Examination of why millet should optimally be eaten in moderation as a gluten-free whole grain in order to avoid disrupting hormone health.
Gluten allergies are clearly on the increase in our modern society. It seems like practically every other person I know these days has some sort of digestive issue that avoiding gluten would probably improve.
At the top of the list of gluten-containing foods is wheat. It is the indisputable, primary staple of the Western diet. Wheat is also the very foundation of the controversial USDA Food Pyramid.
Given how important bread and other wheat-based carbohydrates are to our society’s basic food requirements, it’s no wonder that folks seek a quick and easy substitute for wheat bread and wheat-based snacks when a gluten allergy or Celiac disease has been diagnosed.
Millet: Ancient Gluten-free Whole Grain
Enter millet. This ancient grain was cultivated in East Asia as far back as 10,000 years ago, according to archaeologists. Surprisingly, the cultivation of millet in prehistoric times was more prevalent than even rice, particularly in what is now China and the Korean peninsula.
Millet’s resistance to drought is perhaps the reason for its popularity in ancient times and its spread to Europe by 5000 B.C.
Despite the 5000 years cultivating this whole grain as a staple food, millet porridge is considered a traditional food in Russia as well as China. Use of millet is also widespread in Africa, like gluten-free teff, likely due to the drought-prone climate.
Millet Bread: Logical Substitute for Wheat
The protein structure of millet is quite similar to wheat. The one glaring exception is that millet is a gluten-free grain. Wheat contains copious amounts of this hard to digest plant protein.
When plain millet flour is used for baking bread (as opposed to homemade gluten-free flour or a healthy gluten-free flour mix from the store), the resulting loaf is light, white, and quite similar in texture to wheat bread. As a result, people who wish to avoid gluten tend to immediately gravitate to millet bread as the most logical and palatable substitute.
Millet bread is extremely popular in health food stores. Sami’s Bakery and Deland Bakery are two local bakeries that sell an absolute ton of millet bread to these stores around my local metro area.
I recently corresponded with a person up the East Coast of the USA who was consuming a lot of the millet/flax chips as an alternative to wheat-based snacks and had no idea of the potential health risks from consuming so much millet.
It was this discussion that led me to write this blog and warn folks about the dangers of consuming too much millet!
Potent Goitrogens
While millet does not contain gluten, it does contain goitrogens. These are substances that suppress thyroid activity and can lead to goiter. This condition involves enlargement of this very important gland which resides in the throat. Low iodine intake can also lead to goiter for those who rely on millet as a staple according to the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Hypothyroidism is a serious and sometimes debilitating condition. It accompanies a weak or enlarged thyroid such as what occurs with goiter. Depression, difficulty losing weight, loss of hair, cold hands/feet, and fatigue are common hypothyroid symptoms. By some estimates, hypothyroidism is at epidemic proportions in Western society. (1)
Goitrogens in foods that contain them are usually reduced by cooking such as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. However, cooking actually increases the goitrogenic effect of millet! Incidentally, the same effect occurs when fermenting soy.
Therefore, when folks begin eating large amounts of millet bread with a wholesale switch over from wheat, the thyroid suppressing effects of this simple dietary change can be profound. Injuring the thyroid can have a cascade effect on other glands as well. For example, those suffering from adrenal fatigue many times have thyroid issues as well.
Moderation is Critical
Protect your thyroid at all costs! It is a real challenge to unwind the effects of hypothyroidism once this vital gland is weakened or enlarged. Don’t take any chances with your thyroid health by consuming large amounts of millet bread or millet based snacks.
If gluten and/or wheat is a problem, then simply reduce bread consumption. Alternatively, use another grain that is both gluten-free and non-goitrogenic such as rice, oats or teff. Be sure to get quality, though, as rice is frequently high in arsenic.
Alternatively, try using grain-like gluten-free foods such as highly nutritious buckwheat, amaranth, or the starchy tuber cassava. They are excellent for baking too!
Millet bread consumption is fine in moderation if your thyroid is healthy – just don’t overdo it!
Given how difficult it is in modern society to maintain thyroid and overall glandular health, taking a chance by eating a lot of millet bread is a risky proposition indeed.
Traditional peoples did not have the constant stresses and strains on their glands like modern people do.
For example, they did not have to contend with pollution of their food, water, air and overall environment.
