What The Heck Is Chocho Powder?

I was in Ocean State Job Lot the other day. If you haven’t been there, I definitely recommend checking it out – especially if you have a lot of time (it’s crazy in there!).

As I was browsing for protein for a smoothie I’ve been making, I stumbled upon Chocho powder.

Now in all honesty, I actually thought it said chocolate or cocoa, read the word protein on the bag, saw “1 ingredient” and thought this would be perfect.

As I’m driving home I’m thinking “how in the world is a chocolate flavored protein powder going to have just 1 ingredient?!”

I look at the bag and there it is: Ingredients – Chocho powder.

Well what the heck is chocho powder?! You can read all about it here or just look at my summary below:

It turns out it is a plant based protein that contains all essential amino acids.

Amino acids make up the proteins of our body and “essential” means it needs to be obtained through our diet. Inessential on the other hand means our body is capable of making it on its own.

Chocho powder comes from a family of plants called lupins, specifically Lupinus mutabilis. Lupins are wild plants which look like flowers. Lupins fall into the legumes category with beans, peas, and lentils, to name a few.

Upon investigation I also learned that lupins have high ecological sustainability.  They are pest-resistant, require little water, and improve soil fertility by enriching the land with nitrogen. Lots of places that have difficulty growing crops are beginning to plant more lupins.

Nutritionally speaking, chocho powder is high in fiber and has a lot of micronutrients such as magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, and more.

People are using chocho powder as a type of flour for baking as well due to its ability to bind well.

I’m pretty surprised by this stuff. I’ve added it to my smoothie and it doesn’t really taste like anything. I’d be curious to know what the flavored versions are like (they have chocolate and they have vanilla).

You can check out what I got by clicking here, but Ocean State Job Lot had it for an incredibly reasonable price.