This Underappreciated Grain Can Help You Maintain Healthy Iron Levels

With so many nutritious ancient grains in the bulk aisle to choose from for your next meal—whether it's a hearty grain bowl or a warm change-of-pace from your usual oatmeal—it's inevitable that some might fall under your radar. Though popular options like quinoa often take up much of the spotlight, mixing up your go-to's means tapping into a whole new slew of health benefits.

Compared to other grains, millets have a relatively low average glycemic index (GI), which means they have less of an impact on your blood sugar than many other foods (they beat out rice, corn, and—unsurprisingly—refined wheat) that might cause a spike and then a crash. Thanks to their more slow-and-steady effect in the body, past research2 has highlighted millets as helpful foods for supporting healthy blood sugar.

Now, this new systematic review reveals yet another reason to hop on the millet train: These ancient grains also support healthy iron levels.

In fact, the researchers identified a link between eating millets and higher levels of hemoglobin, the iron-rich protein that gives red blood cells their color and carries oxygen throughout the body. Low levels of this biomarker indicate anemia, in which the body lacks ample red blood cells and can't transport enough oxygen to all of the cells throughout the body that need it.

The researchers noted that different types of millets offer different amounts of iron, as did millets prepared in different ways (sprouting or fermenting them ups the bioavailable iron they contain). However, regardless of these factors, they found that regularly eating millets can reduce iron deficiency anemia, which is responsible for 50% of anemia cases worldwide3. And considering 25% of the world's population has some form of anemia, that's a big deal.