The healing power of teff

The organic stores are always looking for niches of foods that are selling extra well at a certain time. In 2014 teff flour is such a food type. In this year it flies out of the Dutch stores. Hollywood stars such as Gwyneth Palrow and Victoria Beckham are leaving quinoa behind and eating only teff flour from now on. That is of course nonsense. Teff flour may be very healthy; variety is even healthier. Wheat flour, spelled flour, teff flour, quinoa and buckwheat flour are all healthy and can be used as substitutes for each other.

Grass from Ethiopia

Teff is a grass species from Ethiopia and Eritrea. grass? Isn't that crazy to eat, some people will think. But that is a misunderstanding. All grains, including wheat, are actually grasses. Even rice is a type of grass. Humans cannot digest the leaves and stems of grass, but the seeds can! In the Netherlands they only started to grow teff in 2001. Teff was already being cultivated in ancient Egypt. The oldest teff finds are in an Egyptian pyramid built about 3500 BC.

Teff is not a new type of grass. In Ethiopia they have been using teff for a long time. It is a very healthy cereal; much healthier than wheat or corn. That's why teff has become a popular cereal in the early 21st century. You can make a flat sourdough bread from teff, but it is also ideal for pancakes, cookies and as a thickener in soups and sauces. Teff is a small grass seed grain or grain of wheat; the smallest in the world! It is too small to peel. That is why there is only wholemeal teff flour. There is a lot of fiber in teff. These are healthy for good intestinal transit.

Teff is good for people with celiac disease. There is no gluten in this grain substitute that causes problems. That is why teff fits into the gluten-free diet. In addition, teff digests quite slowly, which keeps you feeling full for a long time. This makes you less inclined to eat snacks. This can help if you want to maintain your weight. Teff flour is also a godsend for obese people. In addition, teff has a glycemic load of 26. In comparison: white bread has a glycemic load of 95. This makes bread or other bakery products based on teff flour very suitable for people with diabetes or diabetes mellitus.

In a study by a team of scientists at Jimma University in Ethiopia, in which teff flour was compared with wheat flour, corn flour and cassava flour or tapioca flour, it was found that teff flour had the highest number of substances. contains that fight free radicals. Free radicals cause inflammation at the cellular level, which can cause all kinds of lifestyle diseases. Teff flour also contains more minerals and healthy fats than the other flours. The researchers, who published their report in 2013, concluded that teff flour can be a valuable addition to products that offer additional health benefits.

In Enthiopia and Eritrea people traditionally make porridge, sourdough bread and a kind of beer from teff. The seeds are kept underground after harvest in order to ferment them. This gives a kind of sourdough flour. This is then baked. The resulting bread resembles a flat cake; Sourdough doesn't rise as much as yeast. This flat bread is called injera in Ethiopia.

Teff is really super healthy, the Hollywood stars appear to be well informed. The nutritional value is often measured per serving. A serving of teff is about a 150ml cup. A cup of teff contains about 50% of the RDI of fiber and it even contains the very healthy omega 3! A cup of teff is enough for a porridge or a few sandwiches. It contains about 50% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and 47% of the RDA for vitamin B6. These are beautiful high values that other grains and grain substitutes cannot compete with. It also contains an additional 32% of the RDI of B2 and 18% of the RDI of B5. It also contains 5% of the RDA for vitamin K. Teff is therefore especially good for the vitamin B complex. Incidentally, there are more vitamins in this cereal, but with percentages lower than 5%.

The mineral manganese is very much in teff. One cup, say a porridge or three sandwiches, contains no less than 892% of the RDI of manganese. This mineral supports the formation of the bones, skin and sex hormones. Many people think that calcium is important for bone building, but the truth is that calcium always needs other minerals, such as manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. Let's show that magnesium with 89% of the RDI and phosphorus with 83% of the RDI is represented in this smallest grain in the world. It also contains calcium: 35% of the RDI. Other minerals that occur in this cereal are: copper (78% RDA), zinc (47% RDA), potassium (18% RDA and selenium (12% RDA).

There is a lot of protein in teff flour. It is a rich vegetarian source of protein. Therefore, many people think it is good for people who follow the vegetarian diet. In itself this is not untrue, but it should be noted that there are few vegetarians who do not get enough protein. The idea that protein is important comes from the meat trade where marketers claim that meat, which naturally contains an overkill of protein, is very healthy. In fact, protein is found in many fruits and vegetables. Nuts, seeds and eggs contain extra protein. Legumes such as lentils are also very high in protein. Eating teff flour for its protein content doesn't hurt at all, but it's not the main reason for getting teff into your home.

Teff can be used as flour. It's nice to mix teff with other flours such as buckwheat flour, rice flour, millet flour, rye flour and wheat flour. You can bake pancakes from teff flour very well. Try a pancake topped with a vegetable mix! That is something different. You can also use teff as a flour substitute to thicken sauces, soups and gravies. American researchers used teff flour in the more European baking method in 2013 and came to the conclusion that teff flour can best be used for preparing rusks and biscuits. Optionally, you can soak the whole grains of teff and drink the water; just like you can do with oats. After a twelve hour soak you can boil the teff seeds and eat them as porridge. This porridge requires careful chewing, but not quite as much as with whole oat grain porridge.