Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a pyramid shaped seed, that despite the name is not related to wheat at all, and is a gluten free food.
Among its many health benefits buckwheat helps regulate blood sugar, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and may even help prevent the growth of cancer cells and certain types of fungus.
Buckwheat is probably most commonly eaten in Eastern Europe and Russia in its whole grain form, and also in Japan where its flour is used to make Soba noodles.
Buckwheat is highly nutritious containing large amounts of manganese, magnesium, fiber, copper, phosphorus, protein, carbs, vitamin b3 (niacin), calories, and iron. Further, it is a complete protein, containing all the essential amino acids. Read on below for more information and details on buckwheat.
Buckwheat can be so effective in regulating blood sugar, that in Taiwan, Buckwheat is used to prevent and regulate type II diabetes. To prove the effectiveness of buckwheat, mice were fed various buckwheat extracts which were shown to regulate their blood sugar. See more in the study.(1)
In one study, rats fed buckwheat protein extract over 3 weeks had significantly lower cholesterol than rats on a control diet. (2) Rats are often used to find health benefits of a single food since humans have a more varied diet. It is worth noting that good results in rats do not guarantee good results in humans with a more varied diet, but the results are promising.
In another buckwheat study on rats, rats were fed germinated buckwheat or a control diet. After 6 weeks, the rats in the buckwheat group experienced significantly lower blood pressure, and as a bonus had high HDL (good cholesterol) levels. (3)
In this study extracts from Buckwheat were found inhibit proliferation of hepatoma cells, leukemia cells, and breast cancer cells. (4)
In the same anti-cancer study the same buckwheat peptide extract inhibited growth of fungus: Fusarium oxysporum and Mycosphaerella arachidicola. (4)