고대 잉카에서 탄생한 기적의 건강 식품

안데스 산맥 고지대에서 수천년간 자라온 신비의 곡물이 있다. 햇빛도 비도 부족한 거친 고산건조지대에서만 자라는 이 곡물은 놀라울 정도로 높은 필수 아미노산 함유량과 완벽한 영양 밸런스를 자랑한다. 

이 곡물의 이름은 퀴노아(Quinoa).

NASA의 과학자들에게 주목 받은 이 곡물은 영양학적으로 놀라울 정도로 완벽한 것으로 알려져 최근 우주인들을 위한 식량의 원료로 개발되고 있다.

특히 퀴노아는 염증을 막아주고, 고혈압을 예방하며, 신경 세포와 모유 생성을 돕는 것으로 확인됐다.

학자들은 이 곡물을 "미래의 식량"으로 간주하기도.

볼리비아의 고산 지대 사람들은 조상 대대로 병에 거의 걸리지 않는 이유를 퀴노아를 먹기 때문으로 설명한다. 이들은 밖에서 노동으로 지쳤을 때는 언제나 퀴노아 곡물을 갈아 만든 음료를 마신다고. 그러고 나면 금세 기운이 난다는 것이다. 이들은 자식들에게도 퀴노아로 만든 수프와 과자를 먹이며 길러 매우 튼튼하다고 자랑한다.

남미의 원주민들은 퀴노아를 모든 곡물의 어머니라는 이름으로 부른다. 전통적으로 잉카 문명에서는 퀴노아를 처음 파종할 때 황제가 직접 나서 금으로 만든 농기구로 씨를 심을 정도로 이 곡물을 신성히 여겼다.

퀴노아의 존재는 남미를 침략한 스페인들에 의해 처음 알려졌다. 그러나 이들은 퀴노아를 이교도의 음식으로 간주하고 원주민들에게 강제로 퀴노아 대신 밀을 기르도록 했다. 이 때문에 퀴노아는 오랜세월 세상에 알려지지 않았고, 최근에 와서야 학자들에 의해 주목받기 시작한 것이다.

현재 전세계 퀴노아의 90% 가량은 볼리비아와 페루에서 생산되고 있다. 나머지 6% 정도는 미국에서 생산된다고. 전세계 최대 퀴노아 생산국인 볼리비아는 최근 퀴노아의 수출량이 크게 늘면서 국가 경제에 큰 도움을 받고 있다.

 

 

高영양배아미발명특허완전진공포장 비축가능'왕눈쌀눈쌀' 및 농산물직거래 Ⅰ유망직종자격증정보지원

대체의학자연정혈요법어혈제거自身건강관리JC요법 Ⅰ토종7가지공식으로100배영어잘하는비법(샘플다운 및 후불제증명)

 

 

출처 : Ancient Inca grain is new health food darling

Grown high in the Andes for millennia, a grain the Incas so prized they deemed it sacred has become a global star and is now being touted as the health food of the future.

Quinoa, a good crop for harsher climes as it prospers in semi-arid conditions and high altitudes where rivals struggle, has nutrition experts salivating as it is chock full of protein and essential amino acids.

"We don't ever get sick, because we eat the quinoa we got from our ancestors," Agustin Flores, a third-generation farmer in Bolivia's southern highlands, told AFP with a touch of salesmanship and a hesitant smile.

"When we are tired, after the working day, we have a drink based on the quinoa grain and that picks us up," said Flores, adding that he and his four sons also consume it in soups and cakes.

Quinoa was originally scorned by Spanish colonizers. At one point its cultivation was banned due to its use in what Spaniards saw as "pagan" ceremonies and the Incas were forced to grow wheat instead.

Known as chisaya mama or "mother of all grains", it was so revered by the Incas that the emperor would traditionally sow the first seeds of the season with special tools made out of gold.

But in the past 10-15 years, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) has made major inroads in Western cuisine and is often used as a substitute for pastas, risottos, gratins and taboules.

Ever looking for healthier options, chefs and nutritionists are beginning to take notice of the ancient grain, which has a light, fluffy texture and a mild, slightly nutty flavor.

"With its great nutritional profile quinoa has now become a food of the future," said Epifanio Murana, the head of the Quinoa Producers' Association.

"NASA scientists have called it exceptionally balanced and complete, and highly useful for astronauts' needs," he said.

Ruben Ramiro Miranda, a researcher at the University of Oruro, also sang the praises of the grain which is related to highly nutritional amaranth.

Quinoa can prevent inflammation and hypertension and helps "in the development of neurons, as well as healthy breast milk," he told AFP.

Bolivia, South America's poorest country with around 10 percent arable land, was the world's top producer of quinoa in 2009 with 30,000 tonnes or 46 percent of global supply. Cotimbora, at 3,700 meters (12,100 feet), is the heart of quinoa country.

It is followed by Peru, with 42 percent of production and the United States, with six percent, official Bolivian data shows.

In Bolivia's Cotimbora-Challapata region, progress spawned by the grain's boom is plain to see. Export prices have almost tripled since 2007, now fetching 2,900 dollars a tonne.

"Education is getting better outfitted, nutrition has improved. People live better," said Mario Alanoca, the director general of the producers' group. "But what we worry about is the risk of drought."

No rain in November and December in Bolivia's highlands has left as much as 45 percent of the 2010-2011 crop, due in April-May, in danger, producers say.

"Here there should be some," farmer Flores points in his dusty field. "And there, there also should be some. But there's nothing there. Mostly it's the drought. We lost half of what we planted this year." It may be a bad year for the crop, to be sure. But the surface area being planted in the grain has surged, a Franco-Bolivian study found. The IRD study also found that more quinoa was being planted on land at risk of freezes, and where animals once grazed, increasing potential land disputes. Quinoa in its natural state has a coating of bitter-tasting saponins, making it unpalatable prior to processing. Most quinoa sold commercially in North America has been processed to remove this coating. But this bitterness has beneficial effects during cultivation, as the plant is unpopular with birds and thus requires minimal protection.