Quinoa and chia seeds: nutrition, bioactive compounds and health
What it found
Quinoa and chia seeds are rich in protein, fibre, omega-3 fats and plant compounds that may help against chronic diseases.
The authors say more studies in people are needed.
What they found
Studies in people
Health effects in people
In a study of children in Ecuador, adding quinoa to infant food for 15 days increased plasma IGF-1 levels, while the control group showed no change. Chia seeds did not affect weight loss or disease risk factors in overweight adults.
Animal and lab studies
Bioactive compounds
Quinoa contains phenolic compounds such as kaempferol, which may help prevent cancer. Chia seeds contain antioxidants including rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid.
Animal and lab studies
Animal studies found quinoa helped prevent oxidative stress by reducing lipid peroxidation in plasma and tissues. In diet-induced rodents, alpha-linolenic acid affected insulin signalling and glucose transporter levels.
Other findings
Nutrients in quinoa
Quinoa seeds have 13.8 to 16.5% protein and all nine essential amino acids. They also contain 7.0 to 9.7% dietary fibre and are gluten-free.
Nutrients in chia
Chia seeds have 15 to 23% protein and 30 to 34 g of dietary fibre per 100 g. They are the richest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids, with 64% alpha-linolenic acid.
Food products
Quinoa and chia can be added to bread, pasta, snacks and porridge to improve protein, fibre and omega-3 content. For example, bread with quinoa had 2% more protein and 1% more oil and fibre.
What the authors conclude
“Quinoa and chia seeds are essential superfoods for health and wellness.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say quinoa and chia seeds are essential superfoods for health and wellness.
- They note that both are gluten-free and ideal for celiac disease patients.
- They call for further studies to reveal their benefits to a larger population and to investigate more of their effects on human health.
How it was done
Non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes are rising, and traditional crops like quinoa and chia have declined in use despite their medicinal properties. The authors wanted to review recent work on their nutrition, bioactive compounds and processing for health uses.
The authors reviewed published studies on quinoa and chia seeds, covering their nutrients, bioactive compounds, processing methods and effects in people, animals and lab tests. They also looked at foods developed by adding these seeds.
What it can’t tell you
- Many of the health effects come from animal or lab studies, which cannot show what happens in people.
- The human studies are few and small, so they cannot prove that quinoa or chia prevent disease.
- This is a review of existing research, so it cannot provide new evidence on cause and effect.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Lady Irwin College, India; Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, India; Banaras Hindu University, India
The paper
- Title
- Nutritional and Functional New Perspectives and Potential Health Benefits of Quinoa and Chia Seeds
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Agarwal A, Rizwana, Tripathi AD, Kumar T, Sharma KP, Patel SKS (2023). Nutritional and Functional New Perspectives and Potential Health Benefits of Quinoa and Chia Seeds. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland). doi:10.3390/antiox12071413Free full textPubMed 37507952DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error