Cha-Cha-Cha Chia! (Healthy Benefits of Chia Seeds)

Chandi Schwab
This is a new discovery for me. I was over at our friends house and they offered me brazillian lemonade with chia. They went on to tell me how good chia is for our bodies. The lemonade was delicious, and they were so kind to get me some of my own chia. I love it so far and I am anxious to see how it helps me feel. Especially with the marathon coming up.

Chia seeds are the seeds of the chia plant, which is native to Mexico. The history of chia seeds dates back as far as the Mayan and Aztec cultures, who ate them as a super energy food. Chia seeds have become a popular item in the health food world because of their purported nutritional benefits. Chia seeds are rich in omega fatty acids, protein, iron and antioxidants. Chia seeds are also a good source of calcium and potassium. You can purchase chia seeds at most health food stores and organic markets. Here are 10 benefits to adding chia seeds to your diet.


1. Nutritious Chia seed provides ample calcium and protein to your tissues. The seeds are also rich in boron, which helps the body assimilate and use calcium. The nutrients also support proper brain functioning.

2. Water loving The seed can soak up ten times its weight in water. Do this fun experiment. Put one tablespoon of chia seed in a cup of water and stir. Wait a few hours and see what happens. When inside your body, the seeds help you stay hydrated longer, and retain electrolytes in your bodily fluids.

3. Easily digestible The shells are easily broken down, even when swallowed whole. This is an improvement over flax seed, which have to be ground up to be digested properly. If you eat flax seed whole, it will just pass through.

4. Concentrated If you could only take one cup of food for a few days,choose chia! The food value per volume is simply astounding. You don't need much.

5. Mild tasting Unlike some seeds, the flavor is very mild. The mild taste makes it easy to put in sauces, smoothies, breads, puddings, and whatever you want. They won't really change the taste, but will add to your nutrition!

6. Energy enhancing The health pioneer Paul Bragg did an experiment an endurance hike with friends. They divided up into a chia-eating group and another group, who ate whatever they wanted. The group eating only chia seeds finished the hike four hours, twenty seven minutes before the others, most of whom didn't even finish at all.

7. Versatile The seeds can be used to replace less-healthy fat in just about any recipe. You can use them uncooked in salad dressings, spreads, fruit shakes, ice cream, and just about anything you want. You can also add them to cookies, cakes, muffins, and other baked goods. I usually just mix in a couple of teaspoons to my juice or water and drink them down!

8. Slimming and trimming Yes, the seeds will help you lose weight, for two reasons. The first reason is that they are so filling that you will eat less of other foods. The second reason is that they actually bulk up and cleanse your body of old "junk" in your intestines.

9. Endurance enhancing Chia seeds are known as the "Indian Running Food". Also, the ancient Aztec warriors used chia seed during their conquests. I'm a runner, and I've used chia seed to enhance stamina and endurance on my mountain runs, some of which are several hours long!

10. Regenerating After eating, the nutrients travel to the cells very quickly due to the ease in digestion and assimilation. Use them when you want to build or regenerate healthy body tissue


How to eat Chia Seeds

-As a Topping:You can use chia seeds as a topping to add a little crunch and some extra nutrients to foods like breakfast cereal and yogurt or even on your salad.
-In Smoothies and fruit drinks: You can add chia seeds to fruit smoothies and health and protein shakes by tossing them in the blender with your other ingredients
-For Baking: You can grind chia seeds and use a portion of the powder to replace flour in baking recipes for anything from cookies and cakes to bread and pizza crust.
-Straight from the Package:
You can also snack on plain dried chia seeds as they are. Their crunchy texture, mild flavor and high protein levels makes them a nutritious and satisying snack.