantity and hence can be termed as a complete source of Protein.  

To add to this, we humans need roughly 1 gram of protein per kg of our weight and hence it’s essential to have diets which are strong source of protein. Oats is once such diet as it is said to contain nearly 16 grams of protein for 100 grams of oats. If you are a vegetarian, you cannot get a better bargain than this from any of the wholegrain foods.

2. Good source of Anti-oxidants

Oatmeal are also very good source for wide variety of anti-oxidants which have numerous key benefits. For example, Selenium is one such anti-oxidant which is present in oats is said to reduce the risk of Asthma.

3. High in Soluble Dietary Fiber

Importance of soluble dietary fiber is immense for a healthy living. Below are some key benefits.

• Reduce bad cholesterol levels – Oatmeal contain good amount of soluble fiber which as they get digested will reduces absorption of cholesterol into blood stream and hence aids in reducing bad blood cholesterol (LDL) without affecting the good cholesterol (HDL). LDLs are one of the key contributors for cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks. If you are keen to know more on good and bad cholesterols here.
• Reduces High Blood Pressure (High BP) – In health studies conducted in recent past, it has been observed that high pressure has been associated with low soluble fiber and protein intake. Hence soluble fiber in oatmeal can add to necessary fiber requirement and subsequently reducing high blood pressure or hypertension possibilities.
• Promotes weight loss (indirectly) – The soluble fiber in oatmeal results in formation of gels. This gel formation ensures that the person feels fuller for a longer duration of time. This eliminating any need for an inter-meal snack which often tends to be a calorie rich. These snacks are one of the key reasons resulting in derailment of any weight loss plan being executed.

3. High in insoluble Dietary Fiber

Insoluble fiber also contributes heavily for healthy living and some of its key benefits are below.

• Promote Bowel movements and reduces risk of constipation – Insoluble fiber as it enters the digestive system do not dissolve by its nature. In turn as they are spongy they tend to absorb water which is many times its weight. This promotes healthy bowel movement and reduces the risk of constipation. Due to its high water retention power it enables easy movement of waste through the digestive system.
• Help keep optimal PH in intestines – Insoluble fiber also helps keep optimal PH levels in intestines which in turn help provide right ambience for healthy bacteria which are essential for our digestive system.

4. Made up of best type of Carbohydrates, the complex carbohydrates

One of the main reasons for weight gain is because our diet is loaded with a lot of refined products which provide a dose of simple carbohydrates. These simple carbohydrates tend to increase our blood sugar levels such that insulin will promote storing fat. The best way to avoid weight gain is by having more complex carbohydrates like oats. Hence having oatmeal as a regular part of your diet will have below benefits.

• Stabilize blood sugar levels – Unlike simple carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates present in oats tend to spread the raise in blood sugar levels over a longer period of time. This helps in keeping a tab on insulin levels which plays a pivotal role in both preventing diabetics and weight gain.
• Release energy at a steady pace – Due to the nature of carbohydrates, the digestion process is slow in nature and it takes time to release energy out of it. Scientific studies have been shown that regular consumption of oats alter metabolism positively to enhance performance when consumed 45 minutes to 1 hour before exercise.

Contains Phytonutrients & Beta Glucan

Oats also contain few special substances which add to the value of oatmeal as a food nutrient. Phytonutrients and Beta glucan are two such components.

• Phytonutrients (phytochemicals) in researches have shown to processes ability to reduce the risk of different types of hormone related cancer, primarily breast cancer. However there are researches which have shown similar results, albeit on a smaller scale for other hormone related cancers like prostate, endometrial and ovarian cancer.
• Beta Glucan present in oats is known as biological response modifiers (BRM) for their ability to enhance ability of our immune system. There are also some researches which strongly indicate positive influence in maintaining blood cholesterol levels.

Verdict

Simply put, oatmeal is one of the best wholegrain food out there. It should be part of regular diet of every individual as it has numerous benefits and this article only mentions few of them. Unlike in Wheat and Rice, oats contain a good balance of essential fatty acids, which have been linked with longevity and general good health. All of these great benefits makes oats one of the best food item to be incorporated into your diet.

