Since the new Ignite Book Club selection just started – Spent: End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again – we thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about some of the foods mentioned throughout the book. Each Wednesday during the Book Club, you can tune into the Health Blog to read reviews of foods Dr. Lipman has highlighted in the book.
In Part 1 of Spent, Dr. Lipman discusses a variety of foods to have on hand to prepare our kitchens. One of the foods recommended is a grain, called quinoa. Quinoa is a lesser known, recently rediscovered, grain-like seed. It is a close relative of green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It contains all 9 essential amino acids making it a complete protein, so it’s perfect for vegetarians. Quinoa is also high in many minerals including potassium and manganese, a key player in the body’s absorption of nutrients. Quinoa is fluffy, creamy, and slightly crunchy, similar to couscous, and can be prepared in similar ways.
Quinoa is packed with protein and fiber (12g and 13g per ½ cup, respectively), with no saturated fat and cholesterol. See below for a sample Nutritional Label for quinoa. Next week we’ll take a look at a one of the foods from Week 1 (Nourish) in the book.
Rebecca
