Quinoa for our birdies??

In our never ending search for variety of foods for our youngins you may run across a "super food" called Quinoa. I had it recommended by a vet then did some reading on it. It does seem to be some good stuff but my reading lemme know of a potential issue. The hulls have a natural occurring pesticide called saponin. It does not seem to be harmful to humans but the potential to hurt our precious youngins is there. Some claim to come pre-rinsed to remove the toxin.... some are left as is and need to be well rinsed to get that nasty stuff off. Myself, I don't care if it claims to have been rinsed.... just to be sure I soak mine about 5 minutes then rinse it several times. Cookie seems to really enjoy it with no bad effects.Im not a birdie dietician by any means, just thought Id give yall a heads up in case you are thinking bout adding it to birdie diets. It is nutrient rich and seems fine if cleaned of the nasty stuff.

Thank you for this! I eat a ton of Quinoa and Levi loves it also.
I buy Organic & Non-GMO etc... I wasn’t aware of a ‘natural’ pesticide. I will be certainly rinsing from now on.

Happy Thanksgiving:heart:

Thank you so much for this information! This explains a lot!
Just found this read that has more information than anyone would want, but confirms what you are saying!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponin

Tami2 said:

Thank you for this! I eat a ton of Quinoa and Levi loves it also.
I buy Organic & Non-GMO etc... I wasn’t aware of a ‘natural’ pesticide. I will be certainly rinsing from now on.

Happy Thanksgiving:heart:

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Many bitter tasting foods are so because the bitter chemicals act as natural deterrents (pesticides) to any would be grazers. Hence natural pesticides.

I believe that rinsing, cooking and rinsing again makes it Ok. There are issues with Quinoa and Alfalfa containing this if you sprout.

chris-md said:

Tami2 said:

Thank you for this! I eat a ton of Quinoa and Levi loves it also.
I buy Organic & Non-GMO etc... I wasn’t aware of a ‘natural’ pesticide. I will be certainly rinsing from now on.

Happy Thanksgiving:heart:

Click to expand...

Many bitter tasting foods are so because the bitter chemicals act as natural deterrents (pesticides) to any would be grazers. Hence natural pesticides.

Click to expand...

Yep, but some don't just taste bad, they can make a critter sick or worse. Kinda common in beans and peas and such from what I read. I feed them regular too but with a good soak and rinse before cooking em, for me or the youngins.
Never tried alfalfa sprouts, but its good to know in case I do... thanks!