It’s sudden rise to the top of the superfood charts is unprecedented. It’s so high in nutrition, NASA makes a staple of astronauts’ diets. The UN designated 2013 as “The Year of Quinoa”.
And most of us probably mis-pronounce its name.
For over 4,000 years, Quinoa (two pronunciations are generally accepted: keen-wah or kee-no-ah) was primarily a grown locally in the Andean regions of Bolivia, Equador, Peru and Colombia. But, starting in the 1980’s, it’s health and nutrition benefits have increasingly caught wider attention that seems to have reached a worldwide fever pitch in 2013.
Why All the Fuss?
Quinoa offers a broad range of health benefits, including many that are currently very trendy in health food circles. And, unlike most food that’s healthy for you, quinoa is fairly good tasting.
Among the many benefits touted for quinoa:
1. Relatively low calories. At 368 calories per 100 grams, you can find lower calorie foods, but few are so packed with calories from protein and complex carbohydrates (see below).
2. High protein. Incredibly, you will get 28% of your daily recommended protein calories from just 100 grams of quinoa.
3. Gluten-free. After quinoa, perhaps the next hottest topic on the health and weight loss charts is gluten. Blamed for everything from weight gain to cancer, gluten is absent from quinoa. While many are surprised by this because gluten is found in wheat and grains, quinoa is not a true grain and is more closely related to spinach.
4. Complex carbohydrates. If you’re a regular reader of the Herbal One Blog, you’ll know that complex carbs have lots of nutrients and fibre. In addition to 7 grams of fibre, 100 g of quinoa contains over 20% of the recommended daily amounts for eight essential vitamins, including 65% percent of the recommended daily phosphorus, 55% of the magnesium and 46% of the folate.
5. It forms alkalines. Excess acid in our bodies has been linked to many ill health effects, including ulcers, headaches and depression. The alkalines produced by quinoa help balance the acid in your body.
If you want to learn more about quinoa, similar foods and other ways to maintain your nutrition while you manage your weight, visit your local nutrition centre and talk to one of the counselors.