Quinoa

Studies in people

• Open question

  Blood sugar and heart risk⁴

  In overweight men, eating quinoa bread daily changed blood sugar response but made little difference to other heart risk markers.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Stress and memory in rats⁸

  In animal studies, quinoa-based food ingredients helped stressed rats behave less anxiously and remember better.

Study type not stated

• Benefit

  Chronic disease prevention⁵

  Quinoa seeds contain phenolic compounds, particularly kaempferol, which can help prevent cancer.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and heart health⁶

  Quinoa has nutrients that may help with blood sugar, blood fats, and heart health.

How it’s made and used

• Taste and consumer liking³

  Adding beehive products to quinoa bars raised polyphenols but made them less liked, with bitter and pungent flavors turning people off.

• Compounds causing bitterness⁷

  Triterpenoids and mauritianin are the compounds that make quinoa taste bitter, scientists found.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least two findings in people. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.