The healthy choice is rye, suggests new research out of Poland.
The dietary fibre in rye bread is four times higher than bread made from wheat flour, according to Polish plant scientist Danuta Boros.
“This crop has a great future,” Boros told cereal farmers at a conference during Crop Production Week held in Saskatoon Jan. 6-11.
“There is low interest now but growing awareness with the relationship between diet and long-term health is bringing about the discovery of the value of rye.”
Research at Warsaw’s Institute of Plant Breeding also showed rye has the lowest herbicide and pesticide input demands of all cereals.
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Rye is the healthy choice for humans because it helps lower cholesterol and blood glucose levels, which benefits diabetics, she said. It also increases stool weight and dilutes bile acids that can cause some types of colon cancer.
As well, cattle and hogs fed rye-based meal were found to have more fat and more dense meat in the loin area compared to a barley-based diet, Boros said.
Laying hens were fed a 40 percent rye-based diet in the study and showed no damage to eggs or structure of egg shells, but rye is not recommended for young broilers, Boros said.
