The Nutritional and Medicinal Uses of Rye Over the Centuries

Rye, as useful and plentiful as wheat, corn, barley, rice, or any other flour-producing plants, has been around in the wild since before man can remember. The first wild strains were recorded somewhere near Southern Europe and parts of Asia, Syria, Iran, and Armenia, and wild rye was said to be a naturally occurring crossbreed between wild wheat and wild barley. Though the plant was known about and was eaten by local people since they scribbled on cave walls, it was not until thousands of years later that rye was seen as a useful cash crop to the modern man.

Even though it has such amazing health benefits and is such a naturally delicious and versatile food item and ingredient, over half of the rye grown in the U.S.A is used for livestock feed, and not for grain harvested for human consumption. The reason for this is simple, rye is an organic and healthy staple for the bodies of animals as well as people, especially animals that create food (milk, cheese) that we ingest ourselves!

Since people have harvested and eaten rye, it's health benefits and positive effects on human and animal health and wellness has been noticeable enough to make it into healthy living and recipe books everywhere, sold to health-nut hipsters and farmers alike. Rye has many natural elements that make it excellent for digestion, promoting regularity and a healthy stomach and intestines. In people with certain medical conditions or certain diet types, rye has been known to be a helpful laxative and re-mineralizer, helping to cleanse the intestines and colon as well as repopulate your very necessary vitamin and mineral count.

For centuries, rye has been used for a multitude of things besides being harvested for food. Rye has been used to help release the body of stomach and intestinal impurities, such as poisons and even worms. Amazingly enough, rye has also been used for countless years as an effective and natural cure for constipation and hemorrhoids. It has been such a popular organic medicinal and food agent not only because of it's many uses and it's pleasant taste, but also because the rye plant and both it's winter and summer strains are more resistant to cereal plant diseases that might affect plants like wheat or barley.

Rye seeds have also been widely known to have energizing effects on the young, and sedative effects on the old, while easing natural blood flow through your arteries no matter what your age. The reason for rye's many health benefits on humans and creatures of all ages and sizes is it's rich vitamin and mineral content. Rye is naturally rich in zinc, proteins, carbohydrates, potassium, calcium, B vitamins, and amino acids, as well as having a very high water content.

Though it's such a healthy agent in making flour for breads and other foods for humans, it does not produce the natural gluten that other flours produce. Because of this, in the process of flour making with the purpose of making rye bread, often other flours, mostly wheat flour, will be added to the mix, keeping it just as healthy and also maintaining, even boosting, rye's healthy properties.

Sources:

plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_sece.pdf

www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514534/rye