Before, we didn’t even think about whether semolina porridge is useful. Since childhood, each of us is used to absorbing a plate of sweet semolina for breakfast. And if mother at home could not cook this dish often, then in child care facilities and at her grandmother's house, it was an integral part of the weekly diet. Let's talk about the benefits of semolina for children and adults.
What is semolina made of?
Semolina is nothing but peeled ground wheat grains. If you carefully read the instructions on the packaging of cereals, you will notice a marking indicating the type of grain. Do not know if semolina porridge is useful? Buy cereals labeled “T” (durum wheat), as nutritionists prefer this product.
The benefits of porridge for adults
To find out whether the presented dish is useful, you need to get acquainted with the composition of the product, energy value and effect on the body. The semolina contains potassium, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, calcium and iron, as well as vitamins of groups B and E. But in order to know for sure whether semolina porridge is useful for adults, it is necessary to make a comparative analysis with the composition of cereals cooked from other cereals. So, in comparison with buckwheat, hercules or rice, our porridge is quite poor in trace elements. Some radical nutritionists even call semolina an empty product. This, of course, is not so. It's just that it is slightly inferior in nutritional value to other cereals.
Who is recommended for decoy
We continue to find out whether semolina porridge is useful. Semolina is almost 100% carbohydrate, is quickly digested, saturating the body with energy. In view of this, doctors recommend absorbing the product to people with impaired digestion or to patients in the postoperative period during recovery. Semolina does not bother digestion and, due to its soft, delicate structure, envelops the walls of the stomach well. But the product is not able to linger in it for more than 2 hours, since it is completely devoid of fiber. A dish is indicated for diabetes, as well as for the purpose of cleansing the intestinal walls of mucus.
Who should not have a dish presented in the diet?
Now we find out whether semolina is useful during pregnancy and who better to refrain from eating the product. There are no contraindications during the period of gestation, except in those cases when the expectant mother has an individual intolerance to gluten (gluten). It is in connection with the increased content of the substance mentioned that the dish is not recommended for people suffering from disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as constipation.
Calorie semolina porridge
Is semolina porridge good for breakfast? Nutritionists in this case give an affirmative answer. Having used a plate of porridge in the morning, a person can easily “hold out” until dinner, but in this case it is necessary to understand that various additives make the dish even more saturated. So, the calorie content of porridge cooked on water barely reaches 100 kcal per 100 grams of product. If you include milk, butter, dried fruits or honey, the energy value will accordingly increase. Experts recommend not adding butter to the porridge. It is much more useful to flavor the finished dish with a spoon of honey or fruit. It turns out very tasty and healthy.
Is semolina good for children up to a year: experts estimate
We’ve sorted it out with adults, now consider the effect of semolina on the children's body. Let's start with babies. As you know, from 6 months, babies are recommended to introduce complementary foods, including baby cereals. Doctors warn against using semolina as food, because it contains gluten, which negatively affects the fragile crumbs of the stomach. If parents begin to feed the baby with semolina porridge, it can be stated with certainty that the villi of the small intestine will be damaged, which will cause constipation or, conversely, diarrhea. The low content of vitamins and minerals is also a clear minus of the product. That is why pediatricians are categorically against introducing into the diet of children under one year of a dish such as semolina. And experts recommend starting food with rice or corn porridge.
Is semolina good for children? The effect of phytin on the absorption of vitamins
Considering the issue of the use of the product by older children, experts note that it can not cause much harm. However, semolina contains phytin - an organophosphorus chemical compound observed in the shell of wheat grain. After processing the wheat, the concentration of phytin in grains increases sharply. In itself, a substance that is practically equal in quality to vitamins does not carry anything dangerous. Only an increased concentration of it in the body is harmful. In this case, the child will absorb calcium worse, which will lead to inhibition of growth. But magnesium, zinc and iron can not be absorbed, but, on the contrary, excreted from the body.
To prevent glut of a rare chemical compound, nutritionists recommend that after a year, children eat no more than two plates of semolina porridge. Ideally, you can limit yourself to one. Children love semolina, it saturates them well with energy and is very tasty. Therefore, you should not completely exclude a dish from the diet of fidgets and tomboys.
Cooking tips and tricks
In this article we discussed whether semolina porridge is useful, now it's time to learn the secrets of cooking it from our grandmothers.
- What to do to avoid lumps formed during cooking? There is not one way to prepare a homogeneous composition. So, semolina can be placed in cold water, seasoned with salt and sugar and put the pan on fire. If you regularly stir the contents until it boils, then the lumps will probably be avoided. In another way, the grains are poured into boiling water or milk with a very thin stream, evenly distributed over the surface and mixed.
- Due to the fact that porridge is cooked for a relatively short time (no more than 4 minutes), after turning off the fire, breakfast is covered with a lid, and the pan is wrapped with a kitchen towel.
- Delicious pudding can be made from semolina. For this, 3 tablespoons of cereal is fried in butter until characteristic yellowness, then ½ liter of separately boiled milk is poured directly into the pan. Add vanillin or granulated sugar, sometimes salt. If you cook the composition for another 3 minutes in a pan, you will get a fairly dense and thick pudding, which is good to serve with sour cream or fruit jam.
- It is best to cook breakfast with a mixture of water and milk. If you want to get a porridge of medium consistency, use cereals in a proportion of 1.5 tablespoons per glass of liquid. Those who like semolina porridge thinner will be limited to one spoon, and those who are thicker - two.
- Remember that as you cool, the density of the finished dish increases. Children eat slowly, so do not cook too thick porridge for them.
Dish options
There are various interpretations regarding the use of liquids for the "basis" of semolina porridge. The use of vegetable, meat or mushroom broth, and sometimes berry juice (fruit drink) is not quite widespread, but still common for these purposes.
Today, housewives are happy to cook breakfast in a slow cooker, as well as in the oven on a baking sheet. To cook semolina in the oven, you need to prepare a decoction of 100 grams of fresh cranberries. For 200 ml of cranberry juice, take 50 grams of semolina and a little sugar. First, the composition is brought to a boil in a pan, and then poured undercooked porridge onto a baking sheet and sent to the oven for 10 minutes. Before serving, cool and cut into portions, like an omelet.
Bon Appetit!