Quinoa? What is it and is it healthy???

Quinoa is new to many people and rightfully so. Hey! My spell check doesn't think the word even exists so why should you. You should because quinoa is whats known as a super food. Because of its high density of nutritional value quinoa beats out many other carbohydrates. So what exactly is quinoa? It looks like a grain or a cereal but it is actually a seed. Primarily the crops are grown in South America and imported to the United States. Now why is quinoa so good for you? Well lets compare something else you might see on your plate that quinoa might be a good substitute, brown rice.

Quinoa, uncooked	Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked
Amount per	100 g	100 g
Calories	368	111
	% Daily Value	% Daily Value
Total Fat	6 g 9%	0.9 g 1%
Saturated fat	0.7 g 3%	0.2 g 1%
Polyunsaturated fat	3.3 g	0.3 g
Monounsaturated fat	1.6 g	0.3 g
Cholesterol	0 mg 0%	0 mg 0%
Sodium	5 mg 0%	5 mg 0%
Potassium	563 mg 16%	43 mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate	64 g 21%	23 g 7%
Dietary fiber	7 g 28%	1.8 g 7%
Protein	14 g 28%	2.6 g 5%
Vitamin A	14 IU 0%	0 IU 0%
Calcium	47 mg 4%	10 mg 1%
Iron	4.6 mg 25%	0.4 mg 2%
Vitamin B-6	0.5 mg 25%	0.1 mg 5%
Vitamin B-12	0 µg 0%	0 µg 0%
Magnesium	197 mg 49%	43 mg 10%

Now this graph is a good example of why quinoa is such a power house. As you can see the quinoa is higher in the calorie count but that also a part of why it is so much better for you. Quinoa has both poly and mono unsaturated fats which are great for your body and mind along with the much higher protein content. Because of this quinoa as much less of an effect on your blood sugar which is great for weight management and all around health. As you can see quinoa may be new to the seen, well rather new to us Americans, but it has much to offer. Please try some in your diet and let me know what you think of this mysterious food.