by Alex W Daniels
Quinoa, once the sustenance of INCA warriors has made the incredible journey onto the shelves of health food shops across the land. This journey began over 5000 years ago as Quinoa was first grown in the hills of Bolivia and consumed by hungry INCA warriors prior to battle. Quinoa, rich in protein and amino acids was favoured by the INCA's because it gave them strength and energy to sustain them on long ardous marches.
Quinoa is a failry unique crop that thrives in the high altitude terrains of the Andes but was almost lost for good when a Spannish explorer by the name of Francisco Pizzaro tried to wipe the Quinoa grain off the face of the earth back in the15th century. The Inca people cherished their Quinoa plant and considered it to be a sacred aspect of their culture so Francisoc's goal was to try and undermine Inca culture by destroying their crop. He was unsuccessful and 5000 years on Quinoa is available on the shelves of most supermarkets.
Many people consider Quinoa to be a grain when actually it is clasifed as a seed. Remarkably similar to grains, Quinoa is cooked just like a grain and resembles the nutritional profile of some grains - probably why most people refer to it as Quinoa grain. Quinoa bares more of a resemblance to it's leafy brothers and sisters and is related to spinach, chard and beets, you can even eat the leaves. Quinoa is often misspelt 'kinoa' and mispronounced as 'keenoha'. When actually it os pronounced keenooa.
Quinoa is a resilient plant that thrives in drought ridden terrain and can grow in poor soils with very little water. This is just one reason the UN decided to classify Quinoa as a super crop. The plant itself can grow to almost 2 meters and produces colourful seed-heads, most beautiful of the lot is red Quinoa. Packed with quinao grain, each seed head contains enough quinoa to feed a small Inca army.
The most popular variety of quinoa and one that is cultivated for commercial consumption is white quinoa. In addition to thw white quinoa grain you can find black and red quinoa being sold as well as quinoa flour and flakes. Quinoa can enhance any meal and can form part of a nutritious and hearty breakfast as well as lunch dinner and desert, it has been known for some to brew quinoa beer and quinoa vodka! It trully is a versatile plant. So it doesn't just provide a tasty feast for INCA warriors but will provide the nutrients absent from most modern diets today.
When you visit allAboutQuinoa.Com you will learn everything you need to know about Quinoa from basic Quinoa information to more detailed Quinoa nutrition facts where you'll discover the true benefits of Quinoa. You will learn how Quinoa can form an integral part of a natural weight loss plan in addition to how to prepare healthy weight loss recipes.
Article Source: Quinoa - The Ultimate Protein for Warriors
Last Updated on Friday, 29 July 2011 19:58
