Buckwheat Diet Plan Sheds Weight: No Starving or Cancer?

My idea of a modified eating plan is whatever healthy food choices you can make according to your circumstances.

If you’re in a meeting, skip the donuts or at least pick the one with least amount of sugar. If possible, don’t eat any wheat products.

Drink tea instead of coffee. Preferably green tea for the caffeine you crave and also for its health benefits.

Likewise, for lunch: Bring something from home. Preferably buckwheat! However, if eating out, stay away from any sugars, and eat as little wheat as possible.

Why Is The Buckwheat Diet Plan A Great Way To Surprise The Weight Scale?

My 3-day buckwheat fast starts on Friday after work, and goes through Monday morning. If you can only commit to Saturday and Sunday, then that’s what you do.  I’m not the diet police. Or a health food fanatic. So, call me practical.

When eating buckwheat only (or mostly) your body will have burned up any of the sugars in your body. So, now it will start burning off that fat you have been storing everywhere.

Also, buckwheat is very filling. Buckwheat nutrition benefits includes lots of carbohydrates to keep you from feeling hungry, and only 343 calories for 100 grams (about 6.5 tablespoons) of raw buckwheat groats (hulled buckwheat seeds).

Additionally, buckwheat nutrition provides important minerals, quality protein, Omega 3 and Omega 6, and antioxidants such as rutin, tannins and catechin.

So, while you’re on the buckwheat diet plan, you are not depriving your body of the nutrients it needs to maintain your health.

Let me say here that buckwheat doesn’t provide adequate vitamins. So, keep taking your multi-vitamins.

Buckwheat Diet Nutrition Benefits

The usual Buckwheat Diet is a ‘detox’ diet where you are expected to eat only buckwheat for all of your meals each day. In this diet plan I want you to eat other foods with the buckwheat.

According to some of the usual variations of the diet, you can also consume kefir, and drink green tea. The idea is that the diet will help your body to flush out toxins.

However, those toxins need to be dumped in the toilet, instead of just being reabsorbed. That’s one of the reasons to be eating other foods with the buckwheat. Another way to get rid of stored toxins is with an infrared sauna.

Buckwheat is thought to help improve circulation, and therefore the diet can help to improve your complexion, skin and hair, and organ function.

In various studies using rats, buckwheat was found to prevent constipation, lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, and decreases fat. [1]

Is Buckwheat Good For You?

Buckwheat is rich in fiber. It is a carbohydrate, but it is a ‘complex’ carbohydrate, and it is a good source of magnesium.

The fiber in buckwheat is useful because it promotes good digestive health and it can also be beneficial for your gut flora.

It can help to slow the digestion of simple sugars, regulating your blood glucose levels to a degree. In a generally healthy person, this helps to keep their energy levels stable.

In someone who is struggling with insulin resistance, the benefits are even more pronounced.

Buckwheat is not a complete food source. So, it would not be a good idea to just eat buckwheat for a long time. That’s because it does not contain all of the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy.

It does, however, contain some protein and it also contains zinc, magnesium, copper and some of the B vitamins.

If you are looking for a good healthy carbohydrate source, buckwheat is a good option.

The usual buckwheat only diet is quite extreme. Which is why most people can’t do it.

However, if you follow my advice, it can be a good way of kickstarting a longer healthy diet.

The fiber in the buckwheat will fill you up so you won’t feel deprived.

You will still get a good balance of protein and carbohydrates too. As well as a nice top-up of micro-nutrients that are important for healthy bones and a healthy nervous system.

Buckwheat Diet Cancer Cure?

A buckwheat protein extract was tested on human cancer cells.  They tested three strains of breast cancer cells and also mouth, stomach, and liver cancer cells. [1]

The conclusion was that the buckwheat protein inhibits one strain of breast cancer cells much more than any of the other tested cancer strains.

Two other studies found that buckwheat protein inhibits breast cancer and colon cancer in rats. [1]

So, your weight loss diet can also be your buckwheat diet cancer prevention plan.

How Does A Buckwheat Diet Fight Breast Cancer?

The lump you feel in your breast is a tumor. 

The tumor grows, because the normal programed death of cells, called apoptosis, isn’t working properly.  That means that new cells are being added faster than the old ones are being removed.

All these new cells are bunched up in what is called a tumor.  Cancer is simply the lack of the apoptosis programmed cell death not keeping up with the growth of new cells.

Buckwheat protein is able to remove those extra cells through apoptosis, so the tumor and cancer goes away. [1]

This is not a medically proven buckwheat diet cancer cure, but it does suggest that you should be eating buckwheat regularly.

