It has benefits for the muscles, cardiovascular health, and can help you lose weight.
Quinoa is rich in protein and helps to strengthen muscles,
especially for those who practice physical activities. It has the same
nutrients as the cereals themselves, such as rice and wheat, but its planting
and growing characteristics are different, so it is considered a pseudo cereal.
Widely consumed in the Andes region, quinoa is rich in fiber, calcium, and iron,
and is a great option to enrich the diet.
Quinoa Qualities
- Helps strengthen muscles
- Prevents cardiovascular diseases
- Reduces cholesterol
- Strengthens bones
- Prevents diseases such as osteoporosis and hypertension
- Helps the nervous system, muscle maintenance, and hormone synthesis
- Promotes weight loss
- Strengthens the immune system and helps the healing process
- Recommended for people with celiac disease
The significant amounts of omega 3 and 6 in quinoa are
important allies in preventing cardiovascular diseases and reducing
cholesterol. It also helps strengthen bones and prevent diseases such as
osteoporosis and hypertension, due to its calcium content.
The B vitamins present in quinoa are an essential part for
the proper functioning of the nervous system, muscle maintenance, and synthesis
of hormones. In addition, the fiber present in the grain gives the feeling of
satiety, which can help you lose weight. It is also rich in zinc, a nutrient
that acts to strengthen the immune system and the healing processes. Finally,
it is also a grain recommended for people with celiac disease, since it is
gluten-free.
What Is the Best Way to Consume Quinoa?
Quinoa is usually sold in its powdered version, making it
similar to ground oats, but it can also be found as a whole grain. In both
cases quinoa has all of its nutrients preserved and daily consumption should
not be done in large quantities.
According to the nutrologist Roberto Navarro, from the
Brazilian Association of Nutrology, there is no certain recommendation for the
daily consumption of quinoa: "Thinking about a diet of 2 thousand
calories, we can say that two tablespoons a day are sufficient", he says.
It is possible to add quinoa to the diet in several ways:
Main Nutrients
Quinoa composition for each 100 grams:
- Calories: 336 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates: 68.3 (g)
- Proteins: 12.1 (g)
- Lipids: 6.1 (g)
- Water: 10.8 (g)
- Phosphor: 302 (mg)
- Calcium: 107 (mg)
- Fibers: 6,8 (g)
- Iron: 5,2 (mg)
- Thiamine: 1,5 (mg)
- Niacin: 1,2 (mg)
- Riboflavin: 0,3 (mg)
- Ascorbic Acid: 1,1 (mg)
Quinoa is a high biological value food, meaning that it has
all the essential amino acids that our body needs to function properly.
It is also a source of calcium, iron, and omega 3 and 6 fatty
acids. Like any grain, it is very rich in fiber, and is therefore a great
source of carbohydrates for the diet. In addition, quinoa has important amounts
of B vitamins.
Where to Find Quinoa
Quinoa can be found in supermarkets and health food stores.
- Salads: Quinoa can be used to dress salads both as the seed itself and in the form of flour.
- With milk or yogurt: Quinoa whole grains can be eaten as a breakfast cereal, with milk or yogurt, for example. This helps to add more fiber to the preparation, improving the intestinal flow and ensuring satiety.
- Replacing wheat flour: Quinoa flour can be used in the preparation of various recipes, such as cake batter, pies, breads and cookies. The ratio for replacing it in recipes is one to one, i.e., for every cup of wheat flour, use a cup of quinoa instead.
- Mixed in juices or vitamins: adding a spoonful of quinoa flour to juices or vitamins adds good doses of calcium, protein, iron and zinc to these drinks, in addition to all the nutrients that fruits already offer. Because they are in juice form, fruits lose a lot of their fiber, and quinoa can help to balance these amounts.
- With fruit: eating a fruit salad with quinoa can be a great option as a snack after exercise, since fruit is a source of carbohydrates and quinoa of proteins - two indispensable nutrients for those who are practicing physical activity.
Comparison with Other Foods
Quinoa is one of the best sources of protein in the vegetable kingdom: each 100g of quinoa has 12g of protein, which is more than that found in soy, wheat, rice and oats, but less than that found in chia.
The grain also wins when it comes to the amount of fats:
there are 6.1g of lipids in 100g of quinoa against 1.5g of wheat and 10.2g of
oats, for example - and it is important to remember that the fats present in
quinoa are omega-3 and omega-6, both beneficial to the body, helping especially
in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
It is also one of the grains that has the highest iron
content (10.9mg per 100g of quinoa), second only to amaranth (17.4mg per 100g).
These amounts of iron are approximately 550 times greater than those found in
beans.
It has about 66mg of calcium per 100g of grain, an amount
higher than rice, wheat, rye, beans, and barley, but lower than oats, corn,
soy, flaxseed, amaranth, and chia, which among all grains is the richest in
calcium.
Check out this table that compares quinoa with wheat and
oats, two grains widely consumed :
| Quinoa | Wheat | Oat |
Calories (Kcal) | 336 | 330 | 405 |
Carbohydrates (g) | 68,3 | 71,6 | 68,5 |
Proteins (g) | 12,1 | 9,2 | 10,6 |
Lipids (g) | 6,1 | 1,5 | 10,2 |
Water (g) | 10.8 | 16,5 | 9.3 |
Phosphor | 302 | 224 | 321 |
Calcium (mg) | 107 | 36 | 100 |
Fiber (g) | 6,8 | 3 | 2,7 |
Iron (mg) | 5,2 | 4,6 | 2,5 |
Thiamine (mg) | 1,5 | 0,2 | 0 |
Niacin (mg) | 1,2 | 2,8 | 0 |
Riboflavin (mg) | 0,3 | 0,8 | 0 |
Ascorbic acid (mg) | 1,1 | 0 | 0 |
Composition of quinoa grains compared to other cereals (100g)
Contraindications for Consumption
There are no contraindications for the consumption of quinoa, provided it is consumed in adequate quantities (up to two tablespoons per day). This is because it is a caloric food, which if consumed in excess can unbalance the diet.