What is Wheat Germ?
Some of you might be wondering what wheat germ is and what the differences of wheat germ with whole grains or whole wheat. Whole grains as one of the world’s healthiest food. Surely, it becomes your concern if wheat germ will take place as the alternative of whole grains whether the benefits you will get is the same, more or even less. Whole grains contain the whole portions of grain includes the outer layer well known as the bran, the endosperm or the middle portion and the last is the germ or the short from germination which is also the most nutrient-rich part compared to the other two parts. That is our germ. So, how about whole wheat? Well, for your information not all whole grains is whole wheat since whole wheat is actually one of the types of whole grains, wheat berries and bulgur are also considered whole grains. In other words, aside from whole wheat, today you could purchase the germ separately from the whole wheat.
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Nutrient Value Contained in Wheat Germ
| Wheat Germ | Serving Size: 115 gr | ||
| Generals | Value %DV | Fats & Fatty Acids | Value %DV |
| Calories | 414 – 21% | Total Fats | 11.2 gr – 17% |
| Carbohydrate | 59.6 gr – 20% | – Saturated Fat | 1.9 gr – 10% |
| Dietary Fiber | 15.2 gr – 61% | – Monosaturated Fat | 1.6 gr |
| Protein | 26.6 gr – 53% | – Polyunsaturated Fat | 6.9 gr |
| Water | 12.8 gr | Omega 3 Fatty Acid | 831 mg |
| Ash | 4.8 gr | Omega 6 Fatty Acid | 6981 mg |
| Vitamins | Minerals | ||
| Thiamin | 2.2 mg – 144% | Calcium | 44.9 mg – 4% |
| Riboflavin | 0.6 mg – 34% | Iron | 7.2 mg – 40% |
| Niacin | 7.8 mg – 39% | Magnesium | 275 mg – 69% |
| Vitamin B6 | 1.5 mg – 75% | Phosphorus | 968 mg – 97% |
| Folate | 323 mcg – 81% | Potassium | 1026 mg – 29% |
| Panthothenic Acid | 2.6 mg – 26% | Sodium | 13.8 mg – 1% |
| Zinc | 14.1 mg – 94% | ||
| Copper | 0.9 mg – 46% | ||
| Manganese | 15.3 mg – 765% | ||
| Selenium | 91.1 mg – 130% |
To find out whether the benefits you will get when consuming wheat germ is the same or not with when consuming whole wheat, the list of health benefits of wheat germ below will give you some insight knowledge that’s probably this type of food could be the solution of your healthy living you’ve been looking for.
1. Natural Source of Protein
Proteins are one of the properties that essential for human body. Proteins are building blocks in body tissues and cells, so the role is prominent. When it comes to portion, protein contained in wheat germ is relatively low but if you consume it in regular basis and then you will get all the benefits from the proteins whereas you will feel more alive.
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2. Immunity Booster
One of the functions of proteins found in wheat germ is producing antibodies. Antibodies are required to fight certain germs, infections and diseases. That’s why wheat germ is a great immunity booster. Furthermore, wheat germ also contains another type of protein called hydrolysates that assist in stimulating the antioxidants activity to function optimally within immunity system.
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3. Fight Cancer
Surely you have heard about it a lot whereas one of the effects of free radicals is the higher risk of the development of cancerous cells. That’s why making sure, that you have enough antioxidants in your body to fight cancer is important. Luckily, wheat germ is super healthy food that is recommended to be consumed in daily basis. In other words, just by consuming wheat germ you could make sure your body is getting enough antioxidant to fight cancer in daily basis.
Also Read: How to Prevent Cancer
4. Rich of Fiber
There are a lot of foods that are rich of fiber and wheat germ is one that top of the list. Moreover, some foods are not recommended to be consumed in regular basis but wheat germ is will affect you better if consumed in daily basis. Since fiber is essential for human body and required in relatively high amount, getting it from wheat germ could make sure that you have gotten your daily intake of fiber.
Also Read: Health Benefits of Fiber
5. Good for Digestive System
The best thing you could do to make sure that your digestive system is working properly is by consuming adequate amount of fiber. Though fiber is a compound that cannot be absorbed by body but its existence could optimize the absorption of nutrients inside digestive system. How? Fiber will make sure to eliminate all excessive and unnecessary properties inside the intestine and provide enough rooms for nutrients that really prominent for body metabolism to be absorbed optimally.
