A great ingredient that is seriously overlooked! It has a higher protein content than eggs

If we divide the country by north and south, the staple food intake of Chinese residents is very different. Northerners like noodles, while southerners like rice. However, there is a common feature that the staple food is relatively simple, and many people eat less coarse grains.

Eating too much refined staple food and eating a single type of food can easily lead to excess energy and a lack of vitamins and minerals, which in turn can increase the risk of developing a variety of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and fatty liver. Therefore, everyone should consciously make the staple food more colorful.

Here I would like to recommend a nutritious food to you - quinoa.

Quinoa is rich in protein

The protein content of quinoa is around 14%, which is about twice that of rice and higher than eggs. The quality of its protein is also very good.

Image source: Eat three meals a day official account

From the perspective of amino acid composition, grain protein usually lacks lysine, methionine and phenylalanine, while quinoa is rich in these amino acids, so the protein utilization rate in quinoa is higher. For vegetarians, quinoa is also a good choice for protein supplementation.

In addition, quinoa is rich in B vitamins and various minerals such as iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, manganese, etc. Its mineral content is higher than that of ordinary grains, especially iron. Quinoa is also rich in vitamin E. Its vitamin E content is 30 times that of rice, and vitamin E helps anti-aging.

Quinoa is also suitable for diabetics, as it can help to keep blood sugar levels more stable. Studies have also shown that regular consumption of quinoa can help reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

In addition, quinoa is rich in dietary fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which help regulate blood lipids.

How to eat quinoa

Quinoa comes in many colors, the most common ones on the market are white, black and red. Different colors of quinoa can be mixed and eaten. White is the most common, with high yield, usually with a light smell and a soft and glutinous taste, similar to rice. Red and black quinoa are chewier and harder in texture, and require more time to cook.

Quinoa can be washed 2 to 3 times with water before cooking. The processed quinoa is very easy to cook. It is usually boiled in water for 10 to 15 minutes and can be eaten when it becomes translucent.

In terms of pairing, in addition to eating it alone, you can also mix quinoa and rice together to steam rice, make quinoa vegetable salad, or cook porridge with quinoa and other coarse and fine grains.

Image source: Eat three meals a day official account

At present, the price of 1 kilogram of ordinary domestic quinoa is about 10 yuan, which is not cheap. Although it is more expensive than grains such as oats, from a nutritional point of view, it is still more cost-effective than eating potato chips and drinking milk tea. You can eat some quinoa occasionally to enrich the staple food structure, or give it as a gift to relatives and friends, which is also a good choice.

Planning and production

Source: Eat three meals a day

Author: Professor Yu Kang, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association

Editor: Yinuo

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin