Did you know that polenta lowers cholesterol?

Whether corn or buckwheat, this “poor man’s” food typical of northern Italy cleanses the blood, tones the liver and even regenerates the muscles, but only by matching the right ingredients…

In our country, polenta is made with corn flour or buckwheat flour (greyish in colour), typical of Polenta Taragna, a classic dish of the Valtellina. Polenta is generally regarded as a poor food, which is “filling” but not
nourishing, and in many cases would even create a sense of heaviness. In reality, it all depends on the ingredients combined with polenta: ragout, braised meats, stews and sausages cooked in butter certainly make it fatty and high in calories, whereas if it is combined with proteins from legumes, ricotta cheese, honey and seeds, polenta becomes a complete and nutritious all-in-one dish, able to cleanse blood and tissues and help a sluggish bowel.

It regulates blood sugar

Flour for a healthy polenta must be wholemeal, organic, non-GMO and stone-ground not more than 15 days before use: this is the only way to preserve the “germ”, which contains all the vitamins and minerals in corn. Moreover, non-GMO corn flour is the only one that contains the protein and vitamin assets of the original plant. Continuous hybridisation of corn in recent decades has deprived it of vitamin B12 and some proteins. Whole-grain corn flour has a good amount of fibre and is a low-glycaemic index food, which is absorbed gradually without raising blood sugar levels.

It reactivates kidneys and circulation

Buckwheat polenta is higher in protein compared to corn polenta. Gluten-free, it is very rich in minerals (especially magnesium and manganese), has a good percentage of B vitamins and vitamin E (prevents skin ageing) and amino acids such as lysine and tryptophan (which corn lacks). It is a warming food, especially suitable in cases of convalescence. Buckwheat is also a good detoxifier: it promotes the elimination of stagnation and, thanks to a glycoside, rutin, strengthens the blood vessels, making them more elastic, which benefits the entire circulation.

Source: riza.it