Quinoa health benefits have the five guaranteed nutrition that your body needs. If you are looking for an alternative to carbohydrates and protein, you need to try quinoa. Quinoa carbs are gluten-free with high fiber.
Quinoa health benefits are the same as a whole grain food. However, it does not belong to grass or even related to wheat or rice. It has more relation to the spinach.
The first use of wild quinoa comes from the leaves and seeds. After the development and commercialization, quinoa increases the size of stem and seeds with additional levels of color.
THE ORIGIN OF QUINOA HEALTH BENEFITS
Quinoa origin has a long way history in 3,000 to 5,000 years BCE. The first discovery of quinoa recorded in the side of Lake Titicaca in Peru. Because of being an Andean plant, pre-Columbian civilizations found it. They have cultivated and used by the former.
But later on, Spanish cereals replaced quinoa. Other than in Peru, you can find quinoa in Chile. When the Spanish arrived in Peru, the research and development of quinoa began. From then on, the distribution reached outside Inca territory.
According to historical data, Pedro de Valdivia is the first Spaniards to cultivate quinoa and labeled it as food. Other native Indians at that time began to sow quinoa as a source of their food.
CHARACTERISTICS OF QUINOA
The ecological zones that can adapt quinoa plantation have come up with five groups. These five groups are the classification of quinoa-based on their adaptability.
Dry and Humid Valley Quinoas
Also known as Junín or dry valley, the quinoas grow here with irrigation support. In Cajamarca or humid valley, the water source of quinoa comes from rain. Therefore, it grows up to three meters, higher than the Junín quinoas.
A produce variety in Peru, Nariño, is a type of quinoa with many branches, green leaves, and the grains come in white color and taste sweet.
Altiplano Quinoas
Altiplano quinoas include varieties in low precipitation and average temperatures. Some examples of this variety known as Kcancolla, Blanca de Juli, and Tahuaco. These varieties grow around the lake areas.
There also other types of quinoa that can adapt to high elevation areas. You can have Cheweca, Ccoitu, Witulla, Chullpi, and Wariponcho, which you can cultivate in the mountainous with cold temperatures.
Saltflat Quinoas
The saltflat quinoas need to grow with a unique cultivation process. You need to let the farm soil unused from any growing of crops. Eight years after the last harvesting will be the ideal length of the land to be untouched. This method will allow the ground to have enough moisture content as Salflat quinoas need enough moisture to be absorbed. Likewise, it can restore soil fertility to increase the volume of quinoa produce.
Sea Level Quinoas
Sea level quinoas are a variety which can adapt to more humid conditions and reasonable temperatures. You can find it near seas areas. This location has higher humidity and temperature, making it suitable for sea level quinoas.
Subtropics Quinoas
Subtropics quinoas can sustain high temperature and heat. This variety can adopt various climate conditions; you can identify matured subtropics quinoas if the stem turned into color orange. Therefore, you can plant it as long as you know the area conditions.
QUINOA HEALTH BENEFITS
The quinoa health benefits come from its seeds. You need to process it before eating. It has protein, dietary fiber, vitamins B and other minerals. Also, it can be a source of healthy carbohydrates as quinoa is gluten-free.
Quinoa nutrition value focuses on the high concentration of protein. It makes the quinoa a lifetime food for people who love to take long journeys. In eating quinoa, 100 grams serving can provide 120 kcal.
Because of the characteristics of quinoa, it is one of the best weight loss foods in our diet program. Moreover, you can get the best five guaranteed quinoa health benefits from daily consumption.
Good for Anti-inflammatory
Quinoa contains nutrients good for anti-inflammation as well as antioxidants. It comes with a massive number of antioxidants.
Quinoa antioxidants properties are responsible for slowing down inflammation. It can also prevent the occurrence of viral diseases, depression, and anxiety. Further, it can neutralize cancer cells. The anti-inflammatory properties can also make you feel and look younger than your age.
How can we attain one of the best health benefits of quinoa? If we include quinoa in our daily meals, we can get the most health benefits of it. We can have positive results of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components.
Regulates Blood Sugar
You can consider quinoa as one of the carbohydrates food sources. However, quinoas’ carbohydrates do not contain a higher glycemic index. It is a naturally gluten-free carb.