Buckwheat Is Not Wheat, nor A Grain. It’s A Seed from A Flower.

Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) was first eaten about 8,000 years ago. It spread from Southeast Asia, across all of Asia, to Europe and then to the United States.

California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) comes in four different varieties depending upon the climate conditions where it grows.

The seeds have a very dark brown to blackish hull that must be removed before eating. Once the seed hulls are removed, they are called buckwheat groats. The groats are a pea-green color.

There is also a green buckwheat variety that is greenish/brownish in color. This variety doesn’t have hulls that need to be removed.

Buckwheat Kasha Diet: Roasted Buckwheat Groats.

Roasting turns the pea green colored groats to a light brown color, and is sold in the United States as kasha. Roasting the buckwheat to make kasha also gives it a very nutty flavor. Which you will like a lot more than the un-roasted buckwheat.

Kasha is a national dish in Russia and is eaten with butter and fried onions. Or its eaten with milk like we eat oatmeal for breakfast.

Often the kasha is soaked and then simmered until it becomes soft. This results in it becoming kind of gummy, but firm.

So, a Kasha diet is the same as a buckwheat diet. Make it part of your diet plan.

Who Is This Buckwheat Diet Plan For?

Well, just about everybody.

Especially if you are gluten sensitive, because buckwheat is a seed, it doesn’t have any gluten.

On a raw food diet plan? You can eat buckwheat with gusto.

Paleo diet anyone? Just sprout the buckwheat to remove the saponins, lecitins, and the anti-nutrient, phytate.

Are you on the Keto diet bandwagon? Well, eat some buckwheat. Buckwheat is very high in carbohydrates. So, don’t overdo it.

Some people may be allergic to buckwheat. If you have a latex allergy or even a rice allergy, then you better be careful when you first try eating buckwheat.

Typical buckwheat allergy signs are: rashes and swelling, an upset stomach or a full-blown allergy shock. Buckwheat allergies are NOT common.

Richard’s Simple Buckwheat Diet Plan

If you are like me, and you can stomach any 2-week fast or cleansing food detox, then go for the:
Totally buckwheat weight loss plan: Eat nothing but sprouted buckwheat for three days or even nine days (one full week plus one weekend). Eat as much buckwheat as you want.

It doesn’t have to be sprouted, even though that would be the best buckwheat nutrition you can get.

You can eat buckwheat groats just as they are. No cooking or soaking at all. However, they are very crunchy, and you probably won’t eat much that way. Taste wise, to me, they are no better or worse than raw sunflower seeds.

If you’re adventurous like me, you might try a spoonful of buckwheat flour. However, I can’t recommend it, unless you wet down with something (more later). If you happen to breathe inwards while putting it into your mouth – you’ll be choking on the dust. If you get it in safely, well…just make sure you have a glass of water to wash it down.

Also, eating kasha (toasted buckwheat) is another way to get a little variety in your meals.

Modified buckwheat weight loss plan: Here we add in various foods to fit our personal needs.

First: If at all possible, eat just buckwheat for 2 or 3 days and then start also eating other foods during the work week. If that’s too much for you to start, then add in the other foods from day one.

What other foods? Practically anything that doesn’t have any fats or anyform of sugar such as sucrose, dextrose, maltodextrin, or high fructose corn syrup.

Having said that, the practical side of me says that I need healthy fruits. However, keep it to a minimum, because your body will burn those sugars before it burns your stored fat.

Let me reword that: If you want to lose weight, eating fruit will slow down your weight loss progress. If you just want to be healthier, by eating a better diet, then eat fruit. It’s your choice.

Also, your body will burn the fats that you eat during the diet before it burns the fat stored in your belly.  So, the fewer fats you eat during the diet the better weight loss you’ll see.

However, if you decide to do the Keto diet, then you are eating primarily fats and not carbohydrates. In that case more fats are good.

If you just need vitamin C, then take a multi-vitamin. That’s what I do.

Some fruits have much more sugars than others.

Preferred fruits – from lowest sugar to higher sugar: Limes, rhubarb, apricots, cranberries, guava, raspberries, kiwi. blackberries, strawberries, figs, cantaloupe, and tangerines.

I understand that a little bit of fruit will make eating buckwheat much more enjoyable. Just make sure it’s very little fruit.

Better than any fruit, would be practically any vegetable.

I had to bring my own food. It had to be nutritious, fast and easy to make, and not require refrigeration. I made it with oatmeal then, because I didn’t know about buckwheat.

I’ve been eating it regularly for 28 years.