Therefore, we must be overprotective of our thyroid health. This includes avoiding regular consumption of foods that might impair it in any way.
Millet Alternatives That Preserve Thyroid Function
If you have thyroid issues and need alternatives to millet, here is a list of the healthiest options to consider.
- Einkorn Benefits (contains “good gluten“)
- Teff Benefits
- Yuca Root Benefits
- Arrowroot Benefits
- Wild Rice Benefits
- Farro (great if only modern wheat is the problem)
Thank you very much. This is good to know as I was considering switching from rice to millet for nutritional reasons.
Nothing wrong with millet in moderation … just don’t overdo!
Sarah, what is mild moderation? Let’s say you had four slices (small sandwhich size) daily and no more.
Would that constitute as too much?
I would say that 4 slices daily is far too much. We eat a millet sourdough in our home and I won’t allow our family more than 1 or 2 slices at the most … with many days none at all.
Hi!
I am getting really into my wholefoods and cooking everything from scratch. I ordered some Millet and have made a DELICIOUS soup out of it and thought I’d cracked the best recipe yet…. that was until someone at work mentioned that millet can be incredibly hard to digest. I suffer from poor digestion and am now worried that my souper soup wis bad for me!
I soaked the grain for 24 hours, boiled it & then blended half of the mix (kept the other half chunky). Can you please advise if this is a grain I should avoid reusing?
🙂
Read an article saying millets are very effective in kidney stone removal. How far is it true? Also,when i checked the grocery store I found different varities of millets like Jowar,Bajra etc. Which millet is exactly used to treat kideney stone?Kindly reply.
My two pennies
In India, it is believed that eating small pellets of Camphor inserted into a banana and swallowing it whole removes kidney stones efficiently and painlessly.
Take a banana, peel it.
Take a small cube of camphor,(Karpura in Kannada, camphre in French, kafur in Arabic, Karpuram in Sanskrit); break it into small bits of 3-4 pieces, insert them into the peeled banana at regular intervals of about an inch from each other. Swallow the banana along with the camphor. You should be able to get the kidney stones out painlessly in a day or two.
You can find a few videos on you tube on this subject.
Hi Sarah, very well written. Can you please provide details regarding the goitrogenicity of millets? Can you suggest the best way of cooking to reduce the goitrogens in millets?
Would sprouted millet have goitrogens as well?
Yes it would.
Hi Sarah, TY for this information. I recently learned that I am allergic to the entire wheat plant (not just a sensitivity to its gluten part) and now cannot have anything that contains wheat at all. (Do you know how many, condiments, sauces, drinks and other stuff are made with wheat in them??? Most everything!) It’s so frustrating. I thought I’d simply make an easy “switch” to millet… but now have second thoughts on that idea. I’ll certainly research some more– Thanks again!
Dina I have a simaler issue with wheat but I have switched to spelt and have had not problems. Also I would look into the blood type diet. I follow it and have had great results in my health. I am B blood type and Millet is proven through the studies of this diet by a MD that millet is a highly benacicial grain for Bs. I am curiouse to know the blood type of the person sighted in this post.
Spelt IS wheat!
Yes, but it is the original. Today’s wheat is hybridized, hence the allergies. Many people who can’t tolerate wheat do tolerate spelt.
Dina, please be careful about trying spelt! Do research and speak with your doctor. Here is an article that has a lot of information: http://www.allergy-details.com/gluten-free-diet/spelt-safe-wheat-free-or-gluten-free-diet/
My son is highly wheat allergic and I am wheat intolerant, though not tested for celiac. Neither my son nor I can have spelt. If your doctor says you can try spelt, please do so with another person present who knows what to do if you have a reaction. Allergies can be life-threatening.
Lately the word I have been hearing is that a chemical found in roundup may be what people are allergic to. If been hearing anecdotes of folks that have been diagnosed gluten free having no issues with organically produced wheat products. I think the chemical is called Glyphosate.
Maybe there is an issue of chemical sensitivity for many people, as opposed to gluten sensitivity.
Sourdough is one great solution to the gluten problem. The culture eats all of the gluten in wheat.
