Try to Ch-Ch-Chia!

Written by Hunter Meakin
Part of National Nutrition Month 2014

Image by Hunter Meakin

Do you want to add more proteins and minerals to your meals without changing the flavor? Would you like to reap multiple health benefits by adding one ingredient to your every day foods? If you answered yes to these questions, then you should consider adding chia seeds to your everyday diet. Chia seeds come from a flowering plant in the mint family that is native to Mexico and Guatemala (Coles, 2013).

Not only do chia seeds contain many vitamins and minerals, they also provide numerous benefits for the body such as:

-          Combat diabetes

-          Reduce high blood pressure

-          Help prevent heart disease and inflammation

-          Help with weight loss

It is very easy to incorporate chia seeds into your diet. Chia seeds have a nutty flavor but their flavor is so mild that it doesn’t compromise or alter the flavor of the dish you add them to. Chia seeds can be added into essentially anything but I would recommend adding them to smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, on top of salads, in salsas and in pudding. 

Recipe for Chia Pudding:

2 TBSP of Chia Seeds
1 Cup of Almond nut Milk
2 TBSP of Sweetner (Honey, Maple Syrup or Agave, Cane Sugar)
1 Tsp Vanilla

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and stir every ten minutes for an hour.  Refrigerate overnight until pudding forms.

Have you ever tried chia seeds before? How will you use them in your next recipe?

References

Coles, T. (2013, June 3). Chia Seed Benefits: 10 Reasons to Add Chia to Your Diet. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/03/chia-seed-benefits-_n_3379831.html

“What are Chia Seeds?” (April 2013).  Retrieved from http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442472548&terms=chia%20seeds

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