- Chia seeds are known as the "running food" due to the high energy endurance they provide.
- It's said that the Aztec warriors subsisted on chia seeds during conquests and that the Indians would eat as little as a teaspoon full to get them through a 24 hour march.
- The Aztecs medicinally used chia seeds for joint pain and skin conditions.
- The gel that is formed around a chia seed in the presence of liquid is believed to create a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down. This then slows the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar, leading to higher endurance.
- Chia seeds can absorb 9-12 times their weight in water. The ability to hold onto water leads to prolonged hydration.
- Chia seeds are a better source of omega-3 than flax seed and do not require grinding.
For a one ounce serving, chia seeds have 138 calories, 9g fat, 11g fiber, and 4g protein.
And based on a 2000 calorie diet, 18% calcium and 28% iron!!
There are a lot of other tid bits of information out there about these little seeds. I've tried them in oatmeal and yogurt and liked them in both! They actually give oatmeal a really creamy texture, even when the oatmeal is made with just water and not milk. I also read some things that say chia seeds aid in digestion so I added these to my oatmeal before my 24 miler last weekend...coincidence that I didn't have any stomach problems that run?? Who knows...
24 comments:
Please keep me updated on those Chia seeds...CFers like myself experience a myriad of digestion problems so maybe those could help!
Ronnie
They sound like magic!
Thanks for the review!
They sound like a wonder food! How do they taste?
those look interesting, can you just eat them raw?
interesting... I haven't heard of these things before and now I would like to try! thanks for the review!
Please keep us posted on any other effects they my have. You are close to having me sold
What other ways could you eat them? Mixed with yogurt? Or...mmmm....peanut butter? I'm checking for them at my health food store today!
I'm interested!
But the real question is, are you going to grow a pet with them?
I never knew you could eat them.. my knowledge ended after seeing the 30 second commercial of a puppy or something being grown. lol
I'm very intrigued... you've gotta keep us updated on how this little experiment goes... who knew? LOL!
I totally did not know that!! How very cool. I'm going to definitely try those out. I like flax seed - but chia sounds even better.
My first thought seeing the package was that I would be growing a tree in my gut.. LOL
I have never heard of these before!
(Does anyone else think they kind of look like birdseed?!)
And if you get bored, you can wet them down and smear the paste on your head!
:o)
Okay, you sold me...I went to the health food store this morning & got a bag and just had them in yogurt. YUM and nice crunch...they look/texture like poppy seeds. Thanks for the information! :)
YIKES!! Saw the cost for 4.5 pounds, talk about expensive!!
Ha! I thought this was a post about a Chia Pet lol. Thanks for the kind words on my blog.
Don't be surprised to see if you see green plants growing on the top of your head. Just kidding. I love putting chia seeds in my yogurt.
I never even heard of these before!! I have some serious stomach issues during races so I am definitely going to think about trying these. Keep us posted on how they work long term, I am interested to see.
No biscuits for the Chia seeds?
I'm so glad to see chia starting to get the recognition it deserves!
Regarding chia, in his book BORN TO RUN, Christopher MacDougall says:
“If you had to pick one desert-island food, you couldn’t do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart-disease; after a few months on the chia diet, you could probably swim home.”
I absolutely agree with this. Just as an FYI, Woodland Publishing has published a new 40-page booklet entitled CHIA SEED that explains its many and varied health benefits, how it has been used by runners for centuries, and how you can easily integrate it into your diet. It costs only $4.95 and will be available on Amazon within the next two weeks, but you can find it now at Woodland's online Store (http://www.woodlandpublishing.com/Controller/ProductControl.php?product_id=57618) for 20% off.
I recommend checking it out!
This could totally be placebo effect, or the result of good training, but I recently started adding chia seeds to my diet once daily (less than a week) because a fellow resident physician reccomended them. So I go for my weekly track work-out (more like fartlet...100 meter repeats of sprint the straights and run the curves) and was able to both increase my duration (from 1.5 miles X2 to 2 miles X2) as well as my distance (3 miles to 4 miles) and it felt great!
I've never had my own chia pet or chia head or whatnot, but they look cool on TV. I just eat the seeds and I swear, they help sooo much as far as energy and feeling good throughout the day goes. I honestly started feeling so much better on a day-to-day basis after I started putting them in my smoothies about a year ago. The one's I get are Chia Pure. Chia Seeds Right Now they are even buy 1
get 1 free!
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