Why millets are magic bullets against lifestyle diseases

Fifty-year-old Abigail is a crop farmer based in Homa Bay. For many years, she has relied on her agricultural produce to feed her family and get income for other basic needs.

Most of her land is dedicated to maize, which she considers as her main food and cash crop.

“We all eat Ugali, here in my village as well as other parts of the country. So, this is why I focus more on the maize so I can sell to many people,” she says.

Since she was diagnosed with high blood pressure three years ago, Abigail notes that her medical expenses have gone up, putting a strain on her limited financial resources. Yet, long dry spells and insufficient rainfall — exacerbated by climate change — have been affecting her crop productivity, leading to reduced maize harvests and income losses.

Abigail is among the many farmers in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid areas that have over the years given priority to maize planting at the expense of other food sources.

Nutritionists and food security experts are concerned that this shift, which was largely influenced by market dynamics, has relegated other food crops, which are significant contributors to the health and well-being of individuals, on the sidelines.

In addition, this overreliance on maize is considered a major contributor to the food insecurity challenges in Kenya, which predispose families to nutrition-related health complications and massive income losses whenever the crop fails.

The challenge is not unique to Kenya. A past report by the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) indicated that just four crops — maize, rice, wheat and soybean — provide two-thirds of the world’s food supply.

Their prominence is equivalent to the massive investments in their production, at the expense of other food crops for many decades.

To address this challenge, health experts are calling for increased awareness creation, investment and a renewed focus on ‘forgotten crops’ to help curb food insecurity and the growing burden of diseases that can be alleviated through the highly nutritious neglected food crops.

Key among them are millets and sorghum, which aside from being drought tolerant, are now considered as ‘magic bullets’ against non-communicable diseases like hypertension, heart problems and diabetes.

These three complications are increasingly affecting many Kenyans and burdening the health sector. Yet, millets can help minimise this challenge.

A new study published in the Frontiers in Nutrition Journal indicates that the consumption of millets can reduce cholesterol levels as well as lipids or waxy fats quantities in the body. If left unchecked, high cholesterol and lipids levels increase people’s risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, heart attacks and strokes.

Based on the study, which was led by scientists from Icrisat, millets also enable people to have a good Body Mass Index (BMI), hence protecting them from obesity, which is not only linked to cardiovascular ailments but also other diseases such as cancer.

“Obesity and being overweight are increasing globally in both wealthy and poorer countries, so the need for solutions based on healthier diets is critical. This new information on the health benefits of millets further supports the need to invest more in the grain, including in its whole value chain from better varieties for farmers through to agribusiness developments,” said Dr Jacqueline Hughes, the director-general at Icrisat.

According to the researchers, the results of this new study brings critically needed scientific backing to ongoing efforts aimed at popularising and returning millets to diets, especially as staples, to combat the growing prevalence of obesity and being overweight in children, adolescents and adults.

During the research, the scientists analysed the data of nearly 900 people from about 19 past studies that assessed the impact of millets on people’s health status.

The results of the research showed that consuming millets reduced diastolic blood pressure by five percent and total cholesterol levels by eight percent, lowering it from high to normal levels in the people that were studied.

In addition, the findings also indicated that consuming millets reduced the BMI measurements by seven percent in people who were overweight and obese, increasing their possibility of returning to a normal BMI or weight.

All the results were based on the consumption of 50 to 200 grammes of millets per day for between 21 days and four months.

“We were very surprised by the number of studies that had already been undertaken on the impact of millets on elements that impact cardiovascular diseases. This is the very first time anyone has collated all these studies and analysed their data to test the significance of the impact. We did that, and results came out very strongly to show a significant positive impact on risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” stated Dr Seetha Anitha, the study’s lead author and senior nutritionist at Icrisat.

“This latest review further emphasises the potential of millets as a staple crop that has many health benefits. It also strengthens the evidence that eating millet can contribute to better cardiovascular health by reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels and increasing the levels of whole grains and unsaturated fats in the diet,” said Prof Ian Givens, a co-author of the study and Director at the University of Reading’s Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health in the UK.

Joanna Kane-Potaka, a co-author of the study and executive director of the Smart Food initiative at Icrisat noted: “A key recommendation from the study is for government and industry to support efforts to diversify staples with millets, especially across Africa and Asia.”

Another research paper, which the Frontiers in Nutrition Journal published recently, has shown that eating millets can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Among those with the disease already, the results indicated that millets can help them to effectively manage their blood sugar levels.