What is gluten? Gluten means glue. It is a group of protein with other nutrients stored in the endosperm of cereals grains. Foods based on artificial gluten-free diet is harmful. It causes serious health problems; It can make your blood sugar level high.
Also, it has the same effect as carbohydrates that are not gluten-free. It will result from increasing your body weight. Elevation of blood sugar can attribute to non-gluten-free carbohydrates.
Nevertheless, if you are considering carbohydrates while losing weight, you need to include quinoa or natural, gluten-free foods. Adding quinoa in your meal can boost the nutrients and antioxidants in your body, and your blood sugar level will stay at a healthy level. It has an impressive effect on the regulation of blood sugar despite eating carbohydrates. Further, it helps the digestion of healthy foods as well as to absorb proper nutrition.
Provides Adequate Source of Protein
Quinoa has an exceptional source of complete protein. What is the significance of protein in our body? If you are doing strenuous exercise, you need to have enough protein to support your bones, muscles, and cartilage.
Protein helps to build and repair the tissues we need in our day-to-day activity. It has value to create enzymes, hormones and other body nutrients. If you are wondering, how quinoa consists of complete protein? It is because quinoa comes with the essential amino acids.
Our body can not produce some amino acids. Therefore, consuming protein is necessary. The common source of protein is meat. In this case, people who opt not to eat meat can now have nourishment of protein from quinoa. You can add it to your meal to have adequate amounts of functional protein and other nutrients.
Champion Food for High Fiber Diet
Quinoa is excellent for digestion because of its high fiber content. Getting fiber benefits from eating quinoa can result in proper digestion, and over time, weight loss.
The most fiber in quinoa is insoluble. However, the soluble fiber it includes still promotes proper absorption of foods—nutrients and minerals from other healthy foods. Also, it makes you feel full to avoid eating between meals.
Fiber foods such as quinoa are essential for your meal plan when you want to lose weight. Over time, it maintains your body to be in good shape.
Quinoa is the champion food for a high fiber diet when combining fiber with protein and gluten-free carbohydrates. With it, you will take fewer quinoa calories than you need to burn and at the same time will increase your metabolism.
Excellent Source for Manganese and Magnesium
Another antioxidant from quinoa is manganese. It has preventive properties to protect the cells, especially the red blood cells, from injury by damage cells. This vital mineral from quinoa maintains the red blood cells and is the primary component of our body to fight diseases and other health problems.
When you are suffering migraine, it can be a symptom of magnesium deficiency. One of the health benefits that we can get from magnesium is relieving of pain from the headache. Magnesium relaxes our blood vessels that trigger our migraine, otherwise.
Other health benefits of having magnesium from quinoa are body temperature regulation, detoxification, transmission of nerve impulses and formation of healthy bones and teeth.
OTHER USES
Quinoa has many uses when mixing with other grains and alternative foods for rice. You can have quinoa as fiber-rich and gluten-free carbohydrates when you process it. It can be edible and can offer another option for healthy foods.
Quinoa can be beneficial in many ways aside from daily consumption. The leaves of quinoa together with the stems and grains have many uses too. If you have wounds, you can use quinoa to reduce the swelling and promote faster healing. It can also produce natural remedies for urinary tract infections.
Further usage of quinoa comes from its green forage. During harvest season of quinoa, the waste material can be used to feed livestock most of the time. If you want to use organic insect repellents for your crops, you can also use quinoa to ward off insects.
Quinoa as baby food
Compared to other instant meal foods, quinoa has more nutritional benefits. For example, you can have flour from quinoa that provides more fiber. It will be the best ingredients in making bread, noodles, and biscuit. You can also add it to prepare semi-processed products, only with the right amount.
High-level protein from the plant can be found in the embryo of the quinoa seeds. Almost 45% of protein can be sourced out from its seeds. The percentage is enough to consider quinoa as the first food of the baby. You can have cereal with quinoa flour, for example. As gluten-free carbs, it can reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes during early years. It is also one of the best foods for pregnant women to help regulate their blood sugar.
Quinoa Medicinal attributes
Quinoa can be used as cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. The parts of the quinoa plant can be processed to develop products that have diversified usage.
Saponin is one of the properties that need to remove from quinoa. It is the bitter part of quinoa which is essential for medicines absorption in our body. Saponin is also significant to prevent fungi and promotes antibodies.
Quinoa oil of life
Another product that can be extracted from quinoa is oil. Quinoa oil has similar properties like other vegetable oil.
