I have cooked quinoa at home, probably a little overdone and mostly sprouted, and had little or no known trouble. Last week I ate at a food/health conscience restaurant, they knew of my food restrictions (gluten, dairy, soy, and egg) and had their "quinoa bowl" with grilled chicken and veggies. I had a terrible reaction: 3 trips to the restroom in the first hour, dull headache, nausea, and fatigue for rest of the day...lessen dull headache and fatigue the following day. Extreme thirst was my body wanting to flush the stuff. And undigested quinoa for the next 2 days.
Doing research, I found this interesting article:
Not All Quinoa is Safe for Gluten Free Folks
http://www.grassfedgirl.com/quinoa-supe ... rd-digest/
Some highlights from the article (with some suggestions to minimize the effects):
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at 15 strains of quinoa and found that two of them – Ayacuchana and Pasankalla – could trigger a reaction in people with Celiac disease.
Saponins: Quinoa seeds are coated in chemical compounds called saponins, which have a bitter taste and serve as a natural pesticide. They’re also used in biopesticides to protect crops from bugs, as bugs won’t eat them. (They’re also poisonous to fish–so don’t go sprinkling quinoa into Nemo’s fishbowl.)
Saponins are used in some vaccines for their ability to penetrate our mucosa and help the vaccines get into other cells in our bodies. Ingesting saponins creates tiny holes in your small intestine, prevent your body from properly absorbing all the nutrients, and allow food particles to enter your bloodstream. This is the basis of Leaky Gut Syndrome, which is linked to myriad autoimmune disorders.
How to work around this: The good news is that most prepackaged quinoa has been polished or pre-rinsed to remove the saponins. However, post-processing saponin dust can remain. To remove any residual saponins, put the quinoa into a fine strainer and pour water over it. Not sure how long to rinse? Saponins foam when rinsed with water. If your quinoa is producing white foam, there are still saponins present–so continue rinsing until the water runs clear and foaming has stopped.
Phytates: Phytic acid is an anti-nutrient that binds to important minerals in foods and prevents their absorption. Consuming high levels of phytates can result in mineral deficiencies, as they block the absorption of zinc, iron, phosphorus and magnesium. Although one cup of quinoa contains 30% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of magnesium and 28% RDA of phosphorus, because the phytic acid binds with these minerals, your body actually absorbs far less.
How to work around this: Preparing quinoa with an acid soak, followed by cooking will remove 60-77% of the phytates.
How to soak quinoa (also works for grains):
1 cup quinoa
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
Combine all in a bowl, cover with a lid or cloth and let sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours.
Lectins: They’re proteins that are found in quinoa and, like saponins, are basically built in pesticides. They’re purported to cause gastrointestinal distress in those who eat them, in hopes of keeping the predator from coming back for seconds.
Lectins bind with the lining of the small intestine and damage it by creating tiny holes that allow lectins and other food particles and toxins to get into the bloodstream. This means that lectins can bind with other parts of the body, including organs, which the immune system may misidentify as foreign invader and launch an attack. Immune disorders happen when the immune system begins attacking normal body tissue, and lectins have been linked to such disorders as IBS, Crohn’s, Thyroiditis, Multiple Sclerosis, and Colitis.
How to work around this: Though they can’t be completely eliminated, soaking, sprouting (instructional video:), fermenting and cooking quinoa will help reduce the lectin content.
Quinoa -hard to digest
Moderators: Rosie, JFR, Dee, xet, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh, mbeezie
Hi TAM,
Thanks for writing a very helpful post. You're correct that many people have problems with quinoa. It's definitely not an ideal choice during the recovery stage, and as you point out, it can still cause problems even for someone who has been in stable remission for a while, due to all the satellite issues.
The gluten issue with quinoa, as far as I can determine, is not so much a matter of variety, as a problem of cross-contamination with barley or some other gluten-containing grain. Quinoa typically contains too much moisture for safe storage when it is harvested, so some of the small scale farmers in South America mix it with barley or some other grain to speed up the drying process. Sometimes all of the glutenous grains are not removed during the cleaning process, resulting in cross-contamination with gluten.
It definitely is a problem associated with certain processors/brands. You can avoid the gluten cross-contamination problem by buying kosher brands. They are checked out and certified to be gluten-free according to the requirements of Jewish law.
Thank you for all the information on why quinoa is a risky food for MC patients.
Tex
Thanks for writing a very helpful post. You're correct that many people have problems with quinoa. It's definitely not an ideal choice during the recovery stage, and as you point out, it can still cause problems even for someone who has been in stable remission for a while, due to all the satellite issues.
The gluten issue with quinoa, as far as I can determine, is not so much a matter of variety, as a problem of cross-contamination with barley or some other gluten-containing grain. Quinoa typically contains too much moisture for safe storage when it is harvested, so some of the small scale farmers in South America mix it with barley or some other grain to speed up the drying process. Sometimes all of the glutenous grains are not removed during the cleaning process, resulting in cross-contamination with gluten.
It definitely is a problem associated with certain processors/brands. You can avoid the gluten cross-contamination problem by buying kosher brands. They are checked out and certified to be gluten-free according to the requirements of Jewish law.
Thank you for all the information on why quinoa is a risky food for MC patients.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Re: Quinoa -hard to digest
Sooo, maybe that's why I haven't reached remission yet. Thanks for the insightful and informative posts. I'm now going to stick with jasmine white rice sweet potatoes and my safe proteins.
I_zwemm
I_zwemm
Re: Quinoa -hard to digest
Since white jasmine rice is also a grain, should it be given a 12 hour acid bath as well? I've been giving mine a long bath
in my large fine strainer.
Thanks,
I_zwemm
in my large fine strainer.
Thanks,
I_zwemm
Re: Quinoa -hard to digest
I'm no authority on rice cooking techniques, but if you want rice that's easy to digest, the easiest rice to digest is known as glutinous rice, sticky rice, sweet rice, or waxy rice, and it's grown in Southeast and East Asia. I believe it's Gabes' first and only choice, when she cooks rice.
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
-
Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
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Re: Quinoa -hard to digest
Re what type of rice for 'low toxin rice' - I would buy organic and look at the growing location than the type of rice
if you do some reading about 'low toxin rice' this will help you with this
I haven't had much rice in the past few years, I find mashed veggies have more nutrients and benefit.
When I did have rice, I would cook it in my home made bone broth and not rinse or strain it after cooking, so it was gooey/mushy.
the cloudy liquid that comes from cooking the rice has some good gut healing properties
like most things in current day food supply - quinoa grown and handled properly is probably not too bad, albeit when it became popular, like most other foods, they take short cuts to boost crop outputs / produce the product cheaper. This is when the food item becomes harder to digest
(this my opinion I dont have any science to back this up)
if you do some reading about 'low toxin rice' this will help you with this
I haven't had much rice in the past few years, I find mashed veggies have more nutrients and benefit.
When I did have rice, I would cook it in my home made bone broth and not rinse or strain it after cooking, so it was gooey/mushy.
the cloudy liquid that comes from cooking the rice has some good gut healing properties
like most things in current day food supply - quinoa grown and handled properly is probably not too bad, albeit when it became popular, like most other foods, they take short cuts to boost crop outputs / produce the product cheaper. This is when the food item becomes harder to digest
(this my opinion I dont have any science to back this up)
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama