{"id":2911,"date":"2019-01-08T04:51:01","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T04:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2021-08-05T01:38:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T01:38:50","slug":"21-mind-blowing-quinoa-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/21-mind-blowing-quinoa-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"21 Mind-Blowing Quinoa Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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If you haven\u2019t had quinoa, then you should really try out this superfood. It is actually pretty incredible how many benefits a single food item can have, and how much recognition quinoa has gotten in health circles; even from those that have a firm basis in science. There are good reasons why health-conscious people have adopted this grain as one of their favorite food items and understanding what the benefits of quinoa are will help you get motivated to add them to your own diet. Once you have tried quinoa for yourself, and you know how beneficial it is, it will likely become one of your favorite foods as well. In addition, quinoa is extremely versatile and can be prepared in dozens of different ways. Let\u2019s take a look at 21 of the most extraordinary benefits of the superfood quinoa so that you can see the value of it for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Quinoa is Nutritious<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most people believe that quinoa <\/a>is a cereal grain. However it is not. The truth is, it is a pseudo-cereal that is similar to a grain. That means if you are avoiding quinoa because you think it is a grain, then you do not have to worry about it. What you do need to know about quinoa is that it is packed with nutrients. A single cup of quinoa contains nearly two dozen of the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, a single cup of quinoa contains a significant percentage of each of these vitamins and minerals, and in some cases even meets or exceeds the recommended daily amount. What this all boils down to is that quinoa is extremely nutritious and good for you. If you are adding quinoa to your diet, then you probably don\u2019t even need a multivitamin supplement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Quinoa Contains Quercetin and Kaempferol<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Quinoa actually has some huge benefits that go far beyond the vitamins and minerals that we already discussed. Inside this amazing superfood, there are lots of trace minerals that are really healthy for you. One of those is a molecule called the flavonoid. Flavonoids <\/a>are plant antioxidants that have been shown in laboratory studies to have lots of different health benefits. Two of these flavonoids that have been well studied and shown to be beneficial are quercetin and kaempferol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinoa contains these two plant compounds in large amounts. In fact, quercetin is higher in quinoa than almost any other food \u2013 including cranberries which are supposed to be packed with quercetin. Some of the properties of these two compounds include anti-inflammatory properties, antiviral properties, antidepressant effects and they might even prevent or treat cancer. You will definitely boost your intake of these important flavonoids if you add quinoa to your diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. You Get More Fiber with Quinoa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Almost no one gets enough fiber these days, but if you add quinoa to your diet, you will be getting more fiber<\/a>. Even though quinoa isn\u2019t really a true grain, it is higher in fiber than most of the grains out there. In a study conducted by the University of Valencia in Spain, every variety of quinoa that was tested resulted in 10 to 16 grams of fiber for every hundred grams of quinoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a huge amount and it is one of the reasons why you should definitely consider adding quinoa to your diet. Fiber does good things for the body. Fiber helps keep you regular and improves digestive health. Of course, like with anything else, there are certain methods of preparation that result in more fiber; for example, boiling quinoa in water results in less fiber than if you were to add it to your food without cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Great for Those Who Want to Eat Gluten-Free<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you prefer to avoid gluten, or you are one of the millions of people who have a sensitivity to gluten, then you may want to consider quinoa because it is completely gluten-free. There are some pretty serious consequences that come from eating gluten when you have an intolerance to it. When you have a gluten allergy, consuming gluten can result in a lowered immune system<\/a>, poor digestive health, cardiovascular disease, and various other problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who have celiac disease, gluten has to be avoided and foods need to be chosen that are totally free of gluten. Quinoa is one of those foods and is perfectly safe for those that have celiac disease. Even if you do not have a gluten allergy, consuming less gluten or removing it from your diet altogether can have a big impact on your overall health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. You Get Plenty of Protein<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you aren\u2019t getting enough protein<\/a>, then you may want to consider quinoa as an alternative to whatever sources you are normally getting your protein from. Quinoa is extremely high in protein with all of the essential amino acids that your body needs. The reason that these amino acids are called essential is due to the fact that our bodies cannot produce them naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means that we need to get those amino acids from our diet. If we do not get the protein that we require, our health can suffer because of it. Foods that contain all of the necessary amino acids within the protein are considered complete foods or complete protein. Quinoa offers all of the amino acids and is a complete protein, but it also contains an amino acid called lysine that is not present with the meats that you eat because it is a plant protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Quinoa is low on the Glycemic Index<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For those with diabetes or at risk for diabetes, quinoa is a safe alternative to the foods that you have been eating. That\u2019s because quinoa is very low on the glycemic index. In other words, quinoa is not going to cause a severe rise in blood sugar that other foods will. With diabetes, when you eat something that increases your blood sugar, you have to counter it with insulin in order to balance how your body or else bad things will happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These things can include coma or even death. But quinoa is very low in the glycemic index it does not cause a spike in blood sugar that can create problems for people with diabetes or who are at risk for diabetes<\/a>. This makes it a very healthy option for everyone, including those who suffer from diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Quinoa Provides Magnesium<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many people do not get enough magnesium <\/a>in their diet. But quinoa has plenty of magnesium. Because of the dietary habits of people these days, many nutrients are missing and cause health problems. This is especially true for a large number of minerals including magnesium. In order for people to get the