The oil from quinoa is healthy fatty acids. The composition contains linoleic and linolenic acids. As a result, you can consider it more essential than corn oil.
Quinoa fatty acids can improve healthy skin. Since quinoa has minerals and vitamins, it can slow down aging properties and skin conditions. Some of these conditions are pigmentation, acne, and dark spots. With adequate B vitamins in our body, it promotes healthy and younger looking skin.
Salon-grade beauty essential
Quinoa as a face mask
If you are looking for a home-made regimen like a face mask, you can use quinoa with soy milk. With 1.4 cups of quinoa cooked in soy milk, you need to mix it with three teaspoons of unflavored yogurt. Then add two egg yolks and two drops of mimosa essential oil. Let it cool, and then apply it on your face and neck. For best result, you need to leave it for about 20-30 minutes or until the quinoa face clay dried up. Afterwards, you can rinse it off with lukewarm water.
Quinoa as hair damage protector
Essential amino acids in quinoa can strengthen your hair follicles and keep your scalp hydrated. Quinoa protein is a natural coating to prevent damage to your hair follicles while providing nourishment to your hair follicles. It can also promote hair growth over time.
A healthy scalp means hydrated and well-conditioned. It will keep you from having dandruff which causes by dry scalp. Pollution and dust are also one of the factors in having dandruff.
A home remedy for scalp care using quinoa is straightforward. You need to crush the quinoa until it became a paste. Then, you can apply your hair and scalp. For best result, leave for 15-20 minutes and then wash it off.
Vitamins and minerals keep our hair and scalp healthy; prevents hair tangled and split ends. Also, it maintains the color of our hair naturally. Given this, quinoa promotes organic hair and scalp treatment while reducing our exposure to formulated beauty products.
Quinoa Side Effects
Quinoa can trigger some digestion health problems. Too much consumption of it can cause side effects. Therefore, people with underlying digestion problems need to have limitations in quinoa intake.
Overeating of quinoa for the belief that more fiber can make you lose weight is a myth. Too much quinoa fiber in your stomach can result in health issue like stomach ache, cramping of the abdomen, bloating and diarrhea.
Nevertheless, adequate consumption of quinoa is essential to prevent intestinal blockage, anaphylaxis, heartburn and allergic reaction over time.
In some cases, quinoa can have a bitter taste caused by saponin. The preparation of quinoa is important before consuming it. Therefore, you should wash quinoa thoroughly before cooking.
Saponin is a natural defence mechanism of quinoa against insects and pests in the field. It is a phyto-compound in the quinoa that in some instance is dangerous to our health. You can use saponins as a natural cleanser.
Quinoa Food Recipes
When having quinoa, we need to follow the accurate processing of it to enjoy its rich taste that goes well with other foods. Also, it is a healthy and safe replacement for people with high blood sugar because of its non-gluten-free carbohydrates.
Cooking of quinoa involves techniques to achieve its fluffy appearance. To prepare, wash quinoa twice as long as there is no presence of saponin compound.
If you cook it like rice, you must put the cover on it. Wait for the quinoa to absorb all the water. Afterward, you can remove it from heat and let the quinoa steam for almost five minutes. Once the quinoa is perfectly fluffy, it is ready for consumption; otherwise, it is not well cooked.
Additionally, you can make quinoa into a salad combined with shredded carrots, cucumber and sweet snap peas. It will be complemented to the carrots and size serving of quinoa. You can also add raisins, parsley, and walnuts for a more flavorful taste. Serve with dressings made from avocado, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Our Insights
Quinoa has nutrients and minerals like potassium, manganese, magnesium, and iron. These minerals, together with carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and flavonoids, can make a difference in our body.
Iron from quinoa plays a role in keeping our red blood cells healthy and promotes the formation of hemoglobin. It is responsible for supplying oxygen from one cell to another.
Consuming of quinoa will benefit us to regulate body temperature and increase metabolism. Also, it increases enzymes activity in our body. More importantly, iron increases brain functions by supporting the oxygen it needs.
Quinoa comes with riboflavin which improves metabolism within brain and muscle cells. It will create proper energy production in cells.
Indeed, the health benefits that we can get from quinoa are impressive and can contribute to our daily consumption of healthy foods. Moreover, it will be beneficial for us to be healthy and fit.