You can modify that oatmeal dish by substituting buckwheat groats or buckwheat flour, and leaving out the olive oil (because of the fats).  Also, the pickle would be better than the apple cider vinegar for this diet plan.

Richard’s Buckwheat Groats Recipe

So, here’s how I make this buckwheat recipe:

Put I/2 cup of buckwheat groats and 1/2 cup of water in a glass bowl and microwave for one minute. Or just heat the water and pour it over the groats. Less water will be thicker, and more water will be soupy.

UPDATE: I am now eating 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour and 1/4 cup of oatmeal. Everything else stays the same. This tastes better and is thick instead of runny.

Everything else is done by eyesight, but I’ll give you some pretty good approximations.

Add: ginger I/2 teaspoon, garlic 1 teaspoon, habanero pepper – about a watermelon seed size or a kernel of corn, half of a small pickle, squirt/pour the Braggs liquid aminos around the bowl 2 or 3 times.  The parsley I sprinkle in – about a spoonful.  

The turmeric dominates the overall taste.  I use about 1 teaspoon.

Add in as much kelp as you want.  I use enough to measure about 4 inch x 4 inches.

Mix it up with a spoon.  Put a cover on the bowl and let it set. 

Although you could eat it right away, I let it set for 8 or 9 hours.  If you let it set long enough the buckwheat grouts will start the sprouting process. Although this won’t be noticeable to the eye after just 8 hours. 

To properly sprout buckwheat, soak them in some water for a couple days. You will want to rinse them with fresh water each day. When they start to grow, you’ll get the most nutrition out of them.

So, you might want to start sprouting the buckwheat separately and once it is obvious that they have started to sprout, then use them.

Note: Toasted buckwheat groats – called Kasha – will not sprout.

I eat it cold.  Heating it up would tend to reduce the nutrient value, in my opinion.  Also, the habanero or cayenne pepper can be quite warming.

No, You Don’t Have To Eat This Crap

The whole point of this recipe is to show you that you can add most anything to the buckwheat to make them taste better.  

Buckwheat doesn’t have an inviting taste, you have to do something in order for you to eat it meal after meal.  Get creative and make yourself happy!

What About Eating Meat or Fish?

Ya, sure, you betcha. I’m not against eating most anything. However, buckwheat groats provide a lot of protein, carbohydrates, and B vitamins to keep you feeling satisfied. So, you may find that you don’t need meats.

Also, any fats that you eat will need to be burned off by your body before it burns off stored belly fat. So, don’t slow down your weight loss by eating any fats. That is, unless you are severely reducing your carbohydrates. Such as in the Atkins and Keto diets.

The 3 Day And 9 Day Buckwheat Diet Plan

This is your diet plan. Use the outline below to create a diet plan that works for you. The goal is to be happy and thin waisted. So, make yourself happy.

The Basic 3 Day Buckwheat Weight Loss Plan

The 9 Day Buckwheat Diet Plan

Start with the 3-day plan. Then during the work week eat as much buckwheat as your circumstances allow.

If that means you only eat buckwheat at home in the morning and after work, that’s fine with me. If you can bring buckwheat to work for lunch, you’ll lose even more weight.

End the week with the 3-day diet plan.

Can I Eat Buckwheat Pancakes?

Sure! Just leave out the sugar, maple syrup and honey.

In my everyday food consumption, I don’t have anything against pure raw honey or pure maple syrup. Once honey is heated it loses its antioxidants.

Maple syrup is heated to thicken it before it is sold as a syrup instead of a liquid. I don’t know what that does to its nutritional value. I don’t eat maple syrup, so I haven’t looked closely at its food value.

The point I want to make here is that your body has to burn off all the sugars in the honey and maple syrup before it starts to burn off your belly fat. So, they should not be eaten while dieting.

Get some vegan and no added sugar buckwheat pancake mix – click here.

Before You Start The Buckwheat Diet – Do This First

Buy some toasted Kasha and some organic buckwheat groats and eat them raw to see if you like them.  Raw groats are very crunchy.  I think they are better tasting raw instead of cooked, but you can only eat so much of it that way.

Then cook some groats or just soak them overnight and start adding in something else to make it taste better.  Keep experimenting until you find two or three combinations that you like enough to eat.

Then start the 3 day buckwheat diet plan, because you won’t stay on the diet unless you like what you are eating.

The Buckwheat Diet Is Over – Now What?

Did you know that buckwheat hulls make great pillows?  Take a look.

Note: The keto diet can fight and prevent Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Read more about it here.

References

[1] Anti-Tumor Activity of a Novel Protein Obtained from Tartary Buckwheat.