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Whole Grains -
Whole Grains 2008
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Written by Frank Mangano
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Tuesday, 23 December 2008 20:43 |
Keen for Quinoa
There are several foods that virtually every kitchen’s cupboard or refrigerator is stashed with. Potatoes are one, brown rice is certainly another. Whole grain pastas and breads make the cut as well.
But you’d likely think I had three heads if I told you quinoa was a food staple. Well, believe it or not, it once was, but quinoa lost its staple status many moons ago when European settlers in South America opted out of the quinoa cultivation business (for what reason is for historians to determine). The staple-that-was was so valuable a crop in its prime growing areas, like Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, it was second only to potatoes in nutritional importance. Among the Incas, quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) was referred to as “Chisaya Mama,” or “Mother of all grains.” In fact, it used to be known as the “gold of the Incas,” for it increased the staying power of Incan warriors.
Thankfully, quinoa hasn’t disappeared. It’s readily available in health food stores thanks to some enterprising American health advocates that brought quinoa back to life and introduced it to America in the 1980s. Still, nearly 30 years later, quinoa doesn’t carry the same universal recognition as potatoes or rice. It’s a dang shame, too, because from a nutritional perspective, few foods are more nutritionally sound than quinoa. A few examples:
- First off, quinoa is whole grain (technically, it’s a seed, but contains virtually all of the characteristics of a whole grain). While all whole grains are good for the body and are the best source to go to for carbohydrates, whole grains lack protein punch. Quinoa, on the other hand, packs a mean protein punch – five grams in a mere quarter-cup! And the five grams aren’t the kind of protein you’ll find in nuts or seeds…they’re much better! They’re the complete protein kind – meaning the protein contains all nine essential amino acids (nuts and seeds need to be combined with other foods to make them complete).
- Foods generally fall into certain meal categories: for instance oats tend to be eaten for breakfast, potatoes and rice for dinner, etc. With quinoa, no such classification applies. Its nutritional profile makes it a great alternative to rolled oats at breakfast, a potato or bed of brown rice at suppertime, or as nutritional, seasonal topper to garden salad on lunch break.
- Quinoa is believed to contain some natural medicinal qualities. Millions suffer from migraines, and as any migraine sufferer will tell you, foods high in magnesium help alleviate migraine symptoms by relaxing constricted blood vessels. And if quinoa has anything, its magnesium. Just a quarter-cup of quinoa has 90 mg – 25 percent of one’s daily recommended value.
- And what would any food profile be without a scientific study? One such study was done on magnesium’s effectiveness in avoiding type II diabetes, and results indicated that people who ate foods high magnesium – like quinoa – were at a 20 percent reduced risk for acquiring the disease.
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If all that wasn’t good enough, quinoa is for everyone and anyone. In other words, it’s very easy on the stomach, making for easy digestion; gluten-free and wheat-free, making it the ideal carbohydrate/protein for food allergy sufferers.
If you haven’t tried it already, make today the day you give quinoa a try. I’m confident you’ll love it!
 
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