Eating quinoa regularly can help to prevent type 2 diabetes, according to a study led by Diana Daz Rizzolo, a researcher at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) and a faculty member of the Open University of Catalonia’s Health Sciences School (UOC). The study, published in the journal Nutrients, found this to be the case.
It is a pseudocereal from the Andes that has a lot of nutrition. It is packed with minerals, including calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as vitamins B, E, and C. It contains a high amount of proteins with all the essential amino acids, as well as complex carbohydrates and fiber.
It was theorized that a diet based on quinoa would be advantageous for cardiovascular diseases and other metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, on account of its nutritional qualities. However, no scientific studies confirmed these health advantages as yet.
According to Díaz Rizzolo, “We reviewed the scientific literature to determine what it had to say about quinoa and found that there was no prior scientific evidence, only hypotheses, and all of the studies conducted in the past only examined certain components or nutrients without considering the food as a whole.”
Polyphenols, a type of micronutrient found in quinoa, may help keep blood sugar levels down, according to recent mouse studies. This is important as type 2 diabetes, a serious condition in which blood sugar levels rise after consuming carbohydrate-rich meals, is a growing issue.
The researcher and her team wanted to see if replacing carbohydrate-rich foods in someone’s diet with quinoa and pseudocereals would have a positive impact on the prevention of type 2 diabetes. They wanted to see if this substitution could help lower blood glucose levels and prevent type 2 diabetes in people at an increased risk of contracting the illness.
Every year, one in ten people become type 2 diabetes patients. Approximately one million people died worldwide as a result of type 2 diabetes in 2019, and its numbers are increasing. Prediabetes, a precursor to type 2 diabetes, is a condition that may be prevented with prompt action.
“Because of the high conversion rate among older adults, prediabetes combined with ageing increases the risk of developing the disease exponentially,” said Dr Díaz Rizzolo.
Age is a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes.
Researchers sought to find out whether prediabetic individuals over the age of 65 are susceptible to developing Type 2 diabetes. Individuals with prediabetes have insulin resistance, which occurs when the body’s cells do not respond appropriately to insulin, the hormone that helps the cells absorb glucose.
At the end of the month, they replaced foods high in complex carbohydrates such as cereals, pulses, tuberous crops, and pasta with quinoa and foods made from this pseudocereal. As a result, they created new products based on quinoa flour that tasted like the foods being consumed by the study’s volunteers, such as bread, biscuits, pasta, crackers, and breadsticks. They then measured how the volunteers’ blood sugar levels fluctuated throughout the day.
According to the UOC researcher, the spike in blood sugar after eating quinoa was lower than with the participants’ usual diet, which is why these spikes are important in the development of type 2 diabetes.
The researchers believe that the quinoa diet can be useful in controlling blood lipid levels because it helps control cholesterol and other cardiac risk factors. “Quinoa contains a lot of unsaturated fats, antioxidants, and polyphenols, which might have cardiovascular benefits,” said Díaz Rizzolo. It contains betaine, which can lower homocysteine levels and prevent coronary heart disease.
