Examination of why millet should optimally be eaten in moderation as a gluten-free whole grain in order to avoid disrupting hormone health.
Gluten allergies are clearly on the increase in our modern society. It seems like practically every other person I know these days has some sort of digestive issue that avoiding gluten would probably improve.
At the top of the list of gluten-containing foods is wheat. It is the indisputable, primary staple of the Western diet. Wheat is also the very foundation of the controversial USDA Food Pyramid.
Given how important bread and other wheat-based carbohydrates are to our society’s basic food requirements, it’s no wonder that folks seek a quick and easy substitute for wheat bread and wheat-based snacks when a gluten allergy or Celiac disease has been diagnosed.
Millet: Ancient Gluten-free Whole Grain
Enter millet. This ancient grain was cultivated in East Asia as far back as 10,000 years ago, according to archaeologists. Surprisingly, the cultivation of millet in prehistoric times was more prevalent than even rice, particularly in what is now China and the Korean peninsula.
Millet’s resistance to drought is perhaps the reason for its popularity in ancient times and its spread to Europe by 5000 B.C.
Despite the 5000 years cultivating this whole grain as a staple food, millet porridge is considered a traditional food in Russia as well as China. Use of millet is also widespread in Africa, like gluten-free teff, likely due to the drought-prone climate.
Millet Bread: Logical Substitute for Wheat
The protein structure of millet is quite similar to wheat. The one glaring exception is that millet is a gluten-free grain. Wheat contains copious amounts of this hard to digest plant protein.
When plain millet flour is used for baking bread (as opposed to homemade gluten-free flour or a healthy gluten-free flour mix from the store), the resulting loaf is light, white, and quite similar in texture to wheat bread. As a result, people who wish to avoid gluten tend to immediately gravitate to millet bread as the most logical and palatable substitute.
Millet bread is extremely popular in health food stores. Sami’s Bakery and Deland Bakery are two local bakeries that sell an absolute ton of millet bread to these stores around my local metro area.
I recently corresponded with a person up the East Coast of the USA who was consuming a lot of the millet/flax chips as an alternative to wheat-based snacks and had no idea of the potential health risks from consuming so much millet.
It was this discussion that led me to write this blog and warn folks about the dangers of consuming too much millet!
Potent Goitrogens
While millet does not contain gluten, it does contain goitrogens. These are substances that suppress thyroid activity and can lead to goiter. This condition involves enlargement of this very important gland which resides in the throat. Low iodine intake can also lead to goiter for those who rely on millet as a staple according to the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Hypothyroidism is a serious and sometimes debilitating condition. It accompanies a weak or enlarged thyroid such as what occurs with goiter. Depression, difficulty losing weight, loss of hair, cold hands/feet, and fatigue are common hypothyroid symptoms. By some estimates, hypothyroidism is at epidemic proportions in Western society. (1)
Goitrogens in foods that contain them are usually reduced by cooking such as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. However, cooking actually increases the goitrogenic effect of millet! Incidentally, the same effect occurs when fermenting soy.
Therefore, when folks begin eating large amounts of millet bread with a wholesale switch over from wheat, the thyroid suppressing effects of this simple dietary change can be profound. Injuring the thyroid can have a cascade effect on other glands as well. For example, those suffering from adrenal fatigue many times have thyroid issues as well.
Moderation is Critical
Protect your thyroid at all costs! It is a real challenge to unwind the effects of hypothyroidism once this vital gland is weakened or enlarged. Don’t take any chances with your thyroid health by consuming large amounts of millet bread or millet based snacks.
If gluten and/or wheat is a problem, then simply reduce bread consumption. Alternatively, use another grain that is both gluten-free and non-goitrogenic such as rice, oats or teff. Be sure to get quality, though, as rice is frequently high in arsenic.
Alternatively, try using grain-like gluten-free foods such as highly nutritious buckwheat, amaranth, or the starchy tuber cassava. They are excellent for baking too!
Millet bread consumption is fine in moderation if your thyroid is healthy – just don’t overdo it!
Given how difficult it is in modern society to maintain thyroid and overall glandular health, taking a chance by eating a lot of millet bread is a risky proposition indeed.
Traditional peoples did not have the constant stresses and strains on their glands like modern people do.
For example, they did not have to contend with pollution of their food, water, air and overall environment.
Therefore, we must be overprotective of our thyroid health. This includes avoiding regular consumption of foods that might impair it in any way.
