<\/p>\n
Quinoa is a nutritious grain-like food, and an excellent addition to the gluten-free diet<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike a true grain, quinoa is not from the grass family. Quinoa is a chenopod, and is more closely related to beets, spinach and tumbleweeds.<\/p>\n Quinoa is most often eaten as a whole cooked seed, flakes, or quinoa flour used in gluten-free<\/a> baking.<\/p>\n Quinoa greens are also eatable and nutritious, but are generally not commercially available.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quinoa originated in the Andes, where it has been a staple for over 6,000 years. It grows well at altitudes up to 4,000 meters, and will grow at low altitudes as well.<\/p>\n Quinoa is generally well tolerated. A negative reaction to quinoa is the rare, so try quinoa with confidence!<\/p>\n There are exceptions. Read the comments below to see examples of problems people have had with quinoa.<\/p>\n Many if not most of these problems are probably caused by improper preparation of the quinoa. See cooking quinoa<\/a> to learn the right way to make quinoa and avoid these problems. If you haven’t been preparing your quinoa correctly, then you may develop a sensitivity to it. Try cutting it out of your diet for a few weeks or months, then bring it back in, but be sure to wash it properly.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that people with a reaction to quinoa are likely to find this site and leave a comment, so if you have not tried quinoa before, do not let the tiny likelihood of a reaction put you off from trying it.<\/p>\n If you do have a reaction, then pay attention to it, and remove quinoa from your diet.<\/p>\n Amaranth<\/a> is a good alternative if you can not tolerate quinoa.<\/p>\n Sandy points out that “…[quinoa] is high in phenylalanine (amino acid), and this is taken from a recent NYT article about sweeteners\u2013turns out that amino acid is also in aspartame.\u00a0 ‘. . . about 1 in 25,000 in the United States \u2014 have a genetic condition that prevents them from metabolizing one of the amino acids, phenylalanine, and those people are warned away from aspartame.’\u201d<\/p>\n The above may explain the large number of people leaving comments on this article about how they cannot eat quinoa.<\/p>\n Liz has left a comment suggesting that liquid bentonite clay detox supplement ( about four tablespoons) and Zyrtec (one, the other or both) may help alleviate symptoms.\u00a0 If you decide to try this, please leave a comment and share if this helped you or not.<\/p>\n Another interesting theory was posted by Katherine Kohl. Read her post about Quinoa Sickness and Mycotoxin<\/a>.<\/p>\n NOTE: <\/strong>If you leave a comment explaining that you have a reaction to quinoa, please indicate if the quinoa is organic or not.\u00a0 I’d really like to find out why so many people have a problem with it.\u00a0 There are already 178 comments on this post so keep this in mind when reading comments in the context of this comment.<\/p>\n Quinoa must be properly rinsed before cooking. This is very important. For complete details on why this is important, and how to cook quinoa, see cooking quinoa<\/a>.<\/p>\n Quinoa is the only plant food with a complete complement of proteins, making the quality of protein similar to meat. Other plant sources of protein must be combined to get a full complement.<\/p>\nQuinoa Allergies<\/h2>\n
How to Cook Quinoa<\/h2>\n
Quinoa Nutrition<\/h2>\n
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\n Nutrient<\/th>\n Units<\/th>\n 1.00 X 1 cup
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\n185g<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n\n Proximates<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Water<\/td>\n \n \n \n Energy<\/td>\n \n \n \n Energy<\/td>\n \n \n \n Protein<\/td>\n \n \n \n Total lipid (fat)<\/td>\n \n \n \n Ash<\/td>\n \n \n \n Carbohydrate, by difference<\/td>\n \n \n \n Fibre, total dietary<\/td>\n \n \n \n Starch<\/td>\n \n \n \n Minerals<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Calcium, Ca<\/td>\n \n \n \n Iron, Fe<\/td>\n \n \n \n Magnesium, Mg<\/td>\n \n \n \n Phosphorus, P<\/td>\n \n \n \n Potassium, K<\/td>\n \n \n \n Sodium, Na<\/td>\n \n \n \n Zinc, Zn<\/td>\n \n \n \n Copper, Cu<\/td>\n \n \n \n Manganese, Mn<\/td>\n \n \n \n Selenium, Se<\/td>\n \n \n \n Vitamins<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid<\/td>\n \n \n \n Thiamin<\/td>\n \n \n \n Riboflavin<\/td>\n \n \n \n Niacin<\/td>\n \n \n \n Vitamin B-6<\/td>\n \n \n \n Folate, total<\/td>\n \n \n \n Folic acid<\/td>\n \n \n \n Folate, food<\/td>\n \n \n \n Folate, DFE<\/td>\n \n \n \n Vitamin B-12<\/td>\n \n \n \n Vitamin A, RAE<\/td>\n \n \n \n Retinol<\/td>\n \n \n \n Vitamin A, IU<\/td>\n \n \n \n Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)<\/td>\n \n \n \n Tocopherol, beta<\/td>\n \n \n \n Tocopherol, gamma<\/td>\n \n \n \n Tocopherol, delta<\/td>\n \n \n \n Lipids<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cholesterol<\/td>\n \n \n \n Amino acids<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tryptophan<\/td>\n \n \n \n Threonine<\/td>\n \n \n \n Isoleucine<\/td>\n \n \n \n Leucine<\/td>\n \n \n \n Lysine<\/td>\n \n \n \n Methionine<\/td>\n \n \n \n Cystine<\/td>\n \n \n \n Phenylalanine<\/td>\n \n \n \n