What Is Chia?

Watch out hemp and flax, coz there’s a new kid in town!  The lastest super food seed has arrived and it’s called Chia!

It comes from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, a member of the mint family that grows abundantly in southern Mexico.  And its efficacy and potency was known by the Aztecs, who believed it provided supernatural powers.  We know that Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, even more than flax seeds. It’s also rich in antioxidants, and the seeds don't deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid. And, unlike flax or many other seeds, they do not have to be ground to make their nutrients available to the body. Oh, and Chia seeds also provide fiber (25 grams give you 6.9 grams of fiber) as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.  Pretty amazing!

Something pretty extraordinary, but also a little weird, is that when added to water and allowed to sit for half an hour, chia forms a gel. Research has found that this extraordinary reaction also takes place in the stomach, thereby slowing the process by which digestive enzymes break down carbohydrates and convert them into sugar.

Chia doesn’t have a strong overpowering taste and is sold as a nutty topping for yogurts and salads and is used in cereals and energy bars. This type of chia reportedly packs more alpha-linoleic acid, an omega-3 fat, than flaxseeds, and also provides fiber, antioxidants and even some calcium and iron.

Research has also shown that adding it to chicken feed increases the omega-3 levels in eggs and enriches chicken meat with omega-3s.  Fed to cattle, chia enriches milk with omega-3s.

That's pretty super food!