Semolina, the flour made out of durum wheat, is becoming popular in many countries across the world today, because of its numerous health benefits. Though semolina can be used to prepare a lot of soups and porridges, it is primarily used to make pasta.
This is the main reason why it is also known as pasta wheat. Semolina is coarser, browner and healthier than the normal wheat flour that you usually buy at the store.
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Watch Video: Semolina Benefits
What are the benefits of semolina flour and why should you include in your meals regularly?
Keep reading to know more about the same.
1. Loaded with essential nutrients
Semolina is loaded with many essential nutrients in the form of vitamins & minerals to improve your overall health. 60 grams of raw semolina flour contains 198 calories; when you consume you will get the following benefits:
- 41% of your daily recommended levels of thiamine (Vitamin B)
- 36% of your daily recommended levels of folate
- 29% of your daily recommended levels of riboflavin
- 13% of your daily recommended levels of iron
- 8% of your daily recommended levels of magnesium
- 7% of your daily recommended levels of fiber
- 40 grams of carbohydrates
- 7 grams of proteins
- Less than 1 gram of fats
Any food item that is rich in protein and fiber makes your stomach full for a long time. It reduces your appetite and hunger pangs to a considerable extent, as a result of which you eat less and lose weight eventually.
Semolina, too, gives you these benefits because of its high fiber and protein content. Also, though you eat a minimum quantity of food, you will feel energized throughout the day, thanks to the presence of thiamine and folate in it.
2. Keeps your digestive system healthy
Since it is a fiber-rich food, semolina plays a significant role in keeping your digestive system healthy and active. The dietary fiber found in semolina helps the growth of good bacteria in your stomach. Good gut bacteria improve your metabolism rate and reduce your risk of issues such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion and bloating.
In a study, a few people were asked to consume semolina and 5 grams of fiber from whole grains daily for two weeks. After two weeks, they reported that they felt a huge improvement with regards to problems such as bloating and constipation.
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3. Helps to lose weight
Fiber not only helps in the overall health of your digestive system but also in weight management. Including fiber-rich foods in your daily meals will give you positive results when you are looking to lose weight naturally. Fibre has the potential to suppress the functioning of the hunger hormone in your body. The protein content of semolina makes you stay full for a long time, thereby limiting the quantity of your food intake.
Two hundred fifty-two women participated in a study, where they consumed dietary fibers every day for 20 months. Whenever they increased their fiber intake by 1 gram, they reported a weight loss of 0.5kg during the 20-month period. Other studies have also proved that people who consumed a high-protein diet could lose up to 1.7 pounds more than what people who ate a standard protein diet lost.
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4. Important for cardiac health
Fiber-rich foods can reduce your risk of heart diseases. This is because fiber reduces the LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) in your body and increases the HDL (good cholesterol) levels. Semolina contains a lot of fibers that help in the overall health of your heart when consumed regularly. It is also rich in folate and magnesium, the two important ingredients that support the good functioning of the heart.
Many studies have been conducted to show the following results:
- People who ate high-fiber foods such as semolina are 24% less risky to heart diseases than others who ate low-fiber meals
- Eating 23 grams of fiber from semolina and other foods for about 3 weeks can bring about a 5% reduction in the LDL levels in your body
- People who consumed folate-rich foods every day were 38% less risky to heart diseases than people who didn’t eat too many folates
- Eating around 100mg of magnesium every day can reduce your risk to heart diseases and strokes by 22% and 7% respectively
Do we still need to convince you to include semolina in your meals regularly?
5. Regulates blood sugar levels
Magnesium and fiber are two important ingredients that help to regulate the blood sugar levels in your body and make you less prone to Type 2 Diabetes and cardiac diseases. Since semolina contains both of these, you can trust it to balance your blood sugar levels, when consumed regularly.
While magnesium triggers your cells to respond well to insulin, fiber slows down the absorption of carbohydrates by your blood after every meal. Therefore, both of these ingredients have been scientifically proven to prevent sudden increases in your blood sugar levels.
Many tests have proved that magnesium-rich foods can make you 14% less risky to diabetes and that fiber-rich food can bring down the hemoglobin A1C levels by 0.5% at least.
6. Reduces the risk to anemia
Semolina is rich in iron as you get 13% of your daily recommended level of iron from just 56grams of semolina flour. This helps your body to produce enough red blood cells, thereby reducing your risk to issues such as anemia, low hemoglobin, fatigue, and dehydration.
The key point that you have to note here is that the iron content in semolina belongs to the non-heme type, which means, it is not absorbed as well by your body as the iron content in animal products. Therefore, you have to consume semolina along with Vitamin-C rich foods always, because Vitamin C helps in better iron absorption than before.
7. Rich in antioxidants
One serving of semolina flour contains about 37 micrograms of an antioxidant known as selenium, which is essential for developing your overall immunity and health of cell membranes. Antioxidants help to prevent cell damage caused by harmful free radicals or oxidative stress, thereby reducing your risk to wrinkles, fine line, and other aging-related symptoms. Since selenium promotes your immunity, you become less prone to infections, inflammations and other diseases.
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Points to note
The main reason why semolina is used for making pasta is its high-gluten content. Before including semolina in your regular meals, you should first take an allergy test to confirm if you are allergic to gluten and gluten-related products. If you have already been diagnosed with Celiac disease, a condition where you are sensitive to gluten, you should stay away from eating semolina. Sometimes, you may not have Celiac disease, but you might still be sensitive to gluten. You know your body the best; therefore, get your checks done to check your allergies, if any, before deciding to include gluten in your meal plans.
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Conclusion
Semolina flour is easily available in the stores and it is loaded with immense health benefits. Now that you know what semolina can do to your health, start including it in your regular meals right away! Your kids will love the home-cooked pasta made from semolina, and you don’t have to feel guilty every time they eat pasta! Get creative with semolina and enjoy the health benefits that it offers you.