References 

1.       Soluble fibre and Cholesterol reduction

2.       About Weight Loss, Reducing Cholesterol levels and Anti-Oxidants

3.       Impact of Soluble fibre on High Blood Pressure – An experimental study

4.       Benefits of Soluble/Insoluble fibre

5.       Insoluble fibre & digestive system

6.       More about Beta-Glucan

7.       Health benefits of Oats

Popcorn Nutritional Value

Popcorn is a healthy wholegrain food and hence it is ideal for snacking between well timed balanced meals. It is generally filling in nature and has energy enhancing carbohydrates. In addition to its taste, it is the popcorn's nutritional value which makes it such a fantastic snack. It is a very good source of dietary fibre and protein. It is also known for its low sodium and sugar content.

Below is the table which details popcorn’s nutritional value.

Popcorn nutrition (30g)

Antioxidants

Another nutritional benefit of popcorn is its high content of antioxidants, which not only protect cells from damage caused by free radicals, they can reduce risk of getting cancer and heart disease. Below is a list of such key ingredients in 100 grams of popcorn.

Popcorn Types & Calories

Word of caution!

Care should also be taken when giving popcorn to small children (typically below age of 4) due to chances of choking. Special type of popcorn has been developed with special "hullness".

Please note that it will be a grave mistake to group all available popcorn into a “healthy snack” bracket. Most commercially sold popcorns might have extra oil/sugar/butter added to add more flavour to popcorn. Popcorn, only when it is made using the minimal amount of correct ingredients, can be said to be healthy. Below is a table which gives examples of different type of popcorn and its estimated calories

Popcorn Types & Calories

Summary

Based on the above table we can summerize below nutritional facts about popcorn.

Popcorn – things to remember

#1. 30 Reasons to Go Vegetarian

There are numerous reasons to go vegetarian but listing them in order of importance is key. This video does exactly that – lists a number of reasons most of which are related to your health. Some of the visuals might be disturbing, so do take care (but then this might just be what is needed to inspire/force one to go vegetarian).

#2. Get connected, go Green

If these reasons are not good enough? want something which has a bigger cause? If yes, then here it is. In this time of high global consumption we need to revisit our consumption habits to help this earth sustain itself. Here is how going vegetarian helps immensely for that cause.

#3. Tough getting vegetarian? Try weekday Veg

Yes, if you have been a non vegetarian all your life and if its overwhelming to leave all of your favorite non-vegetarian dishes at once then Graham Hill, founder of treehugger.com has a powerful, pragmatic suggestion – Be a weekday vegetarian.

What is BMI?

Weight of a person alone cannot determine if the person is overweight or not. It has to be considered in relation to his/her body size, percentage of body fat and so on. Body Mass Index (BMI) is one such simple index or a calculated number which gives an idea of person’s weight with respect to his height.  Body Mass Index is not the most accurate indicator by any means as it doesn’t consider body fat but however it does give a fair picture of whether the person is obese, overweight or underweight. As per its original definition, it is person’s weight divided by square of person's height. You can work out BMI of your body using one of the links given in the “work out BMI” section of this article below.

Why should I work out my BMI?

As mentioned above it gives a simple and easy picture of whether you are overweight, underweight or obese.  Knowing your BMI will help you know where you stand with respect to average optimal weight for your height and then start devising plans to achieve that optimal weight. Before you jump ahead with any hard core diet plans and/or paid weight loss programs, do understand the limitations of BMI mentioned in the section below.

BMI value and its category

Typically there is a scale which will tell you whether you are underweight, overweight or obese based on your BMI. The most common scale used is listed in the below table.

What is your BMI means?

There are other less common versions of these tables esp. used in Asian countries like Japan and Singapore. If you are from any of these region you might want to refer to them. For more information on those tables please visit Wikipedia link given below.

