QUINOA??

I had a hankering for quinoa today I have this great recipe with brocolli and cheese that I thought would be fabulous!  Then I remembered my doctor said stay away from rice so I decided to refrain from the quinoa.  However, I am not sure why I am not to have rice and now i'm thinking because it is not nutritional for our needs now so that made me think that since quinoa  is high in protein it might be ok!?

Do you know the answer?  Are we allowed to eat quinoa?   If so, starting when?  I am 5 weeks post op so not sure if that changes things :)

Thanks!

Ashley

It has a lot of carbs when you need to eat high protien

Quinoa is considered a healthy grain.  It is higher in protein than other grains, but if you check the stats, it is still VERY high in carbs.  You are only 5 weeks out.  There is not enough room in your stomach for grains.  Your focus needs to be protein and , if there is room, veggies.  You can introduce quinoa when you get to your goal weight.  It's not that high in nutritional value and not a good choice while in the losing phase.  Grains can expand in your stomach and cause discomfort too.

You need a cup of quinoa to get 8 grams of protein.  It is not a high protein food for someone who only can eat about a quarter cup of it.  That cup of quinoa also has about 40 carbs.  Some people use cauliflower instead of rice.

Nevermind the protein/carb content, there is another reason to be cautious.  Have you had quinoa before?  If not, I would not try it yet.  The reason is many are VERY sensitive to quinoa.  I don't know if it's because of the saponins not being cleanly washed away or what, but I do know that I had a horrid reaction.  (A stomach ache for nearly five hours that I wouldn't wish on anyone.)

Hang in there for sure and talk to your doctor.   You'll have plenty of time for that, but heed the previous advice given already for sure.  I really didn't eat quinoa until I got closer to maintenance.  Even then, very sparing.

Use this honeymoon period for the first 6 months to follow the plan and lose as much as you can.

The first general rule on these questions is to check with your doc or his team - I don't know what his objection to rice is (rice and beans are on by doc's early post-op menu,) and whether or not that objection would apply to quinoa. Rice in general (and white rice in particular) is pretty low nutritional density, so doesn't fit in to a weight loss diet in any quantity (but like most things, can be there in moderation,) and there is an old wive's tale floating around about how it can expand and stretch your sleeve or pop your stitches - maybe plausible if you are prone to eating it raw, but well cooked it's already been expanded. Quinoa is higher in nutrition and protein in particular, but is still relatively low compared to meats.

I never counted carbs (or fats) during loss as our caloric restriction and protein requirements take care of that (too many bad habits get established with those dietary restrictions), nor did I buy into the idea of something only being a "maintenance" food as distinct from a "diet" food - if something has the nutritional merit to make it onto my maintenance menu, the only consideration for my having it during the loss phase was my daily calorie and protein levels.

The dish that you propose would probably be fine as a side dish to a main course of something higher in protein. As a stand alone meal, I would make sure that you have your protein taken care of for the day and that it fits within your caloric limits. Even at that, you may find that the dish doesn't provide much satiety, being fairly low in protein (though that can be a big YMMV thing.) The over riding rule from my doc on these types of things is to introduce new foods one a time in small quantities to test your tolerance for them; if it works, great, and if not then try again in a couple of weeks. If you have already tried out broccoli and cheese, then the addition of the quinoa would be a reasonable next step.

So, in short, check with your doc's staff on it, then have some fun experimenting and trying different things and don't worry too much about fad diets that others may promote (I saw it on the internet, so it must work....)