minerals that they need, they often have to take a multivitamin, or even combine two or more multivitamins, in order to get everything that they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you have quinoa as an option this is not necessary, because quinoa provides a great deal of magnesium already. In fact, you get up to 30 percent of the daily recommended amount of magnesium with just a single cup of quinoa. Magnesium helps to prevent diseases like osteoporosis, helps to balance blood pressure, and does a great deal more as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Quinoa Helps to Prevent Osteoporosis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Osteoporosis <\/a>is a condition that affects millions of Americans, as well as people all over the world. Osteoporosis can cause bones to become brittle and break easily, which is a major problem for older folks. But if you want to prevent osteoporosis, then all you may need to do is add some quinoa to your diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is partially due to the high magnesium content and quinoa that we just discussed, but that is not the only thing within this superfood that causes it to help with osteoporosis. The bottom line is that there are a lot of reasons to add quinoa to your diet, but if you are age 55 or older and you are worried about osteoporosis, then adding quinoa to your diet can help put those worries to rest. Quinoa works hard to prevent osteoporosis from happening altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. Quinoa Protects You from Cardiovascular Disease<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another benefit of this superfood is protection against cardiovascular disease<\/a>. Cardiovascular disease is a problem around the world, but it is especially prevalent in the United States due to the dependence upon fast food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foods can clog the arteries and make it more difficult for blood to get to the heart and around the body where it is needed. When blood flow is restricted, the heart reacts and it is known as a heart attack. This condition that causes the heart attack is known as cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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10. Quinoa Contains a Great Deal of Iron<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another mineral that most people do not get enough of is iron<\/a>. Iron is an extremely important mineral that our bodies need for all kinds of things. Most people do not get nearly enough iron. In fact, even people that are healthy and take a multivitamin may not be getting enough iron for what their body needs. But taking iron supplements can be difficult and definitely does not taste good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinoa is a great alternative to iron supplements, giving you 15 percent of the iron that you need every day and just a single cup. Why is iron important? Iron is essential for healthy brain functions as well as making sure that your muscles perform like they should and develop well \u2013 something that is important if you are currently working out. An iron deficiency can also cause anemia, which is why it is more important than ever that you get enough iron in your blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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11. Quinoa Promotes Muscle Growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you are trying to build muscle then you definitely want to add quinoa to your diet. We already mentioned that quinoa provides you with up to 15 percent of the daily recommended allowance of iron that your body needs. This means that you do not have to get the iron from other food sources and that you will likely get the recommended amount from your entire diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having enough iron is very important when it comes to building muscle and improving your physical health. But quinoa also supports healthy muscle metabolism. Your muscles need protein and a variety of other nutrients in order to grow properly \u2013 including iron. All of these nutrients that your muscles <\/a>need are present and quinoa. Getting enough nutrients in your body may be difficult, when you add quinoa to your diet, you are way ahead of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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12. Quinoa Provides the Essential Element Zinc<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Zinc is an extremely beneficial mineral that our bodies need. Most people are definitely not getting enough sink in their diets. But a single cup of quinoa contains up to 13 percent of the daily recommended allowance of zinc that you need for a variety of bodily functions. This essential trace element is important for lots of stuff in the body, but you do not always get enough sink from your diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, most people are hardly getting any zinc at all. Why is zinc <\/a>important? One of the reasons is to prevent liver disease. A healthy liver is important to the overall function of your body. The purpose of the liver is to filter out toxins and to make sure that only good stuff is able to get into your bloodstream. That\u2019s why quinoa is such a beneficial addition, because it provides you with the zinc that you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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13. Your Skin Improves When You Eat Quinoa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the benefits of quinoa that not many people know about is skin improvement. When you are able to add quinoa to your diet, one of the things that you will experience without a doubt is improvement in the skin. This is not much talked about the benefit of quinoa, but it is a real one. The reason is, quinoa is an important antioxidant for the skin. Antioxidants are extremely important when it comes to keeping skin healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the antioxidant <\/a>properties of vitamins C and E are well known, but most people do not mention zinc, which we discussed in some detail in the last section. The International Journal of Dermatology discovered that antioxidants like zinc are the most important thing when it comes to protecting against free radicals. Zinc protects against things like UV radiation and helps the skin to heal faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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14. Quinoa Protects Your Liver<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your liver is one of the most important organs in the body. Your liver <\/a>make sure that none of the toxins that you take in are able to get too far into the body to cause harm. The liver is responsible for filtering out these toxins and making sure that they exit the body. One of the things that you may not know is that quinoa actually helps to protect the liver. In fact, quinoa helps to promote healthy liver function overall. One of the reasons for this is the prevalence of zinc within quinoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zinc promotes normal cell growth, development, and differentiation within the liver. According to the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, zinc is important in treating liver disease and keeping healthy liver functioning properly. In addition, patient to take the correct amount of zinc may actually reverse liver damage and treat their conditions so they eradicate them completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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15. Quinoa Has Plenty of Potassium<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Potassium <\/a>was one of the staples of the human diet until very recently. Today, potassium is still extremely important but most people do not get enough of it. But quinoa is packed with potassium. Even the healthy American diet does not contain enough potassium, and health experts have found that having the right amount can have major benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in developed countries, people that live there still suffer from potassium deficiency. But with quinoa becoming so popular, more and more people are getting the potassium than they need every day. A single cup of quinoa contains almost 10 percent of the daily recommended allowance of potassium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potassium has been shown to lower blood pressure, prevent kidney stones and decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis. There are a lot of reasons that you should add potassium to your diet, and quinoa is one of the best ways to do exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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16. Quinoa Prevents the Occurrence of Kidney Stones<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who has ever had a kidney stone<\/a> will attest to how painful they can be. Kidney stones can be one of the worst experiences of your life, but if you want to avoid them, maybe all you need to do as add some quinoa to your diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinoa is healthy and many other ways, but one of the things that it does is prevent the occurrence of kidney stones; a major reason why this so has to do with the potassium content within quinoa. You can get nearly 15 percent of the potassium that you need simply by consuming a cup of quinoa every day. You can supplement the rest by adding potassium-rich foods to your diet. The reason for this is due to the potassium of potential to decrease uric acid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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17. You Get a Metabolism Boost<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you are trying to lose weight, then quinoa can definitely help. That\u2019s because quinoa offers a metabolism boost you will not find anywhere else. Quinoa has major effects on your metabolism, partially due to the amazing amount of nutrients that are found in each cup of quinoa. It makes perfect sense that quinoa can help of metabolism, due to the nutrients that you find that are all geared towards helping boost metabolism <\/a>and improving overall health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been at least two studies conducted that show that quinoa has a major effect on metabolic health. The first use quinoa instead of the typical gluten-free breads they had previously been thought to increase metabolism, while the other was conducted by the Department of Food Chemistry and Nutrition and found that quinoa has lots of healthy biological effects, including negating the effects of fructose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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18. Quinoa is an Anti-Inflammatory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Anti-inflammatories are an important part of any healthy lifestyle, and anti-inflammatories can do a great deal for someone with health problems. The problem is most of the pain that you feel including joint and muscle pain, as well as headaches, is caused by inflammation. If you want to combat that inflammation, then you\u2019re going to have to take some sort of anti-inflammatory. Besides all the other health benefits that you get with quinoa, it is a very effective anti-inflammatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What most people do not realize is that a lot of our problems are caused by inflammation. That\u2019s way anti-inflammatories can be so helpful to our everyday lives. Taking quinoa <\/a>can definitely be one of the best things you can do if you want the anti-inflammatory effects the quinoa provides throughout your body. These anti-inflammatory effects can solve a huge number of health problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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19. Quinoa Can Lower Your Cholesterol<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another thing that quinoa can do is lower your cholesterol. It is important to keep your bad cholesterol as little as possible if you want to live to a ripe old age. Cholesterol <\/a>is definitely a factor when it comes to illnesses like heart disease and heart attacks specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high fiber content in quinoa can help to lower cholesterol because it stimulates the bile acids that assist with digestion. When your digestive system improves, the liver removes cholesterol from the red blood cells in order to create this bile. This reduces the amount of LDL-cholesterol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been studies as recently as 2010 that show that a high level of fructose could be countermanded by consuming quinoa. In fact, the study showed a reduction of LDL-cholesterol by an amazing 57 percent. This is definitely indicative of a powerful restorative and should be a reason to incorporate quinoa into your diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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20. Quinoa Can Prevent or Treat Anemia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Because of how quinoa can restore the levels of iron that are supposed to be present in your blood, it can prevent incidents of anemia which can be extremely debilitating and cause all sorts of problems for you. If you have an iron deficiency, then there is a good chance that you will suffer from anemia<\/a>. Anemia means that you have a deficiency of red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood which can manifest as actual physiological symptoms. For example, people may notice that their skin is paler than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They may also notice, and you will notice yourself, you have no energy to do things that you normally do. But restoring the levels of iron that are needed for proper red blood cell in hemoglobin production will restore your body to its proper form and allow you to live your life as it is supposed to be lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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21. Quinoa Promotes Digestive Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Digestion problems are pretty common in today\u2019s world no matter what. When you have digestive problems, it is usually a symptom of having eaten too much or even something that does not agree with you. But did you know that quinoa can actually help prevent digestive problems?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact is, quinoa prevents digestive problems in a variety of ways. Part of it is the fiber that you get added to your diet when you consume quinoa. This fiber, along with the other benefits quinoa, prevents digestive problems like constipation or diarrhea<\/a>, as well as the stomachaches and even gallstones. Quinoa is one of the best sources of insoluble fiber, which is perfect for improving digestion and does not affect your caloric content if you are trying to lose weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinoa makes it easier to have natural bowel movements and is a stool softener. If you add quinoa to your diet, you\u2019re going to be doing a great deal of good for your digestive health and making sure that your body operates at top efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n

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