Health Benefits of Sorghum (Jowar) And Its Side Effects

One of the most important benefits of sorghum grain is that it can help in preventing cancer. Sorghum grains have a bran layer that contains rare antioxidants that are extremely important for the body. These antioxidants, found in very few another food world over, have been found to be highly beneficial in reducing the chances of developing certain types of cancer, with esophageal cancer being the chief among them.

As compared to the people who consume wheat or corn, consumers of sorghum stand a far lower chance of developing these cancers as the antioxidants present in the grain eliminates free radicals that promote the development of cancerous cells.

The high dietary fiber content of sorghum makes it one of the best foods in the world for improving digestion and taking care of the digestive system. A single serving of sorghum can contain up to 48% of a person’s recommended daily intake of dietary fiber, which helps the digestive system in keeping the movement of food along with the system completely smooth. Sorghum flour also prevents bloating, cramping, excess gas, constipation, diarrhea and general stomach aches.

Another huge benefit of the high dietary fiber content in sorghum is the direct improvement it makes for heart health. The high quantity of fiber imparted by sorghum grain into the body helps in scraping off LDL cholesterol, or bad cholesterol as it is popularly known. This improves heart health greatly and can protect the body from several cardiovascular conditions like heart attack, stroke and atherosclerosis.

It is often found that excessive carbohydrates can break down into sugar compounds in the body and lead to serious increase in glucose levels, which in turn leads to diabetes. The people who are already suffering from diabetes have it even worse as these sugars attack the system directly. The bran of sorghum is found to be rich in tannin, which secretes enzymes that actually reduce the absorption of sugar and starch in the body.

This helps a great deal in regulating the glucose and insulin levels in your body, leading to higher protection from diseases like diabetes. For the people already suffering from diabetes, regular consumption of sorghum grain flour, and the regulated levels of glucose and insulin that results from it, make sure that there aren’t regular spikes and plunges in the glucose levels in their body. This makes sure that there are no diabetic shocks or other health complications that can occur from these conditions.

The whole world is waking up to the harmful effects of gluten allergy, which occurs mainly due to consumption of wheat-based products. This allergy can lead to Celiac disease, which is a serious auto-immune disease. With wheat being used in a large number of food items across the world, it can be a huge problem for people suffering from even the slightest of gluten allergies.

Sorghum grains make for wonderful alternatives for wheat in the diets of people who are allergic to gluten. It relieves the body of inflammation, nausea and serious intestinal damage that gluten can cause in the cases of gluten allergy.

Sorghum grains are found to be rich sources of calcium and magnesium, with both the minerals being extremely beneficial for the health of your bones. Calcium is directly related to the health of your bones, forming an integral part of the development and strength of bones.

The magnesium content found in sorghum grains regulates and maintains calcium levels in your body as it makes sure that the calcium absorption is enhanced in the body.

Both these minerals are important for the development of bone tissue and also help in speeding up the healing of damaged bones and maintenance of the strength of aging bones. Minerals present in sorghum or jowar also help in preventing diseases like arthritis and osteoporosis.

Another benefit of Sorghum is that act as rich source of niacin, or vitamin B3. Niacin is an integral component to transform food into energy form usable by the body. If the body breaks down and metabolizes nutrients into energy, it keeps the energy levels in your body stable throughout the day.

This is where niacin kicks in and makes sure that your body has consistent energy levels throughout the day instead of sudden spikes and falls that are generally provided by sugar boosts. Sorghum grains can offer up to 28% of the recommended daily intake of niacin in one helping.

Among the many minerals sorghum grains are found to be rich in, copper and iron are two of the main ones. In a similar way that magnesium and calcium work together to offer greater strength to bones, copper and iron work together to improve blood circulation in the body. Iron is extremely important for the development of blood cells.

Copper enhances the absorption of iron into the body, increasing the development of red blood cells, stimulating cellular growth and repair, and overall increasing the circulation of the blood. It also decreases the chances of developing anemia. Another boost provided by the rich concentration of these two minerals in sorghum grains is the enhanced hair growth on the scalp. You can gain up to 58% of the recommended daily intake of copper in a single helping of sorghum grains.

The cancer fighting antioxidants present in the bran of sorghum grains also help in treating melanoma. The tanning effect of sorghum is effective in preventing melanoma by inhibiting the growth of pigment-containing cells on the skin.