The Mother of All Grains

The Mother of all Grains

There is so much talk about superfoods nowadays that it can be somewhat confusing to know which ones are really worth eating and which ones are just not worth the high price. 

Quinoa is one grain (actually a seed) that I've had in my cupboards for years, eat on a regular basis and in my opinion is definitely worth getting to know more about.

What I've decided to do here is transcribe a video by Truth Calkins that I was sent via an email that I am subscribed to called the Longevity Warehouse. There is so much to say about this true superfood that if I feel the transcription is running on too long, I will give you the somewhat abridged version ok? I could write this myself, but when I listened to it, I just thought it was fantastic and so I am taking the time to pass it on to you all from one of the experts in superfood.

The following 5 are what Truth Calkins calls the High Powered Grains.....

1.     Quinoa

2.      Buckwheat

3.      Millet

4.      Amaranth

5.      Spelt

Some people may get a little confused about which grains contain gluten, but I can confirm that all of the above are gluten free with the exception of Spelt, which is actually an ancient form of wheat.

In this piece we will be focusing on The Mother of All Grains called “Quinoa”, a.k.a. the mother of all grains.

For many years people in the west hadn’t heard of it. When they eventually did get to hear of it, via Donna Gates and The Ecology Diet, they certainly didn’t know how to pronounce it. Thanks to people like Donna, there is a lot of information in the world today about this grain, which is excellent news. One of the reasons this is the case, has to do with the grain's high alkalinity level and amount of protein.  

Quinoa comes from the plant family known as Chenopodium (in Latin means “goose foot”) The people of the Andes called it Mother, because they considered it the mother of all grains. It was used to increase stamina of their warriors and as it was then, is today still considered an Incan super-food. Quinoa is not really a grain as in the typical botanical family of grains. The Chenopodium family is actually from the same family that is similar to Swiss chard and lamb’s quarters. When you see the plant growing, the stalks can be anywhere from 3 to 9 feet. There are all different colours of quinoa, purple, blue, red, green, black etc. The Incan’s used the whole plant, the stalks, seed and plant. Quinoa is a wild plant and is quite like Ginseng in some respect because it’s a very hardy plant. It likes to grow at 10,000 feet. It can flourish under extreme conditions, with poor soil, hot sun, frost short growing days and still the plant will grow. This is a tell tale sign of a true adaptogenic plant and because of this it will give the body a lot of adaptogenic energy.  Wild ginseng has a similar effect on the the body also.  Herbalists believe that plants that look the gnarliest, will be amongst the strongest plant. If it had to adapt to the harshness of its environment, then it will be a hardy plant and therefore very good and strong for our bodies too.

The fact that you can now just buy quinoa in any wholefood shop is pretty amazing actually. Because 30 years ago you couldn’t do that. It is an ancient, Peruvian wild grain that grew only in high altitudes. There was a doctor in the late 70’s that found out about the amazing properties of this grain and he carried approximately fifty pounds of it back to the US for his own usage. However, when he had used it up, he realised that the only people that were harvesting it were wild Indians. This doctor had a friend who worked with planting some quinoa in the Luas Valley, and they succeeded in growing it. It is also now grown in Canada and other countries around the world.

Nutritional Profile

It has an amino acid profile like meat, eggs and fish, which is very unusual for a grain. It contains less carbs and more protein in this respect.  It is also a complete protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids and is very high in lysine, which has exceptionally anti-viral qualities.  It has a PH of about 6.0, which although closer to acid, is more alkaline than any other grain out there in the world. It is very high in minerals too, in fact contains more calcium than milk. Recently it has been found that quinoa is stimulating to milk production for nursing mothers. A quarter cup serving of quinoa is about 220 calories, 60% of the RDA of manganese, 30% of the RDA of tryptophane which is essential for boosting serotonin levels, 30% of the RDA of magnesium, essential for over 300 enzymatic processes in the body, great for blood flow, 30% phosphorus, 20% fibre, 20% folate, which is great for B vitamins and 20% copper. Studies have also shown that having 20% insoluble fibre from complex carbs in the diet can prevent gall stones from forming. This insoluble fibre is essential for having  soft, fluffy stools that break down easily. The fibre will help remove any toxins easily and effectively from the body and is nature’s mop, so to speak.  Quinoa is also rich in phyto-nutrients and is high in vitamin E, selenium and lingans which help remove bad oestrogen from the body,

Phytic Acid

All grains are high in phytic acid and must be soaked before use. Phytic acid, also referred to as phytate, is a naturally-occurring substance found in grains and beans. All grains will require different soaking times, but we are only looking at quinoa in this post and that must be soaked for at least 8 hours before use. This will remove some of this phytic acid and allow the essential nutrients be effectively absorbed into the body. Many of us in the Western world are not used to preparing our grains in this way, but it is a good habit to start adopting and has many long term health benefits.