Work out BMI

The formula to calculate BMI is so simple that you can do it using a calculator or on a piece of paper (if your maths is good). However to make life easier there are few good sites which gives an easy interface to enter our weight and height (in any of different units of measure) and work out our BMI. I have listed 3 of the easiest websites which provide a nice interface to work out BMI.

• nhs.co.uk – Provides a nice and easy way to know our BMI. Takes more inputs than normally required. The interface also provides options to enter details in any of different units.

• nhlbisupport.com – Another site which provides options to enter details in different units.

• Cdc.gov – This site provides a BMI calculator for children.

Limitations of BMI and things to watch out for

As mentioned before, BMI is not accurate and might not give the full picture of health of person. Hence it is good not to trust this number entirely. This is very much the case esp. if the BMI is calculated for an athlete or an elderly person or young kid. Also irrespective of the number suggested by BMI you also have a fair idea of how good your body is, for example my BMI comes around 26 which put me into overweight category but I am one of the fastest runners in my running club which has a mix of lean and fit blokes. If you are  in any doubt about whether you are overweight or not then its right to consult your doctor or a good dietician for advice. This is a prudent step before you jump into to full fledged dieting just based on your BMI.

More on BMI

If you are keen to know more on BMI, the science and history behind it and more below are few links which has very detailed information about various aspects of BMI.

1. Wikipedia – A site with lot of information about BMI

2. Centers for disease control – This has information for BMI and information for BMI for children

3. Healthline.com – Another place to know more about BMI

What is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)?

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the minimum amount of energy you need for normal functioning of your body, if you did nothing all day. Basal Metabolic Rate is usually measured and expressed in KCal popularly known as Calories. This is the energy needed for functioning of vital organs like heart, lungs, kidneys, nervous systems and other key organs and does not consider any energy requirement in addition to it. All extra activities you do will require additional energy which is on top of this metabolic basal rate commonly known as Active Metabolic Rate (AMR). BMI is closely related to Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) which is the minimum energy needed for the body in resting condition (Metabolic Basal Rate is calculated under more stringent, restrictive conditions). Though Metabolic Basal Rate is more popular Resting Metabolic Rate is more relevant for our need.

Though both BMR and RMR can only be calculated with lot of equipments under lab conditions, they can also be approximately arrived using some of the key aspects of our body. Our total daily energy need is further calculated by considering energy needed for all other activities (AMR) we will be doing on a 24 hour day period and adding BMR/RMR value to it.

What does Metabolic Basal Rate depend on?

Metabolic Basal Rate contributes 70-75% of total calories used by the body. However this number is dependent on various other factors. Hence this is the major factor which will help determine the amount of calories needed for you to maintain, loose or gain weight. The key parameters which influence are as below.

• Gender – Men due to their physique tend to require more energy. This is due to higher percentage of muscle in men as compared to women.

• Age – BMR reduces (in very small percetages) as the age increases.

• Weight – BMR is proportional to weight of the person. This extra need for energy is due to that added effort for each organ to do the same task.

• Body – The person's physique is also a contributor for BMR. The bigger the body more energy is needed for an organ to do the same task.

• Body Fat – The fat content of the body negetively influence BMR. This means that more the fat lesser the BMR. This is because the muscles tend to consume more calories than fat and hence hight the fat (i.e lower the muscle) lesser the BMR.

• Others - Temperatures (both internal and external), Thyroxin produced by thyroid glands, genetics of the person influence BMR, at times greatly.

How to calculate Metabolic Basal Rate?

For the purpose of weight loss we need to get an idea of our BMR and there are few methods using which you can calculate it. Some methods are simple and easy but gives only an approximate idea where as others are more detailed and more accurate but require more inputs. For accurate calculations Lean Body Mass (LBM) of your body has to be taken into consideration as it gives very accurate picture of calories needed. So all the methods mentioned below which don't consider LBM into account will only give an approximate value but it is good enough for most people (except if you are an athlete). The below section gives some selected web resources where you can calculate your own BMR.

