Buckwheat, The Super Food

The buckwheat is a super grain which power is often underestimated in the States. Though it is usually thought of as a grain, it’s a seed. That surpasses other grains in many ways.

First of all, buckwheat ranks low on the glycemic scale. Second, it’s gluten free. Third, buckwheat has more protein than rice, wheat, millet or corn and is high in the essential amino acids lysine and arginine, in which major cereal crops are deficient.

Hulled and roasted buckwheat kernels (groats) known as kasha—a staple food in Russia and Eastern Europe. Kasha is eaten as hot cereal or as a side dish. In China, Korea and Japan buckwheat is often enjoyed in the form of buckwheat "soba" noodles—a form that's become increasingly popular in the West as a healthy substitute for wheat pasta.

Buckwheat is a very healthy food. It contains lots of magnesium which relaxes blood vessels, improving blood flow and nutrient delivery while lowering blood pressure. Buckwheat promotes the better blood sugar control and lowers risk of diabetes. Eating foods high in insoluble fiber, such as buckwheat, can help women avoid gallstones and breast cancer.

Buckwheat is not a new grain for 7 Grain, because we add it to our famous 7 Grain Bread. But we developed entirely new gluten free recipe based on buckwheat. It’s our new Buckwheat Oats Bread. It’s moist inside, has a lot’s off fiber and has a unique but not overpowering taste.

Nutrition facts

Serving size    1 cup   168 g

Nutrient amount                     %DV

Protein                                    5.68 g  11.36

Carbohydrates                        33.50 g 11.17

Fat                                         1.04 g  1.60

Dietary Fiber                          4.54 g  18.16

Calories                                 154.56 8.59

New Grains in 7 Grain Menu: Long Grain Brown Rice

Rice is a basic grain for most gluten free products. We use Cajun Country Long Grain Brown Rice which is grown and produced in Louisiana. We mill it ourselves to make sure our customers get the freshest brown rice flour available. Brown rice has much higher levels of many vitamins and minerals than white rice.

It’s an excellent source of manganese and selenium. Just one cup of cooked brown rice provides 88% of your daily need for manganese, a mineral that helps us digest fats and get the most from the proteins and carbohydrates we eat.

Studies indicate that whole grain brown rice may cut diabetes risk, lower cholesterol, helped maintain a healthy weight. It is a natural whole grain rice with nothing but the husk removed, so it retains all bran.

We developed few delicious new gluten free recipes based on brown rice flour: Brown Rice Millet Bread, Brown Rice Biscotti with Flax Seeds and Oat Bran Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Check them out when you are at the Covington or Slidell Farmer’s Market next time.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/4 cup (49 g)

Nutrient Amount % DV

Calories 170      Calories from Fat 14     

Total Fat 1.5 g 3%     

Sodium 0 mg 0%

Total Carbohydrate 38 g 13%     

Dietary Fiber 3 g 13%     

Protein 4 g

New Grains in 7 Grain Menu: Amaranth

Amaranth grain has an interesting long history. It was grown in Central and South America between 6000 and 8000 years ago by Aztecs. But they didn’t eat the grain, they used it in religious ceremonies mixing it with honey and making images of their deity. When the worship ceremonies were over the sculptures were broken to pieces and distributed among worshippers to eat.

After the Spanish landed in the New World they outlawed all heathen ceremonies including planting amaranth. Natives were given severe punishments for growing or possessing a forbidden grain. But of course they couldn’t destroy all plants, because amaranth is highly adaptive. It can grow well in moist, loose soil with good drainage at almost any elevation and in just about any temperate climate.  Once established, amaranth can continue to thrive in low-water conditions. That makes it a very valuable grain in Africa.

Today, you can find it growing in small amounts in some pretty surprising locations, including Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota, and even Long Island, NY!

Amaranth is rich in lysine and calcium, its protein content is high quality. And it’s gluten free. It makes a highly nutritious hot cereal and can be cooked like any other grain, but becomes sticky when cooked. Can be mixed with corn, onions, and pinto beans. It goes well with buckwheat, millet and brown rice.

Now 7 Grains offers Gluten Free Homemade Pasta made out of amaranth.  You still can enjoy pasta and your favorite sauces even if you can’t tolerate wheat.

