Celiac Disease: Because buckwheat contains no gluten, it is much safer for those with Celiac disease to use as a wheat substitute. It should be easier on the digestive tract, unlikely to produce further inflammation.
Nutritional Information
Buckwheat Nutrition: As a whole grain, buckwheat is rich in B vitamins. It also offers a number of other vitamins and minerals in good supply and is a complete source of essential proteins (amino acids), lysine included. Interestingly, a cup of buckwheat also supplies 25% of your daily supply of tryptophan, a serotonin precursor.
Among other great phytochemicals, this grain boasts a good supply of the flavonoids (antioxidants) quercetin and rutin. Finally, one serving additionally provides about 20% of your daily-required magnesium and fiber.
Meal Ideas
Buckwheat Meals: So if you're convinced and would like to incorporate buckwheat into your regular dietary habits, what are your options? Well, we're basically talking about groats and buckwheat flour for your raw cooking ingredients. Each can be incorporated into breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals without a hitch.
Groats are the basic hulled whole-grains and the healthiest way to eat buckwheat (buckwheat flour has a slightly higher glycemic index and lacks some of the groats' flavonoids). Those groats can be boiled for an oatmeal-like breakfast (2 parts water to one part groats). Or if you roast buckwheat groats you've got a popular dish known as kasha. Buckwheat pancakes are another popular form of the superfood.
One item to note in your shopping--the darker the flour, the more nutritious. The same seems to go for buckwheat honey, which is sometimes recommended for those with allergies or a cough.
Radiation
Buckwheat to Remedy Radiation Exposure: You should incorporate buckwheat into your diet as an antidote to radiation exposure, especially if you are undergoing radiation therapy for cancer treatment. This is due to the buckwheat flavonoid rutin, a relatively uncommon glycoside with particular roles in human metabolism. Its foremost medical use is in support of weakened blood vessels, but lab results on animal subjects have found that treatment with rutin shortened the recovery period after radiation exposure. Rutin actually seems to safeguard plants from UV radiation, and other studies have found that the antioxidant can prevent protein damage during irradiation.
Consequently, buckwheat noodles (soba) are being eaten in Japan expressly to reduce the harm of exposure from fallout due to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
