All About Buckwheat – Health Benefits & More

What is Buckwheat?

Buckwheat is actually not wheat but a plant in the rhubarb family, Polygonaceae. This plant is mainly found in Russia and China, but is also cultivated in France, the US, Poland, Brazil, and Japan. ¹¹

Personally, I love using buckwheat in place of rice as a side dish or in risotto recipes. I also enjoy making pancakes with buckwheat flour and cooking with soba noodles, which are made from buckwheat flour.

Nutrients and Health Benefits

Having applications in the treatment of celiac disease (gluten allergy), malnutrition, and other health issues, the nutritional benefits of buckwheat are many. This gluten-free alternative to wheat also contains proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins, flavonoids, fagopyrins, d‐fagomine, and phenolic acids with healing properties. ¹¹

Proteins

Proteins in buckwheat consist of the following amino acids¹¹:

• Leucine – helps repair muscle tissue
• Phenylalanine – treats vitiligo (loss of skin pigment) and depression
• Lysine – helps with calcium absorption and collagen formation
• Threonine isoleucine – forms collagen and elastin in skin, boosts fat metabolism and immunity
• Cysteine – the primary protein in nails, skin, and hair; makes collagen and has antioxidant properties
• Asparagine – break down toxic ammonia within cells, helps proteins and forming neurotransmitters

*While the above is not an exhaustive list of the health benefits or potential risks of certain quantities of these amino acids, I have provided it just to briefly outline a few benefits of each.

Vitamins

As far as vitamins are concerned, buckwheat contains the following¹¹:

• vitamin A – aids cell repair and turnover and regulates sebaceous (oil) glands for healthy skin, protects eyes, guards against UV damage to skin
• vitamin B complexes (thiamine – important for energy, nervous, and digestive functions, riboflavin – helps cell reproduction and growth, niacin – moisturizes skin and helps repair DNA, pantothenic acid – moisturizes skin and boosts hair strength and color, and pyridoxine – balances sleep, mood, and appetite, moisturizes skin, maintains healthy hair color)
• vitamin C – needed for producing collagen and elastin for toned skin, antioxidant defender, regulates metabolism, and replenishes vitamin E
• vitamin E – prevents aging by fighting free radicals, maintains scalp health, regulates glutathione for detoxification⁴

Flavonoids/Phytochemicals

Buckwheat is high in rutin, a flavonoid/phytochemical that minimizes the formation of advanced glycation end products that cause the skin to age and wrinkle. Additionally, buckwheat flour is gluten-free, has a lower glycemic index than white flour, and is replete with nutrients such as iron, magnesium, protein, and fiber.⁴

Fagopryins

Fagopryin is a plant-based compound found in buckwheat seeds that have laxative, antibiotic, and antiviral effects and treatment for diabetes.¹¹

D‐fagomine

D-fagomine is an iminosugar associated with buckwheat. This iminosugar fights diabetes, pathogenic diseases, cancer, AIDS, overweight, and viral diseases.¹¹

Nutritional Summary of Buckwheat

From vitamins that help maintain normal functions of the body to complex properties that fight against chronic disease, buckwheat packs a punch nutritionally. Whether you’re looking for anti-aging properties or treatment of celiac disease or diabetes, buckwheat is a great place to start.¹¹

I highly recommend you buckwheat, buckwheat flour, and soba noodles for a healthy diet. In addition to serving as an alternative to grains like rice or quinoa in your grain bowls and risotto, buckwheat can also be used in pasta dishes in the form of soba noodles or as a flour option when baking. The possibilities are endless! While soba noodles could be used in a wide variety of dishes, they are especially well-suited for Japanese vegetable and pasta dishes.

Glossary of Terms

Celiac Disease – an autoimmune disease where gluten consumption damages the small intestine¹⁴

Flavonoid – a particular class of polyphenols characterized by the flavan nucleus; common in fruits, vegetables and plant-derived beverages³

Iminosugar – compounds that imitates monosaccharides with broad albeit weak antiviral activities that inhibit enzymes involved in glycobiology (formation of carbs, sugar chains, etc.)⁹

Phytochemical – chemical compounds found in plants that have great nutritional and antioxidant properties¹⁰

Recipes with Buckwheat or Soba Noodles

References

1. Ajmera, R. (2023, November 27). Phenylalanine: Benefits, side effects, and Food Sources. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/phenylalanine 
2. Cysteine. University of Rochester Medical Center. (n.d.). https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=19&contentid=Cysteine 
3. Flavonoid. Flavonoid – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/flavonoid 
4. Hart, Jolene, CHC, AADP.  Eat Pretty: Nutrition for Beauty, Inside and Out.  San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books LLC.
5. Healthline Media. (n.d.). 4 impressive health benefits of lysine. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lysine-benefits 
6. Kubala, J. (2023, August 7). Essential amino acids: Definition, benefits, and food sources. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/essential-amino-acids 
7. Lindsey DeSoto, R. (n.d.). Everything you need to know about leucine. Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/leucine-uses-benefits-side-effects-dosage-7567617#:~:text=Summary,inflammation%2C%20and%20blood%20sugar%20levels. 
8. Medically reviewed by Megan Soliman, MD — By Sharon O’Brien MS, PGDip— Updated on April 2, 2024 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lysine-benefits
9. Misumi, I., Li, Z., Sun, L., Das, A., Shiota, T., Cullen, J., Zhang, Q., Whitmire, J. K., & Lemon, S. M. (2021). Iminosugar glucosidase inhibitors reduce hepatic inflammation in hepatitis a virus-infected IFNAR1   −/−  mice. Journal of Virology, 95(11). https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00058-21 
10. Phytochemical. Phytochemical – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/phytochemical
11. Sofi SA, Ahmed N, Farooq A, Rafiq S, Zargar SM, Kamran F, Dar TA, Mir SA, Dar BN, Mousavi Khaneghah A. Nutritional and bioactive characteristics of buckwheat, and its potential for developing gluten-free products: An updated overview. Food Sci Nutr. 2022 Dec 22;11(5):2256-2276. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.3166. PMID: 37181307; PMCID: PMC10171551. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10171551
12. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). ASNS gene: Medlineplus genetics. MedlinePlus. https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/asns/#:~:text=Asparagine%20helps%20to%20break%20down,the%20brain%20(a%20neurotransmitter).
13. Varki, A. (1970, January 1). Historical background and overview. Essentials of Glycobiology [Internet]. 4th edition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK579927/#:~:text=Defined%20in%20the%20broadest%20sense,the%20proteins%20that%20recognize%20them 
14. What is celiac disease?. Celiac Disease Foundation. (n.d.). https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/what-is-celiac-disease/