Nutrition Facts on Amaranth

Serving Size: 1/2 cup cooked

Nutrient Amount

Calories 129   

Fat 1.5 g  

Carbohydrate 22 g   

Dietary Fiber 2 g   

Sodium 14 mg  

Protein 5 g   

Calcium 60 mg

Healthy Homemade Granola

Our homemade granola is getting more and more popular among our friends and customers. And that’s the only gluten free product we make. Granola is organic oat-based cereal. There are sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pecan nuts, coconut flakes, raisins, cranberries, honey, oil, sea salt and vanilla. You can have for breakfast or as a healthy snack during a day. Eat it plain or with your milk or yogurt.

Why our granola is healthy?

First of all it’s a whole grain cereal. Oats are whole grains, and that means they retain all the nutrition that are contained in bran, germ and endosperm of the kernel. According to the Dietary Guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human Services whole grains such as granola might lower your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Second, granola provides you with a much needed dietary fiber, which you can find only in veggies, fruits, beans and whole grains. Dietary fiber helps you to fight constipation and type 2 diabetes. It also lowers the level of bad cholesterol. All this seeds and dried fruits we add to our granola increase the total volume of fiber.

Third, granola provides you with essential nutrients such as iron and potassium, vitamin E and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Fourth, our granola is completely sugar free. We use honey to sweeten it. Most of the commercial brands are loaded with sugar. They can have as much as 17 g of sugar for a serving size. It’s more than a tablespoon of sugar! It’s way too much.

Eating homemade granola for breakfast will help you to start your morning with a fulfilling and delicious meal, boosting your energy and concentration without extra sugar or caffeine.

It’s great for kids, weight watchers, athletes and all other people who want to stay healthy, look and feel just great. 

Is Gluten Bad for You?

Let’s talk about gluten and gluten free diet today. There is a lot of misunderstanding around this issue. You and I became witnesses of a new myth that was born right before our eyes. And the myth is GLUTEN IS BAD for you. So let’s explore it and think if it’s true or false.

First of all, what is gluten after all? Gluten is a complex of two proteins, gliadin and glutein. found in seeds of most grasses and most of the grains like wheat, spelt, barley and even rye. The gluten makes the dough stretch and rise. It gives the bread spongy texture and thickens sauces.

Some people have an autoimmune inflammatory disease of small intestine, commonly known as celiac disease. That means their bodies treat gluten as an invader and starts a immune response or allergic reaction. It affects approximately 1 in every 250 people. There is no doubt that these folks have to stay away from gluten completely. Let’s call them gluten intolerant, eating gluten is potentially dangerous for them.

Some other people, let’s call them gluten-sensitive. It’s not the same as celiac disease, because the body of gluten sensitive person doesn’t develop antibodies. But eating gluten develops all kinds of problems from headaches to bloating and cramps. It’s like with any other food allergy. For example my brother-in-law can not eat egg whites and my sister is sensitive to honey and oranges.

Doctors have been using a gluten free diet to treat those individuals for over 40 years already. So it’s nothing new.

There is no scientific evidence that gluten can be problematic for average gluten tolerant person. Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center says, “The potential adverse health effects of gluten in those sensitive to it have reverberated in cyberspace, creating the impression that gluten is a bona fide toxin, harmful to all. This is false; gluten is not ‘bad’ for those tolerant of it, any more than peanuts are ‘bad’ for people free of peanut allergy.”

Therefore, gluten-free diet is justified for some people, but unnecessary for most. “The effort is well-justified for those who are truly gluten-sensitive, but potentially much ado about nothing for others just caught up in the trend. In addition, the exclusion of whole grain wheat, rye, barley and potentially oats from the diet might reduce overall diet quality and fiber intake. Again, a price worth paying when gluten avoidance is clearly necessary, but cost without benefit for others,” Dr. Katz says.

If you think you might have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, it’s best to see your practitioner before starting a gluten-free diet. Because it will be difficult to establish if you have a special condition or not after you go on a gluten-free diet.

And in the end I’d like you to think about the words of Alessio Fasano, director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Celiac Research. “The bottom line for gluten-sensitivity,” Fasano says, “is there are very little facts and a lot of fantasy.”