Know the difference between quinoa and couscous.

Basically, quinoa and couscous are two small grain like foods. Most of the people who are health enthusiast often consume it as an alternative to rice and pasta.

Just because of their similar appearance and applications many people just confuse between them. But taking them on grounds of nutrition, they are quite different from one another.

• Couscous.

It is basically a type of small beaded pasta which is made from steamed semolina. Originally, semolina is a flour that is made from drum wheat. It is one of the most common consumed any staple food in North Africa, Algeria and Tunisia.

Going through the nutrient content of couscous. 100 grams serving of couscous will provide about 112 calories. These calories are further divided into 23.2 grams of carbohydrates, 1.4 grams of fibre, 3.8 grams of protein, and 0.16 grams of fat. Addition to these macronutrients, it also contained good reserves of selenium, magnesium, folate, and iron.

• Quinoa.

Meanwhile, quinoa is a seed of quinoa plant. This plant variety generally belongs to goosefoot family. Scientifically, quinoa is catalogued as a pseudo cereal. The main reason behind is because of its nutritional composition. Typically it is consumed as a grain instead of seed.

100 grams of quinoa may contain about 120 calories. Talking about macronutrient content it will provide 21.3 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of fibre, 5 grams of protein and one gram of fat. Similar to couscous it also has manganese, folate, iron and selenium.

• Health benefits and effects.

Couscous and quinoa seems to share their benefits. Most of the health benefits from these two seeds are similar.

Couscous and quinoa both provide high amounts of selenium. The traces of this metal supports immune system and thyroid functioning of human body. Addition to this, it also helps in lowering down risk of heart diseases.

Both of them also act as a powerful antioxidants and help in fighting against harmful free radicals. But this time quinoa seems to have higher side because of its phenolic acids, flavonoids, and terpenoids. They are known for their anti diabetic, anti cancer and anti inflammatory properties.

Both of them are quite low in glycemic index(GI). And it is a scientifically proven fact that having an low GI diet helps in decreasing risk of heart disease and diabetes.

• Potential downsides and drawbacks.

Couscous is majorly made out of weed which is quite high in gluten. This makes it unsuitable for people who are gluten intolerant. Health experts and scientists also advised it is not suitable for people with celiac disease.

Quinoa here have edge over couscous. This variety of seed is naturally gluten free. Instead of gluten, it contains prolamins. But some of the scientific studies have revealed that this variety of protein may also trigger symptoms to some people.

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