QUINOA

Health Benefits of Quinoa

Called a super-grain, quinoa is highly nutritious and can supply us with all of the body's requirements: carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Quinoa is gluten free and considered an ideal food for those prone to food allergies. Common allergens include grains from the grass family such as corn and wheat. Quinoa, a leafy grain, is not in the grass family, making it beneficial for people who cannot tolerate common grains like wheat, corn, rye, barley, and oats.

Nutritional data on quinoa can vary from one variety to another, from one method of saponin removal to another, and from variations in growing conditions. Therefore, the data offers a wide spread in its figures. For instance, its protein content can range from 7.5% to 22.1%. Compared to common wheat at 14%, rye at 12%, and brown rice at 7.5%, quinoa's figures are impressive. In fact, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization considers quinoa equal to milk in its quality of protein

Most grains are deficient in the amino acid, lysine. Because quinoa has an adequate quantity of lysine, it is considered to contain all the essential amino acids, making it a complete protein.

Quinoa possesses larger quantities of calcium, fat, iron, phosphorus, and B vitamins than many other grains. One-half cup of dry quinoa contains 51 mg of calcium, compared to 28 mg in the same quantity of whole-wheat grains. The protein content is a whopping 11 g for that one-half cup of quinoa. Potassium is impressively high with 629 mg. as is zinc with 2.8 mg. Other impressive figures include 42 mcg of folic acid, 7.9 mg of iron, and 179 mg magnesium. In the category of fiber quinoa rates top scores with 5 grams for one-half cup dry grain. One cup of cooked quinoa has a calcium content equal to that of a quart of milk.

Quinoa is high in minerals and B vitamins, especially vitamin B6. Two ounces of cooked quinoa offers 14% of the RDA for B6. Niacin, one of the B vitamins usually measured in trace quantities, totals 2.49 mg, a figure considered impressive when it comes to the B vitamins.

An important component of any grain is the germ, that portion of the grain that is capable of sprouting and becoming a whole plant. The germ of each quinoa grain is larger than that of any other grain and encircles the outer surface, explaining its exceptionally high protein content. "If I had to choose one food to survive on, quinoa would be the best," said Dr. Duane Johnson, New Crops Agronomist at Colorado State University.

Some have thought that because quinoa has adapted to growing in such a difficult environment, one with little cultivation and harsh elements and has developed such an impressive nutritional profile, bringing the grain into our own diets may enable us to better adapt to today's compromised environmental conditions. We may further benefit by adopting quinoa into our family of familiar grains and bringing more diversity to our table.

Complete Nutrient Analysis:

Vitamins

Minerals

Carotenoids, Flavonoids, Phytonutrients

Amino Acids

Fatty Acids

Nutrients marked with an asterisk (*) indicate data totals with some values not available. This may result in an under reporting of values.

Food manufacturers usually do not report all food nutrient values.

These nutrient values generated from the USDA Nutrient research Database using NutriBase 7 Nutrition software

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