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Quinoa, pronounced as keen-wah, is a species of goosefoot genus and is a pseudo cereal. Its importance for the Inca Empire has given it the title of “Mother of all grains”.

Quinoa, pronounced as keen-wah, is a species of goosefoot genus and is a pseudo cereal. Its importance for the Inca Empire has given it the title of “Mother of all grains”.

These are small, bean shaped, little bitter in taste. Quinoa is a complete protein and has been declared a “Super food”. Quinoa is of three types:

1. Red quinoa
2. White quinoa
3. Black quinoa

Quinoa has its importance because:

• Full of nutrition: 185 grams of quinoa contains- 8 grams protein, 5 gram fiber, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, copper, iron, zinc, potassium, Vitamin B1, B2, B3 and B6, E and calcium. Year 2013 was regarded as “The International Year of Quinoa” because of its high nutritional value.

• Quinoa contains Quercetin and Kaempferol: Two flavonoids Quercetin and Kaempferol are found in ample amount in quinoa. These two are anti depressants, anti cancer, anti viral and anti inflammatory.
• High in fiber: Every 100 gram of uncooked fiber contains 10-15 grams of fiber which is much more than many other grains.

• Gluten Free: Quinoa is gluten free and to go for quinoa instead of other gluten free products like potato, rice and corn flour etc is not an as good option as this.
• High protein and amino acids: Quinoa is rich in protein contents in comparison to most of the other foods and also contains necessary amino acids.
• Beneficial for metabolic health: Quinoa includes in it low sugar and triglyceride level in it. This leads to improved metabolic health.
• Health benefits: Quinoa is a complete protein and helps fight Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, colon cancer, obesity etc.

Some facts about quinoa:

• It has a natural coating “saponin” which makes it bitter in taste. So before cooking quinoa rinse well.
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa equals to 3 cups cooked quinoa.
• 1 cup quinoa takes 2 cups liquid.
• It should be stored in airtight containers.

Recipes where you can add quinoa:

• Quinoa vegetable salad
• Quinoa patty burger
• Quinoa with vegetables
• Quinoa and mushroom

So to keep your body healthy, intake of quinoa is a good option. Its rich contents have numerous benefits as it has been proved under various researches. Most of the quinoa beneficiary researchers have been conducted on rats and are beneficial for humans too. Thus we can say quinoa is a complete protein.