Is semolina porridge good for children and adults

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Before, we did not even think about whether semolina porridge is useful. Since childhood, each of us is used to eating a plate of sweet semolina for breakfast. And if the mother at home could not cook this dish often, then in children's institutions 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 more than refined ground wheat grains. If you carefully read the instructions on the packaging of cereals, you will notice the markings indicating the type of grain. Don't know if semolina is good for you? Buy grits labeled "T" (durum wheat), because this is the product preferred by nutritionists.

Benefits of porridge for adults

To find out if the presented dish is useful, you need to familiarize yourself with the composition of the product, energy value and effect on the body. 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, oatmeal or rice, our porridge is quite poor in trace elements. Some radical nutritionists even call semolina an empty product. This, of course, is not true. It's just that it is somewhat inferior in nutritional value to other cereals.

To whom semolina is recommended

We continue to find out if semolina is good for you. Semolina is almost 100% composed of carbohydrates, it is quickly digested, saturating the body with energy. In view of this, doctors recommend that people with weakened digestion or patients in the postoperative period during recovery absorb the product. Semolina porridge does not bother digestion and, due to its soft, delicate structure, well envelops the walls of the stomach. 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 shown for diabetes mellitus, as well as for the purpose of cleansing the intestinal walls from mucus.

Who shouldn't have a featured dish in their diet?

Now we will find out if semolina porridge is useful during pregnancy and who is better off refraining from using the product. Contraindications during the period of gestation have not been identified, with the exception of those cases when the expectant mother has an individual intolerance to gluten (gluten). It is in connection with the increased content of the mentioned substance that the dish is not recommended for people suffering fromdisorders of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as constipation.

Calorie semolina

Is semolina porridge good for breakfast? Nutritionists in this case give an affirmative answer. Having consumed a plate of porridge in the morning, a person can easily “hold out” until lunch, 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 in water barely reaches 100 kcal per 100 grams of product. If you include milk, butter, dried fruits or honey in the composition, then the energy value will increase accordingly. Experts recommend not adding butter to porridge. It is much more useful to flavor the finished dish with a spoonful of honey or fruit. It turns out very tasty and he althy.

Is semolina porridge good for children under one year old: expert assessment

With adults sorted out, now consider the effect of semolina porridge on the children's body. Let's start with babies. As you know, from 6 months old, babies are recommended to introduce complementary foods, including baby cereals. Doctors warn against using semolina as a complementary food, because it contains gluten, which negatively affects the fragile stomach of the crumbs. If the parents begin to feed the baby with semolina, it can be stated with certainty that the villi of the small intestine will be damaged, which will cause constipation or, conversely, diarrhea. The meager content of vitamins and minerals is also a clear disadvantage of the product. That is why pediatricians are categorically against the introduction of such a dish as semolina porridge into the diet of children under one year old. And recommendexperts start complementary foods with rice or corn porridge.

Is semolina porridge good for children? The effect of phytin on the absorption of vitamins

Considering the issue of the use of the product by grown children, experts note that it cannot cause much harm. However, semolina contains phytin, an organophosphorus chemical compound found in the shell of wheat grains. After processing wheat, the concentration of phytin in the grains increases sharply. By itself, the substance, which is practically equated in property with 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 growth inhibition. But magnesium, zinc and iron can not be absorbed, but, on the contrary, be excreted from the body.

To avoid oversaturation with a rare chemical compound, nutritionists recommend that children after a year eat no more than two plates of semolina every week. Ideally, you can limit yourself to one. Children love semolina, it saturates them with energy well and is very tasty. Therefore, you should not completely exclude the dish from the diet of fidgets and tomboys.

Cooking tips and tricks

In this article, we discussed whether semolina porridge is he althy, 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 more than one way to prepare a homogeneous composition. So, semolina can be laid in cold water,season with s alt and sugar and put the pan on the fire. If you regularly stir the contents until it boils, then lumps will certainly be avoided. According to another method, grains are poured into boiling water or milk in a very thin stream, evenly distributing over the surface and stirring.
• Due to the fact that the porridge is cooked for a relatively short time (no more than 4 minutes), after turning off the fire, the breakfast is covered with a lid, and the pan is wrapped with a kitchen towel.
• You can make delicious pudding from semolina. To do this, 3 tablespoons of cereal are 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 s alt. If you boil the composition in a pan for another 3 minutes, you get a rather dense and thick pudding, which is good to serve with sour cream or fruit jam.
• It is best to prepare breakfast with a mixture of water and milk. If you want to get a porridge of medium consistency, use grits in the proportion of 1.5 tablespoons per glass of liquid. Those who like thinner semolina will be limited to one spoon, and those who are thicker - two.
• Remember that as it cools, the density of the finished dish increases. Children eat slowly, so don't overcook them.

Dish options

There are different interpretations regarding the use of liquids for the "base" of semolina. Not quite widely, but still common for these purposes, the use of vegetable, meator mushroom broth, and sometimes berry juice (fruit drink).

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 saucepan, and then the undercooked porridge is poured onto a baking sheet and sent to the oven for 10 minutes. Before serving, cool and cut into portions, like an omelet.

Bon appetit!