Quinoa: Is it the superfood it’s cracked up to be?
Quinoa is the darling of every health food enthusiast, from the veggie-curious to the self-appointed guru. Its rise up the culinary ranks, from starchy seed to alpha protein, has been as swift as it has been phenomenal.
It’s also a bit baffling.
We need good food, and more of it. But we also need facts. Unfortunately, truth and facts are the first casualties of the nutrition wars that are waged over the internet and media every day.
You would barely know that nutrition is a science. Instead we get hype, carefully crafted marketing, and legions of aspiring experts with astonishing levels of confidence holding court on a subject they know virtually nothing.
So in the spirit of impartial food sleuthing, let’s put quinoa in the spotlight and see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.
Is it a protein? Is it a superfood? Or is it just a little seed?
The high regard in which quinoa is held is based primarily on its protein content. It is a complete protein, a rare resource in the plant world. ‘Complete’ means that it contains all the essential amino acids that the body cannot make, and must therefore obtain from dietary sources.
