Kurakkan (Eleucinecoracana) Health

by Dr Harold Gunatillake Health writer

Sri Lankan traditional staple food items consumed by the locals are mainly made of rice flour, wheat flour and occasionally kurakkan flour. The latter is used mainly to make pittu, roti and string hoppers (indiappams). There are doubts about the goodness of kurakkan, and as a result wheat and rice flour are more popular and palatable, used on a daily basis for items cooked mostly for breakfast and dinner
Millet seed or kurakkan is most often associated as the main ingredient in bird seed mixtures in most countries.In Sri Lanka it is used especially among the rural population as a main ingredient in most preparations. Presently, in Sri Lanka one could buy kurakkan biscuits and crackers manufactured by the biscuit companies.
Presently, it is grown in Anuradapura, Monoragala, Hambantota, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Nuwaraliya, Ampara, Badulla, and Jaffna districts. Most farmers favour irrigating transplanted kurakkan cultivation to traditional rainfed farming which is more liable to be damaged by frequent droughts.
Millet is tiny in size and round in shape and can be white, gray, yellow or red.
The most widely available form of kurakkan found in supermarkets is the pearled, hulled variety, although traditional couscous made from cracked millet can also be found.
Our ancestors have been using finger millet or Kurakkan as food for ages, and one could trace the origin to China. For centuries millet has been a prizes crop in China, India, Greece, Egypt and Africa, used in everything from bread to couscous, and as cereal grain. Millet is also mentioned as a treasured crop in the Bible.
Millet is a grain, and the Indian variety is known as Bajra. In Sri Lanka it has been known as Kurakkan or Kurahan, is the red variety. It used to be the staple food of peasants in the dry zone.

Nutritional Values of finger millet (Kurakkan)

Moisure13.24%: Protein 7.6%: Carbohydrates 74.36%: Fibre 1.52%: Minerals 2.35%, includes Magnesium, Manganese, Tryptophan, Phosporus, and B vitamins.
Fat 1.35%: Energy 341.6 cal/ 100g
Millet, cooked 1 cup 240grams (285 Calories) will contain:
Manganese 0.66mg
Tryptophan 0.10g
Magnesium 105.60mg
Calcium
B Vitamins – Niacin (vitamin B3) in millet can help lower bad cholesterol.
Phosphorus 240.00mg (This micro-nutrient in millet helps with fat metabolism, body tissue repair and creating energy. Phosphorus being an essential component of adenosine triphosphate or ATP, a precursor to energy in your body)

Heart-Protective Properties

Magnesium in kurakkan has heart healthy properties. In addition, magnesium has been shown in studies to reduce the severity of asthma and reduce the frequency of migraine attacks. Magnesium also lowers the blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attack, especially among the older people with atherosclerosis or diabetic heart disease. Niacin (vitamin B30 in kurakkan can help in lowering high cholesterol.
One cup of cooked kurakkan provides 26.4% of the daily value for magnesium.

Avoid Gallstones

Eating foods high in insoluble fiber helps to reduce the incidence of gallstones. Eating kurakkan can help women avoid gallstones, shows a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Protection against breast cancer:

When researchers looked at how much fiber 35,972 participants in the UK Women’s Cohort Study ate, they found a diet rich in fiber from whole grains, such as finger millet, and fruit offered significant protection against breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. (Cade JE, Burley VJ, et al., International Journal of Epidemiology- 2007 Jan 24).

Goitrogenic property

Millet contains goitrogens, meaning naturally occurring chemicals that interfere with the functioning of the thyroid gland. If you have an enlarged thyroid gland due to low thyroxin secretion one should avoid kurakkan. Cooking may destroy such chemicals and substances that are goitrogenic.

Kurakkan is gluten free

Kurakkan though considered as a grain, it is actually a seed. Millet or Kurakkan is one of the four gluten-free grain-like seeds on the Body Ecology program.
These seeds provide serotonin to calm and soothe your mood, as bananas. They are suppose to hydrate your colon to keep you regular. It is alkaline, digests easily. Cancer of the gut is formed in acid medium.

Glycaemic Index of Kurakkan

The carbohydrate content in Kurakkan is similar to that of rice and wheat flour. A research paper written by A Thathvasuthan, A Chandrasekera, DGNG Wijesinghe and HMDK Jayawardena (Tropical Agricultural Research Vol 19: 101-109 (2007) state that the determination of blood glucose elevating effect (glucaemic response) of pittu and rotti prepared from rice flour and kurakkan flour was estimated. According to the available carbohydrate percentage of rice flour and kurakkan flour were 73.7 and 69.0 respectively. The GI of pittu and rotti, prepared using Bg 403 rice flour were 52 and 64.0 and that of kurakkan flour were 71 and 80 respectively. Based on the GI, it can be suggested that pittu is better for health than rotti, while rice flour is better than kurakkan flour to prepare these.
These findings may answer the question most subjects having diabetes wants to know. Is food made with kurakkan better for diabetics than food made with rice and wheat flour? According to these research findings diabetics should eat less kurakkan, though it is considered as more nutritious than foods cooked with rice and wheat flour.One can always check on your glucose level two hours after enjoying a kurakkan meal. That would give the answer, too.
In preparing to cook kurakkan, soak in water for 24 hours to remove the phytic acid that binds up minerals and enzyme inhibitors that make it difficult to digest.You cook kurakkan just like rice, but with more water (3 cups water to 1 cup millet). You determine how much water to use depending on how soft you like your grain.Start the morning with millet preparation and experience the benefits of kurakkan nutrition that made it the prized grain of so many ancient cultures!People having diabetes should avoid all high GI foods, including kurakkan.Some reference to The World’s Healthiest Foods,