Buckwheat vs Quinoa: Which Is Less Inflammatory?
Buckwheat
Quinoa
Neither buckwheat nor quinoa is less inflammatory than the other: both score 2 on the inflammation scale. Neither one is a cereal. Both are seeds cooked and served as though they were grain, both are eaten whole with the coat left on, and both are high in lysine, the amino acid true cereals are short of.
Both earn the score in that coat. In buckwheat the coat holds rutin, a flavonoid that works against cell damage, which is one of the things that keeps inflammation going, and almost nothing else in an ordinary shop supplies rutin in useful amounts. In quinoa the same outer layer holds magnesium and quercetin, a plant pigment with an anti-inflammatory effect in laboratory work. Buy either of them pale and milled and that layer is gone: pale buckwheat flour has lost most of its rutin.
Each has one thing to watch, and it is not the score. Quinoa’s coat carries bitter saponins, so a bag that goes into the pan unrinsed tastes faintly of soap. Soba noodles are usually mostly wheat flour despite the name, so they arrive with the gluten buckwheat itself never had. Keep both bags in the cupboard and use whichever suits the dish, buckwheat groats in a warm bowl and quinoa in a salad, and read the ingredients before you buy soba.
Side by side
| Buckwheat | Quinoa | |
|---|---|---|
| Inflammation Score | Low · 2/10 | Low · 2/10 |
| Category | Grains | Grains |
| Serving size | 1 cup cooked groats (168 g) | 1 cup cooked (185 g) |
| Key nutrients | Rutin, Magnesium, Lysine, Resistant starch | Complete protein (lysine), Magnesium, Quercetin, Insoluble fibre |
| How often | Two or three times a week, a cup cooked, in place of white rice | Most days, a cup cooked, in place of a refined grain |
On the AIP diet
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is not allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol, though not for the reason the name suggests. It has no gluten and no link to wheat. It is out because the elimination phase clears seeds as well as grains, and buckwheat is a seed. Reintroduction usually puts it with the other seeds, which come back before bread does. Cooked squash does the same job on the plate meanwhile.
Quinoa
Quinoa is not allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol. Being a seed rather than a cereal sounds like it should get through a protocol built around grains, and it does not: AIP takes out seeds as well, and the saponins in quinoa's coat are exactly the plant defence the elimination phase clears out. The wait is shorter than for bread, because seeds come back early. Meanwhile cauliflower rice is the usual stand-in.
What each one brings
Buckwheat
- Carries rutin, a flavonoid almost no other everyday food supplies in useful amounts
- Eaten as whole groats, so the outer layer holding the rutin stays in
- No gluten in the seed itself, unlike every true cereal
- Its protein is high in lysine, the amino acid cereals are short of
Quinoa
- A seed rather than a cereal, so it brings protein and minerals, not mostly starch
- Carries a full set of the amino acids the body cannot build, which few plants manage
- Gluten free in the seed itself, not because of anything done to it afterwards
- You eat the whole seed, so the magnesium, fibre and antioxidants in the coat stay
Watch out for
Buckwheat
- Soba noodles are usually mostly wheat flour, gluten included, despite the name
- Buckwheat allergy is uncommon but can be severe, unlike most grain reactions
- Pale buckwheat flour has lost the layer where most of the rutin sits
- Still starchy, so a heaped bowl undoes much of the point
Quinoa
- The coat carries bitter saponins, so an unrinsed bag tastes faintly of soap
- Still a starchy side, and it is easy to serve a bowlful as though it were salad
- About 220 calories in a cooked cup, more than the same volume of vegetables
- Carries phytic acid, which holds on to part of the iron and zinc in the meal
Get the inflammation score of any meal
Just snap a photo or describe your food to get its inflammation score and uncover hidden patterns that may be affecting your well-being.