Millet Alternatives That Preserve Thyroid Function
If you have thyroid issues and need alternatives to millet, here is a list of the healthiest options to consider.
- Einkorn Benefits (contains “good gluten“)
- Teff Benefits
- Yuca Root Benefits
- Arrowroot Benefits
- Wild Rice Benefits
- Farro (great if only modern wheat is the problem)
Sarah, I know you said that soaking and sprouting don't make a difference, but what about fermentation? I have a source of local slow fermented millet bread, and I am wondering if that is any better than regular millet bread.
UGH! I had NO idea! And having been diagnosed with wheat, corn, oat, and rice allergies, millet seemed the natural alternative! We have been one of those Deland-bakery bread-consuming families you reference. We are getting ready to start GAPS, so this will all go out the window anyway, but sad to hear that our millet zucchini bread that we so enjoy could be damaging to our thyroids … definitely don't need anny help with that! Thanks for the continued great info, Sarah!
Hwo are you doing on the Gaps diet. I’ve been on the intro for three weeks ?
Wow, I had no idea about millet. When I found out I needed to stay away from gluten, we naturally gave millet a try. We never got too much into it though (thankfully), only very occasionally. Quinoa became our favorite alternative for sides and cold salads, so millet got put on the back burner. Spelt, although does contain some gluten, has become our main bread grain, since I can tolerate it. It makes excellent sourdough (sourdough also helps with the gluten).
The term ‘millet’ is an all encompassing word for many small grass seeds so broadly covers sorghum, pearl, foxtail, finger, proso, barnyard, little, teff and I’m sure there are others. French/white, is proso; ragi is finger millet. There are lots of alternative local names for each variety and many have Hindi names since millets are widely grown in India. The only true way of differentiating them is to use their botanical name.
Not all of these contain goitrogens as they are all completely different species from one another as someone else mentioned. Pearl or Bulrush millet, Pennisetum glaucum, is the one that may affect your thyroid even though the photos in the article show one of the other types and not Pearl millet.
Do your due research before discarding a great gluten free variety of grains with such potential to help so many people.
I've been considering starting a food diary to see what triggers upset stomachs with me, and I have a feeling it will include wheat!! :-
It seems even pasta upsets my stomach too, not that I eat it a ton, but often when I do, within an hour or two I'm crippled over in pain–think some ingredient in the pasta is really off-setting to my digestive tract?
What would be a better alternative than millet to wheat? For breads and such?
Megan, pasta contains wheat unless otherwise noted.
Unfortunately, no. Soaking, sprouting does not lessen millet's goitrogenic effects. I know, what a bummer. I enjoy millet myself but will no longer eat it except in very small amounts occasionally.
At Costco, I found spaghetti (or the like) made from millet and brown rice. I was delighted to find that it tastes the same, with my homemade sauce added, as regular wheat-based spaghetti! My dr. has taken me off gluten. And now I find that millet can cause goiter? I am crestfallen, because when I make a big bowl of spaghetti I eat if for 3 days. And I LOVE spaghetti !
Eat it in moderation and ensure you are getting plenty of natural iodine in the diet (grassfed butter or ghee is a fantastic source) and you shouldn’t have a problem provided you don’t already have thyroid issues. I eat millet, but am very smart about it and don’t eat it everyday and with plenty of grassfed fats in the diet overall 🙂
Thanks, Sarah. I think. 🙁
Would soaking or sprouting affect the levels at all?
Yooper
I know of a good gluten free flour and grain substitute that has been historically proven to work. It is chestnuts and chestnut flour. They were the primary carbohydrate source for several healthy groups of middle eastern and european peoples until the corn and potatoes from the Americas came over in the age of exploration and the chestnut tree's succeptability to disease caused it's use to decline. I am currently experimenting with making a grain free bread with chestnut flour and chia seed, though i cannot get the ratios down.
Agreed. Singhoda flour (chestnut) and Amaranth flour [rajgara] is widely used in India for light roti/naan instead of wheat. However pearl millet can be far cheaper and easier to cook hence people going for that.
Hi Ann, here are a couple refs for you:
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/4/707
Cholesterol and Health, Vol 1, Issue 1, 2008:
http://iodine4health.com/special/goitrogens/foods/masterjohn_goitrogenic_foods.htm
Hi,
I was browsing internet for some additional data on millet, particularly if there are any drawbacks – since everybody talks how wonderful& healthy are all these alternatives to the usual waterfall of wheat&rice in the supermarkets. An additional nag was a little sequence from Kurosawa’s movie “Seven Samurai” where millet is mentioned in rather negative terms (as opposed to rice) by one of the characters.