Also Read: Health Benefits of Probiotics
6. Prevent Constipation
One of the benefits you could get when your digestive system is functioning optimally is you could say goodbye to constipation for good. Constipation is probably not a chronic disease but still it could make you feel so uncomfortable. However, if you’re suffering in long term some side effects may occur and some chronic diseases are able to appear as well like colon cancer. So, it is better to prevent it if possible.
7. Beneficial to Cardiovascular Health
It is not just a myth or an assumption but whole wheat is great in preventing some chronic diseases like heart diseases. The best part of whole wheat is the germ, so by consuming it is so beneficial to your cardiovascular health and prevents some heart diseases like coronary heart diseases that could lead to heart attack or stroke. Furthermore, it is also rich of fiber which is also good for heart.
8. Lowering Cholesterol Level
There three reasons behind the fact that wheat germ is effective in lowering cholesterol level. First is as rich of fiber surely wheat germ is able to bind the LDL or also well known as bad cholesterol so HDL or good cholesterol could function optimally. Second, wheat germ is also containing Omega 3 fatty acid which is essentially good for heart and the third reason is wheat germ contains phytosterols which is also well known to be effective in lowering the cholesterol level.
9. Recommended Food for Pregnant Women
There are two reasons why wheat germ is good for pregnant women. First, it is so rich of folic acid which is able to prevent birth defect and second folic acid is also able to reduce the level homocysteine which could increase the risk of gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Healthy diet is important during pregnancy especially in the first trimester.
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10. Prevent Birth Defect
The number of birth defect case could be reduced significantly by consuming enough folate or folic acid. This compound is essential during the first trimester of pregnancy because during those three months, the development of important parts like brain and the nerve system. Folic acid in wheat germ could make sure a pregnant mother gets all nutrients they need for the fetus.
11. Contains Omega 3 Fatty Acid
Omega 3 fatty acid is widely associated with fish oil. Unfortunately, not all people could consume sea food due to some factors, mostly allergic reason, and those people should miss all the wonderful things of this compound. Well, now you don’t need to worry anymore, even though you’re allergic to sea food, you still could fulfill your daily intake of omega 3 fatty acid through wheat germ.
Also Read: Omega 3 Fatty Acid Health Benefits – Health Benefits of Omega 3 Fish Oil
12. Rich of Minerals
What minerals could do for your body? The answer is a lot. Wheat germ contains some minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorus and relatively high in potassium. Potassium is the secret of healthy heart because it will bind the excessive amount of sodium in the blood stream and reduce the risk of heart diseases.
Also Read: Benefits of Potassium – Benefits of Magnesium
13. Promote Cellular Metabolism
Vitamin B Complex contained in wheat germ could promote cellular metabolism. Vitamins like niacin, thiamine and folate are very vital for cellular metabolism. Those vitamins will optimize the transformation of certain compounds like lipids, glucose and carbohydrate into something beneficial to cells especially energy.
14. Has Anti-aging Properties
When it comes to anti-aging properties you cannot just depend on one compound, instead a food that considered to be having anti-aging properties are those that are packed with vitamins, minerals and of course antioxidants. Speaking of which, wheat germ is one that nutrient-rich food which has anti-aging properties. Consuming it regularly, even better if you could consume it in daily basis, will make you look younger a bit longer.
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15. Rich of Vitamin E
One of the reasons why wheat germ is good for your skin and considered to be one of those foods with anti-aging properties is because of the vitamin E contained. It is true that right now there are a lot of vitamin E supplement you could consume to fulfill your daily intake but still there is better or more delicious way to fulfill it but putting wheat germ as part of your daily menu.
Also Read: Health Benefits of Vitamin E
16. Good for Hair Growth
Do you have problem with hair loss? There are some factors that could cause that condition but mostly because your scalp is not getting enough nutrition or oxygen. Well, wheat germ is packed with vitamins and minerals that will be beneficial for hair growth.
17. Natural Solution to Healthy and Glowing Skin
As rich of antioxidants, wheat germ provides you solution to the healthy cell regenerations. In other words, your body will never lack of stock of healthy new cells, especially the skin cells. That’s why consuming wheat germ will give you healthy and glowing skin. Furthermore, you are not only able to consume the wheat germ but you also could apply it as masker to get rid of dead cells in the skin surface.
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18. Recommended for Athlete
Wheat germ is actually one of the foods that should be on diet menu of an athlete. There are a lot of reasons but in summary, wheat germ is packed with vitamins, minerals, healthy amount of carbohydrate that is essentially required by an athlete. Furthermore, the fiber could assist in controlling the weight gain.