I have always been a big fan of sourdough bread and now for the first time I am about to bake my own, because I have discovered a very simple way to make it. Kefir – water or milk kefir. No need to maintain a sourdough starter. The kefir which I always have growing in my kitchen anyway, because of its incredible health benefits is loaded with many different probiotic bacteria & yeast cultures, and it acts as the starter. I mixed water kefir with flour yesterday morning and by evening I had a bubbling mass of dough. I let it go another 16 hours to make it more sour and to be sure all gluten was gone. Now ready to bake. I used 80% whole wheat and 20% millet flour. I made a wet dough initially and added much of the millet flour this morning to get the right moisture content. I made it wet initially so that it would culture more quickly.
Tim, could you possibly post your recipe for your bread made with Kefir–I would be very interested. How do you start your kefir supply, does it last a long time before you start a new batch?
Millet contains high amounts of Vitamin B17,this Vitamin is actually on the controlled substance list in America,along with the chemicals that produce lab quality cocaine,meth,etc……While I agree with the limitations of access to the chemicals that help produce harmful drugs for society….Vitamin B-17 ?
It is proven B-17 is a naturally occurring vitamin that the human body needs to be healthy,it is purposely removed by the FDA,why ? Idyuno …..As I research ,I have yet to find any valid reasons for it as of this date.
Yes B-17 is proven to keep the body from harmful cancer effects,hence when the body is determining it is not getting the vitamin and mineral needs it requires,it goes into a natural shutdown process,of which is cancer .Cancer is simply to the bodies cells and the degenerative process of eliminating the body from planet earth,because it is not getting treated the way it should be in nature.
Nature doesn’t care about it,nor does it have any sympathy for it….
As far as any Thyroid issues developing,,,?
I’ll take my chances OK.
5000 years of history of generations of life, proves a little more to us than one vague ,unproven study of the recent age.
Lastly,check out the rise in Cancer in America,since the removal of Millet as the flour of choice in America in 1977……
That’s not a study its statistical proof….
Any questions ?
If you develop thyroid issues,your still not treating your body the way you should.
Simple activity,rest,proper sleep with a varied healthy choice in the foods you eat.This is the key to a longer,healthier life,.It’ll never make you live till 200 years old,but while your here ,you should enjoy less of a nuisance from your body as Socrates quotes in the Symposium.
“vitamin” B17 is not proven to protect from cancer or cure it. It isn’t even a vitamin, but calling it one is just an attempt at hiding what it really is.
The reason it is banned is because it can be easily processed to produce cyanide. It is also toxic to humans and will produce cyanide in the body after ingestion.
Apparently you didn’t go very far in your research.
Geogal, this is what the government will tell you because quite frankly they stand to benefit more by sick people needing pharmaceuticals, than healthy people who can heal themselves. Here is a link to some information on this and its pertinence to almonds. I think you will find it interesting to say the least. Researching both sides of this story is important however and I am still doing the research, but hence to say this has honestly made me question everything when it comes to our food supply and what we should believe to be true. http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/09/no_author/death-by-almonds/
I don’t think you have researched it very extensively.
I think the only “valid” study is the first listed…that being said, it concludes, “that in areas of iodine deficiency in which millet is a major component of the diet, its ingestion may contribute to the genesis of endemic goiter.” Iodine deficiency if very rarely a problem in western countries. As someone else stated, this study is from 1989…very old.
I think it’s too bad that so many people take what others post in blogs and personal websites as truth. You should always do your own research.
I definitely agree with Rachel! There are so many comments and blogs which have not been properly researched! There is a vast variety of grains and seeds that are called Millets. Actually many of them are not even related to others. Eliminating all of them from your diet is a very sad consequence of reading this article, especially for those who are gluten intolerant. By making sure that you have a source of iodine in your diet, then you should be quite safe. This author did not give her credentials, nor what kind millet she was referring to. If she really understood millet, she would have been more specific. It is highly unlikely that all millets have this quality, and it shouldn’t be dangerous to the majority of people, as stated in the research study, if they have a normal amount of iodine in their diet! I certainly won’t be eliminating Millets from my GF diet! Variety is the key.
Thanks for the information on millet. Any suggestion on diet for people with diabetes and hypothyroidism? Since wheat has gluten and millet has goitrogen, is rice the only healthy option for people with diabetes and hypothyroidism?
Nope you guys can also try Amaranath or its called RajGaro in Gujrati available as a flour in all Indian supermarkets in the USA. This Grain is Gluten Free, has a little bit of a strong odor, so I have to mix it in other flours when making. I can’t have millet.