23rd Apr 2019
Telangana Today
Warangal Urban: Millets consumption is slowly, but steadily catching up with the city dwellers. Particularly, those who are suffering from diabetes and obesity are consuming the millets as they think that millets are a good ‘medicine’ to cure these ailments. Millets are now available at the several grocery stores in the city. “Though the price of the millets is high compared with rice or wheat, health conscious people are coming forward to purchase the millets,”said Kirshna, who runs a grocery store near Ambedkar Bhavan in the city. Except brown top millet (Andu Korralu), all other millets are priced at Rs 80 per kg in the market in Warangal city. The price of the brown top millet is Rs 350 per kg. “We are mainly importing millets from Rayalaseema of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka State. Due to shortage of the brown top millets, the price is very high,”Krishna added. There are also exclusive millets and dry fruit centres in the city.
Meanwhile, millet tiffin centres and restaurants are also coming up in the city to cash in on the situation. On the other hand, the multigrain (millets) gruel is also served to the people. Two such centres have been set up at the Public Garden in the city. They are mainly catering to the needs of the morning walkers who come to the Public Garden in hundreds. Dr Devender Bhukya, a faculty member with the Kakatiya University (KU), said that he had started consuming the millet diet following a suggestion from a friend and lost three kgs of weight in just one month.
“As per several experts, losing weight and checking the diabetes is an easy thing with the consumption of the millets,”he added. Meanwhile, Babburi Shiva Krishna, who is running an exclusive millet restaurant in Balasamudram, area said that they are getting good response from the customers. “Idli, dosa, wada, poori, millet curd rice and millet veg biryani are available at our restaurant besides snacks made of millets,”he added. On the other hand, some farmers are also planning to cultivate the millets. K Narender, a central governmental employee, who also owns land in Neerukulla village of Atmakur mandal in Warangal Rural district, said that he is planning to cultivate the brown top millets in his four acres of land. “I am consuming the millets for the last nine months. There is a lot of improvement in health and also got reduced by weight,”Narender added. According to the studies, the millet are nutrient-rich, have a high fibre content, and low glycaemic index -making them ideal for fighting obesity and diabetes. They are also gluten-free, which makes them perfectly safe foods for people suffering from Celiac disease -an illness marked by a severe allergy to wheat that affects several million people across the world.
Original post on Telangana Today
