Ragi is nutritionally dense and comprises rich concentrations of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, iron and calcium when compared to other cereal grains (Sood et al., 2016).High amounts of magnesium and phosphorus is also evident.
This is of particular importance to several mothers and their children who need the extra calcium but cannot afford milk or other sources of this mineral .Ragi has good amounts of Vitamin A and B vitamins as can be evidenced through various research studies on its composition (Table 1).
Ragi contains 44.7% of essential amino acids and essential fatty acids such as linolenic and palmitic acids which are essential for the development of brain and neural tissue (Kunyanga et al., 2013; Muthamilarasan et al., 2016).The Ragi protein contains an amino acid that is missing in Rice-Methionine.
This is one of the essential amino acids that is critical for hair,skin ,nails and healthy liver HEALTH BENEFITS OF RAGIDIETARY FIBER AND ITS ROLE IN HUMAN HEALTHThe dietary fiber in Ragi play a key role in controlling and regulating the release of blood sugar .This means that this grain is valuable both in prevention and management of Diabetes Mellitus .Dietary fiber also plays an important role in prevention of cardio-vascular diseases.
The World Health Organization defines overweight and obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.
The most common health consequence of being overweight or obese is cardiovascular disease — mainly heart disease and stroke.