In the simplest (and the crudest) method of all, BMR is calculated as a direct multiplication of person's weight (pounds) with approximate energy needed for each pound of weight. Typically we need 10-15 calories per pound of our weight. So BMR of a person weighing 150 pounds will be 1500 Calories (150 * 10). Main drawback of this method is that it doesn’t take into account of activity levels of the person and hence might miscalculate the BMR value (which could be way off target for very active people or athletes). However there are few simple methods which do take into account of activity levels. Below is a list of simple BMR calculators (in the order of their complexities, first being the simplest).

• Discovery.com – Very simple and easy BMR calculator which takes into account of your age, height, weight and gender.

• About.com – This calculator takes into account of person's lifestyle (i.e. activity levels) along with above basic factors.

• PreventDisease.com – This calculator not only calculates the BMR but also gives you option to enter amount of time you spend on each different activity we typical do on daily basis. This give you a better idea of how much total calories you need on daily basis.

(The last link appears to be most accurate as it considers all different activities of your day)

More about Metabolic Basal Rate Calculations

The above consolidated material is good enough for any average person who wants to know about Metabolic Basal Rate before kick starting his/her weight loss/gain program. However if you are still keen to know more about what is the science behind the calculations and other in-depth knowledge please visit be ShapeFit.com.

Closing Note

Metabolic Basal Rate is the correct starting point for your weight loss (or gain) journey. It is easy to get tempted by crowd pulling headline articles like "Loose 10 pounds in 10 days" or "Loose 5 Pounds now" and start following them without checking if such a bold claim can be applicable to your case or not. In most cases it leads to disappointment as all these claims are generic claims and don’t apply to everyone. If you have still not calculated your BMR then go ahead and calculate using the above links. Once that is done the next step is to find out your Body Mass Index (BMI) to know in if you are overweight (if yes, what is the danger level) or not and so on. Once you know these two numbers you can sit and choose your weight loss targets and time periods to achieve them.

Ragi Malt is famously known as poor man's health drink due to its nutritious value and affordability. It is also a very easy-to-make drink which is very filling in nature. For those of you who are switching towards a healthier lifestyle this is an ideal substitute for your coffee/tea or carbonated drink.

Ragi Malt – Short Facts

Ragi Malt – Ingredients

Ragi Malt – Step by Step Procedure

Step 1: Add small amounts of flour on to heating water accompanied with continuous stirring. Key again is to focus on smooth easy paste. Employ the method that best suits you.
Hint 1: It is essential to get a lump free liquid paste and hence slow careful mixing is essential.
Step 2: Mix yougurt (only if you are not alergic to it), choppied chilles, small amounts of ginger and a cup of water in a mixer or blender. Ensure that they mix well.
Step 4: Slowly mix yougurt soultion with Ragi solution and let them blend.
Step 5: Now add appropriate amount of salt and mix thoroughly.
Hint 2: (Its a known thing but I will state it anyway) Start with adding little quantities of salt and if its not enough add a bit more and try. Risk of adding extra salt is generally high.
Step 6: You can allow the drink to cool down if you want. The drink can be had either cold or hot.

Variations

1. Non sweet dry fruits (e.g. coarsely podwered roasted pistachio) can also be added to make it rich and tasty. Make sure you dont add too much of them.

Verdict

Ragi Malt is a very good health drink to get added as a part of your regular diet. This variation of the drink is also easy-to-make, tasty, nutritious food allows you to make and have them anytime. This drink comes with the added advantage of not using sugar. Replacing your coffee or tea with these would be the best thing to do.

Ragi Malt can be made sweet or salty and slighly hot. The sweet version is the most common version. This article details out step by step process to make sweet version of Ragi Malt which is one of the famous drinks in rural parts of south India. Salt version is slighly new and its not something I have come across. We will talk about it in a different article.

Ragi Malt is famously known as poor man's health drink due to its nutritious value and affordability. It is also a very easy-to-make drink which is very filling in nature. For those of you who are switching towards a healthier lifestyle this is an ideal substitute for your coffee/tea or carbonated drink.

