Now, a new study has found that the ingredients in quinoa help reprogram the immune system to prevent chronic metabolic diseases, counteracting metabolic imbalances and liver dysfunction.
The study, conducted by researchers from the IMDEA Food Institute, the International University of Valencia (VIU), researchers from the Bioactivity and Nutritional Immunology Group (BIOINUT), and the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, belonging to the CSIC, has analyzed how quinoa and its ingredients are key immunonutritional components for the treatment of metabolic diseases.
«Quinoa is a clear example of how functional foods can act as immunonutritional tools,» says the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Moisés Laparra, Coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Immunonutrition, Nutritional Genomics, and Food at VIU and researcher at IMDEA Alimentación.
«Our study has shown that certain compounds present in this seed not only prevent metabolic imbalances, but can also influence the selective expansion of effector cells of the innate immune system, which is key in preventing chronic diseases such as fatty liver disease associated with metabolism (EAGM),» he emphasizes.
The reason is that quinoa has different immunonutritional effects through its ingredients. As a low molecular weight protein fraction (PBPM), enriched with serine-type protease inhibitors (SETIs) and its lipid extract (qLF), which prevent imbalances induced by a high-fat diet, on hepatic metabolic homeostasis and innate immunity. These effects are mainly manifested due to a selective expansion of the innate immune system.
Understanding the properties of these immunonutritional foods and including them in the diet is a challenge for patients, note the researchers. Therefore, they consider it essential for healthcare professionals to be trained to help and support patients in taking preventive actions to reduce their chances of developing a chronic metabolic disease, their hospital stays, infectious complications, or to reduce the time spent in intensive care units.
«Metabolic (re)programming is a hallmark of chronic metabolic diseases, where nutritional strategies provided by well-trained health professionals could play a key role,» highlights Dr. Laparra.
Dr. Aurora García Tejedor, Vice Dean of Biosanitary Sciences at the International University of Valencia (VIU), adds that «immunonutrition is transforming the way we understand the influence of diet on the prevention of metabolic diseases. Bioactive ingredients in quinoa have shown a unique ability to modulate hepatic and immune functions, something unthinkable just a few years ago. This knowledge opens up new avenues for its use as a complement to preventive and therapeutic strategies,» she explains.
This research demonstrates that quinoa provides immunonutritional ingredients, PBPM and qLF, that promote innate hepatic immunity through the regulation of major lipid profiles.
«The administration of PBPM and qLF from quinoa can represent promising immunonutritional strategies to prevent comorbidities associated with chronic metabolic diseases. These effects exert beneficial actions to counteract immune and metabolic imbalances and liver dysfunction resulting from the consumption of a high-fat diet. As in the case of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease associated with metabolism (EAGM),» emphasizes Dr. García.
Non-communicable diseases such as EAGM are progressively increasing, accounting for 70% of deaths worldwide. Specifically, EAGM has become one of the most common liver pathologies, affecting approximately 15-30% of most populations.
The researcher and Vice Dean of VIU explains that «quinoa is an example of the new approach to nutrition, as it is a nutritious and rich source of carbohydrates, high-quality proteins, fiber, and trace elements, but also of bioactive compounds such as serine-type protease immunonutritional inhibitors (SETI). These compounds, taken according to dietary nutritional recommendations (0.4 g/kg body weight, based on a preclinical extrapolation), have been shown to be effective in increasing the proportion of intrahepatic macrophages, promoting their selective and functional adaptation.»
Dr. Laparra adds that «the latest research has identified hepatic macrophages as key players in diet-regulated control of hepatic energy storage and fat accumulation.»
Hence the importance of the effect that quinoa components generate in increasing their proportion. For this expert, «these findings reinforce the concept of precision nutrition, where it is not only important what we eat, but also how certain compounds interact with our physiology.»
HOW TO INCLUDE PBPM AND QLF FROM QUINOA IN THE DIET?
One of the methods to take advantage of quinoa’s benefits is by including quinoa flour in bread formulations (up to 20%, w/w), partially replacing wheat, as it is effective in controlling and reducing potential alterations induced by a high-fat diet in the hepatosomatic index (liver-body weight ratio), insulin resistance (HOMAir), and peripheral triglyceride levels.
«The incorporation of quinoa flour in everyday consumer products, such as bread, represents a viable opportunity to transfer these immunonutritional effects to daily life. However, our data indicate that the most notable benefits derive from specific protein fractions, highlighting the need to design more targeted functional foods,» concludes Dr. Aurora García Tejedor, Vice Dean of Biosanitary Sciences at the International University of Valencia (VIU).
These effects could be associated with positive variations in the peripheral proportion of the innate immune myeloid population. Previous research has shown that the inclusion of quinoa flour in bread formulations allows modulation of the myeloid population.
However, this effect occurred to a much lesser degree than found in this study, clarifying that these effects can be primarily attributed to the low molecular weight protein fraction (PBPM) rather than any other ingredient.
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