Vilenia Spelt, an ancient cereal grain, is a distant cousin to wheat. It has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. Use spelt flour as a substitute for wheat or white flour when baking bread. Because spelt flour contains gluten, you are less likely to compromise the texture of baked goods. Compared to wheat flour, spelt flour is richer in many nutrients, such as protein and minerals and provides approximately 5.5 mg of niacin or vitamin B3 per 100-g serving, 5 percent more niacin than hard winter wheat flour. Moreover, spelt offers a high amount of certain minerals, such as copper, iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus. These minerals are naturally high in the bran of the spelt grain. The human body needs these micronutrients to perform a variety of functions and to support healthy nervous, cardiovascular, skeletal and immune systems.
Let’s see all of the spelt benefits:
Digestive Health: The very high content of fiber in spelt means that it facilitates healthy digestion in a major way. Dietary fiber helps to bulk up your stool and move food through the digestive tract, speeding up the absorption of nutrients and helping to reduce conditions like constipation, bloating, cramping, excess gas, diarrhea, and more serious gastrointestinal issues like ulcers. Spelt has one of the highest dietary fiber contents of wheat varieties.
Cholesterol: Dietary fiber has a second role in the body, which is to help lower the levels of dangerous cholesterol in the body. Dietary fiber can interact with the cholesterol uptake processes and inhibit the absorption of cholesterol from food. In fact, it can specifically target LDL cholesterol and eliminate it from the body to regulate a healthy balance of fatty acids in the body.
Hormonal Regulation and Creation: Niacin is one of the essential vitamins that can be found in significant quantities in spelt. Niacin plays a key role in the adrenal glands in the body, particularly in the production of sex hormones. The endocrine system is a sensitive and hugely important aspect of our health and general functioning, so maintaining healthy niacin levels by adding spelt to your diet is a wise choice.
Bone Health: Spelt has an impressive range of essential minerals that are necessary for bone health, including zinc, magnesium, copper, phosphorous, and selenium. These minerals contribute to the development of bone tissue and by boosting the levels of these minerals in your body, you can actively prevent osteoporosis and other age-related conditions that weaken or degrade the bones in our body.
Growth and Development: The high levels of phosphorous, combined with the impressive content of protein in spelt makes this cereal very important for the development and growth of new tissues, blood vessels, muscles, bones, and organs. Phosphorous is one of the essential elements behind creating new proteins and making DNA to build new cells, while the proteins you get directly from spelt can be broken down into their composite amino acids and then re-formed to be used in the body for nearly every important bodily process.
Immune System Health: Thiamin is known to significantly boost your immune system and stimulate the defensive mechanisms of the body, while also easing psychological stress and anxiety. Spelt is one of the few cereals that can boast a significant level of the B-family vitamins.
Diabetes Control: Although simple sugars and carbohydrates are known to be dangerous for diabetics, the high fiber content in spelt can counteract those effects and help to regulate the release and breakdown of those simple sugars into glucose. By regulating the release of insulin and glucose in the body, it helps to manage diabets for those who already suffer from the condition, or prevent more people from developing it.
Click here to see how to make a good spelt pizza dough
Sources: https://www.biodistributors.com.au/ProdInfFiles/spelt.php
http://www.livestrong.com/article/309814-what-are-the-benefits-of-eating-spelt-flour/
