Is Quinoa Paleo? – Can You Eat Quinoa on the Paleo Diet?

You’d think something heralded as a superfood would be acceptable grub on any diet, but quinoa truthers have other things to say about the stuff. Before we get into the science of it all, here’s the unfortunate news: No, quinoa is not technically paleo. But the facts we’re about to spew might make you willing to bend the rules just a bit.

As Loren Cordain — aka the godfather of the paleo movement — puts it in his book The Paleo Diet, cereal grains and pseudo-grains (seeds that front as grains) should be avoided. The cereal grains you’re probably most familiar with are wheat, corn, rice, and oats. Quinoa doesn’t make the cut in that category because it’s a seed harvested from a tall leafy plant that’s more closely related to spinach and beets than it is to other grains.

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That’s the thing that trips people up. At its core, quinoa is pretty healthy. Like spinach and beets, it packs a lot of nutritional benefits: fiber, magnesium, folate, zinc. But, as Cordain put it when he laid down the laws of paleo, foods with high carbohydrate content and anti-nutrients — more on those in a minute — are off-limits. And quinoa contains both.

One serving, about 1/2 a cup, of the psudeo-grain has 20 grams of carbs. You’re allowed about 100-120 on a paleo diet, and followers like to get them from fruits and vegetables, not grains. But about those anti-nutrients: Cordain stresses that lectins, phytates, and gluten — proteins or acids all found in quinoa — can be detrimental to your health. He and other nutritionists surmise that they can affect your digestive health. And Portlandia says it makes you gassy, so there’s that.

If you’re desperate for a grain-like base, try subbing in cauliflower or broccoli rice.

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Sarah Weinberg is the deputy editor at Delish and has covered food, travel, home, and lifestyle for a number of publications, including Food Network Magazine and Country Living. She’s originally from the Bay Area, has an unhealthy affinity for the Real Housewives of Anywhere, and harbors strong feelings about fruit salad.

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Publish date : 2018-04-09 07:00:00

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