History

Chenopodium quinoa, or simply "Quinoa" as it is better known, has been an important crop in South America for 5,000 years. The ancient Incas held the Quinoa crop as sacred, referring to it as the "mother of all grains." (wikipedia.org) Their armies could march for days eating a mixture of the Quinoa and fat known as "war balls." (purdue.edu)

However, the Spanish conquistadors scorned the Quinoa plant as "Indian food" and actively suppressed its growth. (wikipedia.org)

It is only recently, in the past couple decades, that the Quinoa plant has found a resurgence in North America. Though not likely to be found in most food cabinets, Quinoa is sometimes used as an alternative to white rice or couscous, and is sometimes served as a breakfast food. (wikipedia.org)

It is only recently that Quinoa has been used in beverages, with Quinoa Gold being one of (if not the first) to copyright and patent a Quinoa beverage.

Nutritional Info

Quinoa is often thought of as a "super-grain," it is actually not a grain at all, but the seed of a leafy plant that is a distant relative of spinach and beets.

Quinoa has a protein content of 16 percent, which is higher than other grain. Quinoa also has an abundance of amino acids that are essential to a healthy body. Though the Quinoa grain does have a higher fat content than most grains, this is far outweighed by Quinoa's exceptional levels of amino acids, iron, and fiber. (umn.edu)

1 cup of dry Quinoa is 4 cups cooked. The nutrition for (1/4 cup dry) 1 cup as cooked:

• Calories 158.95 kcal
• Carbohydrate, 29.28 g
• Protein 5.57 g
• Total lipid (fat) 2.46 g
• Fiber, total dietary 2.51 g
• Fatty acids, total 0.25 g
• Calcium, Ca 25.5 mg
• Iron, Fe 3.93 mg
• Potassium, K 314.5 mg
• Sodium, Na 8.93 mg
• Zinc, Zn 1.4 mg
• Vitamin E - mg ATE
• Folate, total 20.82 mcg
• Magnesium, Mg 89.25 mg
• Energy 665.12 kj
• Phosphorus, P 174.25 mg
• Isoleucine 0.2 g
• Serine 0.21 g
• Proline 0.17 g
• Glycine 0.29 g

• Glutamic acid 0.66 g
• Aspartic acid 0.41 g
• Alanine 0.26 g
• Histidine 0.13 g
• Arginine 0.39 g
• Valine 0.25 g
• Manganese, Mn 0.96 mg
• Copper, Cu 0.35 mg
• Threonine 0.2 g
• Vitamin B-12 - mcg
• Vitamin B-6 0.09 mg
• Niacin 1.25 mg
• Riboflavin 0.17 mg
• Thiamin 0.08 mg
• Phenylalanine 0.23 g
• Pantothenic acid 0.44 g
• Leucine 0.33 g
• Lysine 0.31 g
• Methionine 0.11 g
• Tyrosine 0.16 g

Source: Wholehealthmd.com