The quinoa it’s a armed efficient to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. This is the conclusion of a study published in the journal “Nutrients” led by Diana Díaz Rizzolo, professor of health science studies at the Open University of Catalonia ( UOC) and researcher at the August Pi i Institute for Biomedical Research Sunyer (IDIBAPS).
Rich in vitamins B, C and E, calcium, iron and magnesium, quinoa is also a source of fiber and complex carbohydrates and contains a high concentration of protein with essential amino acids. To this set of health benefits must be added a positive impact on the factors that cause certain cardiovascular illnesses and, as has now been confirmed, in prevention of type 2 diabetes.
“We reviewed the scientific literature to find out all the benefits that were attributed to quinoa and saw that there were only hypotheses and that the existing studies only focused on a specific component or nutrient” , explains Díaz Rizzolo. Also, in some mouse studies it had been observed that the polyphenols, micronutrients of quinoa, could contribute to the reduction of blood sugar.
Research and results
The researchers’ investigations focused on verifying the influence of eliminating foods rich in carbohydrates from the diet, which promote an increase in blood sugar, and replacing them with quinoa and its derivatives. To do this, volunteers over the age of 65 were sought, equipped with a sensor to monitor their blood sugar levels and their diet was also controlled. After a month, the foods high in carbohydrates complexes they took for quinoa and glucose analysis continued throughout the day.
“We checked blood glucose patterns and found that when participants ate quinoa, the peak glucose was lower than with the usual diet” underlines the main researcher of the project. “This is crucial, because these spikes in blood sugar after eating are decisive in the development of type 2 diabetes,” he adds.
On the other hand, researchers have verified that the consumption of quinoa also helps to control the level of lipids in the blood, which is why they consider that it also has a beneficial effect when it comes to controlling the cholesterol and other factors related to heart risk.
This breakthrough may help prevent type 2 diabetes, a metabolic disorder that affects one in ten people and that it has become one of the main causes of premature death in the world. 70% of people in states prior to diabetes end up with this disease, another of its characteristics is that the risk of suffering from it increases with age and can develop silently, ten years before the diagnosis.