That list misses one of the better ones: Lamb's quarters. It's a common garden "weed," but it tastes better than spinach when picked young and has some of the highest levels of amino acids of a non-legume family plant.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Quinoa is a high source of protein with tremendous health benefits

by P. Simard

(NaturalNews) You've been told so many contradictory things about meat throughout the years that at some point you probably don't know what to think of it anymore. You may feel the urge to quit eating meat for so many good reasons, but the same question always comes back to haunt you over and over again. Where are you supposed to get decent sources of protein if you're not eating any meat?

There are many sources, as long as you're committed to eating a balanced and health conscious diet. You should definitely start by looking at quinoa as a great gluten-free source of protein that you can eat on a weekly basis. It's a complex carbohydrate food with a low glycemic index which will help control weight by avoiding high blood sugar levels while filling your body with extremely important nutrients. This alkaline-forming food is also an interesting source of riboflavin, which can help diminish the frequencies of migraines by improving the flow of energy and metabolism within cells.

The United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization has actually recognized 2013 as being "The International Year of the Quinoa." By contrast with most other grains, not only does quinoa have all essential amino acids, but it most importantly contains substantially higher quantities of both lysine and isoleucine, which is the main reason why quinoa can be seen as a complete protein source.

So what kind of health benefits are we looking at?

Thanks to tests done with rats, scientists were able to confirm that quinoa has antioxidant properties. In the experiments, rats already displaying oxidative stress induced by specific concentrations of glucose were supplemented with quinoa over a period of five weeks. The evidence showed that quinoa acted as a moderate protective agent by limiting lipid peroxidation while increasing the antioxidant effects in various parts of the organism.

Although scientific research has mainly been limited to experiments with animals, the obtained results do lead specialists to believe that quinoa has very potent anti-inflammatory properties. By taking it on a regular basis, it has been shown through rats to reduce levels of inflammation in fat tissue as well as the linings of the intestines. The phenolic acids and, to a lesser degree, the saponins are responsible for this process.

Although no significant studies have been summarized up to now, since quinoa and its high fiber content has the ability to regulate blood sugar levels, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise to some day recognize it as a valuable aid for people suffering from diabetes.

Animal studies have clearly shown quinoa's efficiency in lowering total cholesterol levels while maintaining healthy levels of HDL, or good cholesterol; therefore, it shouldn't be too much of stretch to see similar effects with humans.

As with amaranth, quinoa protects the blood vessels from inflammatory damage, which by extension helps limit the risks of eventual cardiovascular diseases.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca

http://www.whfoods.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

Suzanne

Seems like we had a discussion about this and you objected to it. Glad you are saying it's a good thing to eat.

By the way, the list did list Quinoa. Need all Chenopods be listed?

You might want to refresh your memory. My objection to Lamb's Quarters might have been the fact that it would have been illegal for me to import its seeds to my location at that time. There were no Lamb's Quarters anywhere in the entire country.

As for listing all chenopods, be my guest. Tumbleweeds anyone?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I was not aware of any tumbleweeds being a Chenopod. Can you please educate me? I cannot find such information.

Are there no other Chenopods at your locale? As far as the discussion, I recalled you being unwilling to try any others, or giving multitudes of reasons why you would not eat them. I also seemed to have recalled looking up and listing several in Taiwan. Am I mistaken?

From Wikipedia:

Ouch! - Various chenopod seeds - burs or bindii.

View picture HERE of "Strange "flowers" of non-native Russian Thistle aka Tumbleweed (Salsola tragus, Chenopodiaceae)".

Yummy?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I see now where you got the idea. From the flickr site:

"These are strange "flowers" of non-native Russian Thistle aka Tumbleweed (Salsola tragus) in the Chenopodiaceae plant family."

But from the Wikipedia where you quote Quinoa from:
"Kali tragus[1] (Synonyms Salsola tragus, Salsola kali subsp. tragus) is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family"
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Salsoloideae
Genus: Kali
Species: K. tragus

Quinoa:
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Chenopodioideae
Genus: Chenopodium
Species: C. quinoa

How does one decide which is correct? Hmmmm....
I noticed you used wikipedia for one and switched to flickr for the other.
I noticed the flickr page is by member "Treebeard".
I noticed he said it was in the "Chenopodiaceae plant family."
I notice the Chenopodiaceae plant family is based on the older Cronquist system.
(Maybe you can find some support of Kali being under Chenopodiaceae in the no longer used system and both Kali and Chenopodium of the current system both being called chenopods in the old system?)

I do notice there is an Amaranthaceae family.

Which one do you think is true?

I was not aware of the flickr page. There may be others pages which would give supporting evidence that what you say is true. Maybe you could list them if you are of the same opinion still.

kland,

I just did a google search to find what I found. I have no other means of research from my location. The local library, if indeed one exists, would be highly unlikely to help me on such things as the taxonomy of foreign plants.

I'm sure you can find what you want to find. I have no way of knowing what I originally found--all I know is that I had stored that little gem in memory years ago when I first learned about chenopods, and the internet changes quickly. I have no way of knowing, or even of remembering now, what the original source for this fact was. And, of course, there are different kinds of "tumbleweeds."

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.