Ragi Malt – Short Facts

Ragi Malt – Ingredients

Ragi Malt – Step by Step Procedure

Step 1: Take the Ragi flour in a cup and add small amounts of water slowly and mix them to get a smooth liquid solution.
Hint 1: It is essential to get a lump free liquid paste and hence slow careful mixing is essential.
Hint 2: However there are chances that lump will still get formed and in those cases attack each lump and break them and mix with watery paste (it might be easier to break the lumps with clean hands).
Hint 3: If you prefer you can also consider adding small amounts of flour on to heating water accompanied with continuous stirring. Key again is to focus on smooth easy paste. Employ the method that best suits you.
Step 2: Once the Ragi paste is ready keep it aside and start heating a glass of water in a different vessel.
Step 3: If you are not allergic you can also use suitable amount of milk instead of a water to enhance the taste.
Step 4: The water/milk mixture must be heated till it starts to boil.
Step 5: Now slowly add already prepared Ragi flour solution to boiling water/milk mixture accompanied with continuous stirring.
Step 6: Add a pinch of cardamom powder followed by suitable amount of sugar or jaggery depending on your comfort.
Step 7: Now heat must be reduced to low-medium and simmer the content for 4-5 minutes with periodic stirring.
Step 8: Turn off the stove after this.
Hint 3: Folks with electric heater/stove might have to amend the heat reduce/alter timings mentioned here as they tend to react slowly to changes you make and could ruin your drink.
Step 9: Let the drink cool down to your needs and hurray! the drink is ready to be served.

Variations

1. Dry Fruits can also be added to make it rich. Make sure you dont add too much of them.

Verdict

Ragi Malt is a very good health drink to get added as a part of your regular diet. This easy-to-make, tasty, nutritious food allows you to make and have them anytime. Replacing your coffee or tea with these would be the best thing to do. However if you dont fancy sweeter version we have a salty-hot version which will be published soon.

This article details out step by step process to make Ragi Roti (rotti) which is one of the most famous dishes in south India. This dish is not only delicious but also very easy to make. This can be made and eaten as a main course almost at any time of the day. They are so tasty that they will surely make you crave for more.

Ragi Roti – Short Facts

Ragi Roti – Ingredients

Ragi Roti – Step by Step Procedure

Step 1: Add the Ragi flour, salt, jeera, oil, finely chopped onion and chillies into a bowl and mix well.
Step 2: Start adding little amounts of water at short intervals till you end up getting a soft dough.
Step 3: Take portions of dough and make them into round balls.
Hint 1: Let the size of the resulting dough ball be proportional to diameter of the pan. This round shape of the dough is to ease out spreading the dough on the pan.
Hint 2: Make as many dough balls as the numbers of Rotis you want. This will help reduce the time of preparation of each Rotis (and also those waiting stomachs).
Step 4: Take a frying pan add a spoon of oil as the coat on its base. (Note that pan is not yet ready for heating).
Step 5: Flatten the dough ball on the pan (clean hand can be used for this).
Hint 3: If you need the Roti to be thin and crisp then then spread dough thin all along the pan. This is only possible if you to get correct amount of dough.
Step 6: Make few holes in the flattened Roti if needed. This will help the steam to escape.
Hint 4: Start the stove on a medium flame and cover the pan with a lid if you have.
Step 7: Allow the dough to cook for few minutes. (You can make this out by change in colour of Roti and also smell).
Step 8: Once the Roti is cooked on one side You need not flip it over and cook the other side for few minutes. Typically give some 3-4 mins on first side and 2-3 mins on the second.
Step 9: Now the Roti is ready to be served. Take the Roti out of the pan using a spatula and directly serve if possible.
Hint 5: For the next Roti the Pan needs to be cooled so that you can spread the next dough ball without buring your yourself. For this you can use multiple pans if you have or pour some cold water on the pan after Roti is taken out.
Hint 6: Serve hot with different type of chutney, sauce or pickle and yogurt.