Cooking Quinoa

Quinoa cooks in about 15 minutes, and like rice, puffs up to 3 to 4 times it size upon cooking. It is very soft and fluffy and has a mild, light, nutty taste, almost like a cross between couscous and peanuts and is very pleasant. I turn off my gas and leave my quinoa rest with the lid on for approximately 5 minutes of cooking and this seems to work very well indeed. Here is a very nice recipe for millet and vegetables that I posted on my blog some time ago. You can exchange the millet for quinoa but I hope it helps you get started cooking these incredible grains http://bit.ly/otGkI6. (tip: you may need to open a new window to view the link)

A final few words on quinoa.... Many people are now being diagnosed as either celiac or gluten intolerant so it is good news indeed to hear that quinoa is surprisingly 100% gluten free and is very safe to eat. By eating quinoa you will also be ingesting a pre-biotic which helps feed the beneficial bacteria acidophilus in your gut. Pre-biotics are like fertilisers for the good bacteria in your gut and are an essential part of maintaining excellent health. In a world gone low or no carb mad, having a healthy amount of good carbs in the diet is going to help with the keeping your nervous system functioning well. The fibre in quinoa will also help wash out extra oestrogen from the body that you definitely don’t want hanging around in there.

Sadly, I’ve come to the end of writing about this great super-food, but do hope that you have found the above information helpful. If this is the case, then could I ask you to that you pay it forwardJ And help me get the good word out there about this inexpensive super-food so that everyone can reap its benefit.

Until next time.....

Best wishes,

Ruth.

How Your Mindset Affects You

How many times have you tried to make beneficial changes in your life? You may have planned on eating healthier, on releasing old relationships or on being a more positive person! Your attempts worked famously for a week and then you noticed old habits and attitudes creeping back bit by bit.

You are not alone in these repeated failed attempts. What most people don't realise is that for changes to last, we must change how we use our minds.

Just the other day I was chatting with my sister. She has had an ongoing battle with food (the love of it) for many years. Almost every diet she has tried has been successful for a short period of time. She slowly loses the weight she has been trying to lose and she starts feeling really good about herself. In fact she begins to feel so good about herself, that she begins to eat larger portions and more of what she loves again. Then, bam, the pounds find their way to steadily creep back on again as if out of nowhere. For her, or indeed anyone battling to lose weight and keep it off, it really can seem like a never ending one.

By comparison, for me, eating well has always come naturally. From an early age, I had a really good instinct for what foods I feel good after eating and what ones I am best avoiding. This is not a battle for me at all and after many years of study and self exploration, I understand why this is, but first let me share another story with you.

I once attended a workshop where the facilitator asked us to write down our top three goals in life. I won’t share all of mine with you, but health was one of my top three. Having this right up there as one of the most important areas for me to have control of in my life, meant that it made choosing the healthier option much easier for me than for say my sister. I can’t honestly say what her goals in life are, but I bet pleasure or having the freedom to chose whatever she likes whenever she likes is one of them. You see, what is important to you, really important to you, will have the biggest influence over how your day proceeds and what you chose to focus your energy on in general.  Most of the people attending the workshop were quite focused on making or having more money in their lives, yet, felt that this was eluding them. We were all split into smaller focus groups and we were working together in those groups to examine what we wanted to have more of in our lives and the possible reasons that we weren’t seeing them turn up. Most of us were very surprised to find out that after completing the exercise, money was right down at the bottom of what we had considered as important in our lives. This exercise helped us see what we really thought about money and showed us that most of us didn’t really think it was important enough to have it as one of our top three goals. We were then informed that until we shifted it up to become one of the areas we considered important, it would most likely elude us forever. One of the other women in the group, had lots of wonderful relationships in her life and couldn’t understand how some others in the group didn’t. The answer became very clear when we found out that she had family and relationships as one of the top three areas in life that were the most important to her. This meant, that she put a lot of effort and energy into making sure that nothing could come between her and keeping these relationships healthy and well. I hope this is making it a little easier to see how your mindset and how you view the world around you will have a large part on what is showing up in your own day to day world.

I said I’d share my thoughts on why eating healthy and not putting on weight is not a battle for me and believe me it is nothing to do with denying myself any foods I want, nor indeed do I possess anything low fat or calorie counted in my cupboards. You see, because one of my top three goals has been health it's not a big challenge for me to undertake a de-tox 3 times a year and make sure my diet is filled with lots of fresh fruit and veg and not stuff myself with tubs of Ben and Jerry’s on the sofa every night. Nor indeed do I find it difficult to maintain exercising 4 times a week and always choosing to engage in activities that I love like weight training, dancing and Pilates. I am by no way blowing my own trumpet here, what I am hoping to show you is that by shifing your goals and mindset, you can really bring something closer to you that you thought was farther away. You see you must change how you view it. In my experience, one tool that has proven to be very successful in helping this change of mindset to occur is NLP.

NLP

NLP is a powerful tool that can help with making real shifts in how we view things.

NLP gives us the tools to change our ‘mind states’ so we can become more content in our professional and personal lives. Using NLP techniques brings about lasting changes, a concept which may have seemed so elusive in the past.

NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. It provides a set of psychological practical tools which teach us how to become more motivated and better communicators.

NLP is one of  'the most important synthesis of information available today about human communication'.

• NLP explores how we think and how we behave
• NLP allows us to become effective communicators
• NLP shows us that choosing different thoughts can lead to more win/win situations in our lives.

Reasons for YOU to use NLP in your life!

• As a tool to change something in your life that isn't working the way you would like it to be.
• To change your current thought patterns forever!
• To become a better communicator.

It seems that it is simple then! All you need to do is change how you see the food you are eating and it will make it a lot easier to chose the healthier option when it is presente to you. No big fuss, no denying yourself that last piece of chocolate, or the second pud but you feel totally deprived because you can't have it.  Change how you view it, and your body will do the rest.

I hope you round this post helpful and would love to know, so do get in touch if you find a free minute in your day.

Best wishes,

Ruth.