Some words are universally hard to pronounce: the Irish girl's name Siobhan (Shivone), as in Siobhan Dervan, a four-time Irish National Road Race champion; Worcestershire (worster-sheer) sauce, which left New Jersey chef Pasquale Sciarappa tongue-tied in a cooking video viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube; and the latest trendy pseudo-grain, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).

But no matter how you say "quinoa," its nutritional virtues come through loud and clear.

One study, conducted by Rutgers University and international partners, reports that quinoa contains a lot of beneficial phytochemicals, including amino acids, fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals (and say these next ones correctly) phytoecdysteroids, phenolics and glycine betaine.

The researchers cited four clinical studies that say supplementing your diet with quinoa "exerts significant, positive effects on metabolic, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal health."

Quinoa has more protein than barley, oats, rice and maize, and it delivers more than 180 percent of the daily recommended intake of 10 essential amino acids.

It has 10 percent dietary fiber, and fiber boosts your digestive health, lowers bad LDL cholesterol, and helps control appetite.

Quinoa delivers anti-inflammatory omega-3 and omega-6 in a good ratio.

You'll get a good dose of vitamins A, the Bs, C, and E — plus more minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc than in rice or wheat.

Furthermore, quinoa contains phytoecdysteroids, which might help build muscle; phenolics, which have anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and cardio-protective effects; and glycine betaine, an amino acid that helps manage diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

Now that's a mouthful.