Variations

1. This dish also gives opportunity to be creative by allowing to add different type of vegetables along side onion. My choices are boiled peas (esp. butter peas), slighly fried capsicum, boiled corn.
2. Dry Fruits can also be added to make it rich. Make sure you dont add too much of them.
3. You can also add some rice flour along with Ragi flour to enhance/change the taste.

Verdict

Ragi Roti is a very good diet to have as a part of regular diet. This easy-to-make, tasty, nutritious food allows you to play around with ingredients to get different unique taste. Plain heating is the only processing we do and hence this is a better food as compared to some of the processed foods. So what are you waiting for? Get a pack of Ragi flour and get started.

Ragi Flour Nutritional Value

In this below section depicts the in a typical content in 100 grams of Ragi Flour (edible portion, 12% moisture). Major portion of Ragi Flour is carbohydrate, followed by protein and fiber. It has the least amount of fat in them.

Ragi Flour Nutritional Value (Chart)

Below is the pie chart which shows the split of above numbers.

Major portion of Ragi Flour is carbohydrate, around 80%. The Fat percentage is quite less which is good. Protein and fiber content is relatively less as well. 100 grams of Ragi has roughly on an average of 336 KCal of energy in them.

Minerals

Below table shows typical mount of various minerals present in the Ragi Flour (to be referred as Ragi here after). As you can see in the table that Ragi has high amount of calcium. Calcium is one of the most important ingredients of our body and our daily need is around 350 mg. There are traces of Iron but rest of other minerals are negligible.

Ragi Nutrition Chart (Minerals)

Amino Acids

Ragi also has some good number of Essential Amino Acids (EAA) which are essential for human body. Few of the key EAAs which Ragi has are Valine, Methionine, Isoleucine, Threonine and Tryptophan. Below section beiefly explains why these are essential for us

Valine is essential for repair of tissues, muscle coordination and metabolism and also help maintain balance of nitrogen in the body. It also help promote mental calmness and enhance maintain mental vigor.
Isoleucine is essential for ensuring blood formation, keeping a check on blood sugar levels. It also helps heal and repair muscle tissues, bones and skin.
Threonine helps maintain protein levels in the body. It also helps formation of tooth enamel, also prevents formation of fat in the liver.
Tryptophan which act as natural relaxant and help fight anxiety, depression and insomnia. They also help in treating migraine headaches. They reduce excess appetite and help control weight gain; they also release of growth harmones.
Methionoine which is a sulfur based amino acid which is essential for various activities in human body. It is said to help promote growth of healthy skin and hair. The Sulfur which we get from Methionine helps produce a substance called lecithin which helps reduce cholesterol, reduce fat inside the livers and help protect kidneys. This methionine is generally lacking in staple diet of some of the vegetarians and hence regular Ragi intake will help get enough of these amino acids.

Ragi Nutrition Chart (Amino Acids)

Ragi Vs Other Grains (Wheat, Maize, Brown Rice)

Below table shows how Ragi (finger millet) stands against other staple grains – Wheat, Maize and Brown Rice.

Ragi Nutrition Chart (Comparison)

We can make out from the chart that Protein content in Ragi is not on the higher side. It is least on Calories, Protein and Fat. It is relatively high on Protein.

Ragi Nutrition Chart (Mineral Comparison)

Ragi has very high amount of calcium which are way more than others. The Ragi also have traces of Iron. Other minerals are not present in high numbers

Verdict

Ragi is a very good to be included as a part of staple diet as it lot of essential nutrients, amino acids and minerals. Add to this is the fact that these have very low amount of fat content and reasonable amount of fibre. Having said that caution should be taken to ensure that you dont take more than your body can take, esp if you have some limitation. This article is a testament of goodness of ragi and including Ragi into diet plan starting with couple of times a week will help a lot.

References

1. Finger Millet basics from Wikipedia.org
2. Finger Millet Facts and statistics from blackherbals.com
3. Essential Amino Acids and its need from Realtime.net