Thank you for taking the time and sharing all this information ; it is very interesting and made me investigate more.
Regarding the links above – I have certain doubts about the second one, not because it’s not from a medical journal, but because there are no references attached to that article and it has lots of recommendations & warnings made on the “trust me I know what I’m saying” base. While it’s always good to keep an eye on the “dark side” of everything, it’s even better to have it acknowledged and agreed by others too; or at least mentioned on the “reportedly” base if only the folklore is the source.
So, the only actual study listed in this article is based on one poorly designed study conducted on rats back in 1989? I am sure that you mean well. But, the results of this study are beyond questionable, cannot be properly extrapolated to humans and most certainly should not be used to give people dietary warnings. There is no legitimate evidence that millet is unhealthy with moderate consumption or that it causes thyroid suppression.
Approximately one in one hundred adults have Celiac disease (with roughly 90% currently undiagnosed) and as many as one in seven adults are believed to be gluten sensitive. Wheat is also a very common allergen. Millet bread is a reasonable and healthy alternative to breads containing wheat and/or gluten. There is no legitimate reason for most adults to avoid moderate consumption.
This person knows whats up. Don’t take health guru advice on the tip of the tongue, Millet has been used for thousands of years, scaremongers only help big industry by seeding doubt and confusion. Intentionally or no, you shouldn’t be casting this web of ignorance over the grains without sourcing proper and up to date studies.
The only reason I can see this smear article against millet coming up at the top of google search is because millet contains laetrile (Vit B17) which is known to fight cancer. Vitamin B17 has been banned in many places including Canada and the US and it has all but been removed from the general food supply…. hence… more than one in three people are getting cancer. Cancer is big business and a sick population is more submissive and manageable to the overlords. .
Well said!
Bull..stop adding more to peoples basket of what to avoid, as the bucket is already full and spilling over…
Millet has been consumed both as a staple and a comfort food by people in east Africa and the rest of Africa for centuries. Thyroid and its concomitant issues is not a common prevalence amongst this people as has been attested by medical research.
maybe these ill effects are geographically race or ethnic specific, but not a general one.
Absolutely right on. Well said meta jay and bill joe.
Dear Health Home Economist there are three millets commonly ingested by human beings Pennisetum-pearl millet,Panicum-proso millet and Setaria-foxtail millet. Pennisetum is the millet implicated in thyroid dysfunction Panicum is by far the most widely grown in the US for both human and animal consumption. However if one goes to Africa the pearl Millet implicated in thyroid dysfunction is more often encountered.
Thanks for that information. I want to try adding millet to my diet, but I was worried about the goitrogenic effects. I’m in the US, so it looks like the millet we have here is not a problem.
Moderation is the mantra for anything, anywhere and always, and not just for food.
Keeping that aside, local and traditional food is the best bet for it is backed by generations of learning and is in sync with the surrounding nature and climate. For those societies that are not fortunate enough to have this knowhow, food will always remain a challenge. Research to know better is always good, but prescription based diet coming out of it will mostly be piecemeal and has only increased the chaos.
Sarah, Can you give us some references on the science exploring the goitrogenic effects of millet? I would be interested in exploring this further. Thanks.
I would also like to know more about it too, because lately I have been experimenting on millet a lot lately. Please and thank you.
Have to take caution with articles like this as there are higher Goitrogen containing foods then millet
i.e. Kale and broccoli. Kale is none as a super food by some.
Anything eaten in copious amounts is bad for you as you miss out on something else.
Yes I have the same question. Citations, please, for these statements of (fact?). I did find a citation in your updated article. The study concludes
“We conclude that in areas of iodine deficiency in which millet is a major component of the diet, its ingestion may contribute to the genesis of endemic goiter”
With all due respect, the conclusion of the study you cite is very different from your own (leap) conclusions, which- “It is a real challenge to unwind the effects of hypothyroidism once this vital gland is weakened or enlarged. Don’t take any chances with your thyroid health by consuming large amounts of millet bread or millet based snacks”. The study you cite is a single study conducted on rats in 1989. Humans have consumed Millet for millennia, right up until it was recently replaced by wheat as the primary grain in the American diet, at about the same time cancer rates began to rise among the American population
Thanks for the heads up on this Sarah. While I do not consume large quantities of millet it's still good to know considering I am borderline on thyroid issues. I had no idea millet contained goitrogens until now.