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19. Improves Stamina
Stamina is important not only for athlete but for everyone. Stamina is what you need to do your daily activities, whether you’re just a student, you need stamina to work, or if you’re a worker, surely you need stamina to work as well. Wheat germ is carbohydrate that produces the energy, the increase energy means your stamina is increased as well.
20. Promote Stronger Muscles
What you need to build strong muscles? The answer is protein. Though you have done a lot of workout in order to build a muscle but without enough protein your body, you will just lose your weight but you’re not getting the muscles you’ve been dreaming of. Wheat germ is a perfect diet to promote stronger muscles.
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21. Natural Energy Booster
Wheat germ is an excellent source of carbohydrate. It is a common knowledge that carbohydrate is the source of energy though many people now prefer to avoid it because it closely related to weight gain. Actually, properties like excessive glucose or stored glucose in the fat cells best known as glycogen is the reason behind weight gain. However, if you could make sure that all those properties will be fully transformed into energy, carbohydrate is an excellent energy booster.
Also Read: Health Benefits of Carbohydrate
22. Enhance Endurance
As energy booster surely wheat germ is also good to enhance endurance. If you are an athlete, endurance is everything and even if you’re not an athlete, endurance could provide you more benefits like more focus during work.
23. Improves Performance
It is not a myth that whole grains, whole wheat or wheat germ could make you feel more alive. Well, with one condition, you should consume it in regular basis in appropriate amount. Just try and prove it yourself, after some days you will feel like your performance is improved significantly.
24. Excellent Source of Antioxidant
Today when avoiding free radicals are getting difficult with all the pollutions around you and then consuming foods that rich of antioxidants is a must. It is one of the solutions available to fight free radicals that enter your body. Wheat germ is containing some antioxidants that required by human body. As super rich nutrients food and super delicious food surely adding wheat germ as part of your daily diet is not a problem.
25. Weight Loss Solution
It is a common knowledge that consuming whole grains as daily energy source is good for weight loss. Wheat germ is one of the three parts of whole grains especially whole wheat which is the most nutrient-rich, so it is perfect for those who have been in weight loss program. It is because wheat germ contains a lot of nutrients that prevent your body from malnutrition and then as rich of fiber, it will press your appetite for snacking and make you feel full a bit longer. Furthermore, the carbohydrate is enough to provide you the energy to save the day.
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26. Prevent Chronic Obesity
Obesity is not only a weight gain problem but could lead to more severe conditions like diabetes type 2 where insulin cannot function optimally. Wheat germ could deal with it in effective way since wheat germ is rich of fiber which could assist in weight loss program you’ve chosen by pressing your appetite and optimizing the nutrients absorption.
Also Read: Health Risk of Obesity
27. Friendly Food for Diabetes
There is one compound in the body which is closely related to chronic condition like diabetes; it is homocysteine. Luckily, this compound has negative counterpart in the form of folic acid. So, this kind of acid is not only good for pregnant women but also able to reduce the level homocysteine.
Also Read: Types of Diabetes
Meanwhile, there are many health benefits if you consume wheat germ in daily basis.
With all of the wonderful benefits of wheat germs, don’t put yourself in a rush to put in the daily diet because there are some cautions that are supposed to be considered first. That even one of the world’s healthiest food also has some cautions you should aware of.
With the popularity of gluten-free food products, many people thought that gluten is something they should avoid. Well, it is true that gluten is not as bad as you think since there are a lot of benefits of gluten too. However, gluten could be a problem for those who are suffering gluten intolerance. Some digestive problems like diarrhea, mal absorption and bloating could happen severely.
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There must be some confusion whether wheat germ could assist in losing weight or causing weight gain. Well, wheat germ is good to lose weight because it is so rich of fiber and able to assist in controlling appetite, so once you consume wheat germ you will feel full longer and press your temptation of snacking. Unfortunately, the combination of food you consume should be your concern too. For example, wheat germ is rich of carbohydrate and contain calories, if you combine it with carrot which is also rich in calories could cause excessive intake of calories. So, be careful.
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If you have been suffering from wheat allergies and then you should avoid wheat germ at all cost because the effect will be the same. For the same benefits, instead of consuming wheat germ you could choose other alternatives like quinoa, brown rice or oats.
Also Read: Signs of Wheat Allergy
The health benefits of wheat germ are not the only things why people now prefer to consume wheat germ separately from the whole wheat. Compared to whole wheat, wheat germ has other unique characteristics. The texture of wheat germ is a bit grainy and the taste is a bit nutty. That’s why due to the texture wheat germ is not the direct substitute of flour, instead it could be mixed with flour in baking, but it is recommended to be added to cereal or yogurt smoothies.