Healthy Benefits of Chia in your Diet

Fibre helps slow the absorption of calories into the bloodstream, therefore making energy last longer; protein is vital for building and maintaining healthy cells, muscles and tissue. Moreover, chia seeds are rich in iron and magnesium, two minerals that promote increased energy by transporting oxygen to muscles and metabolising food, respectively. 

Chia seeds are also the best plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. These play a crucial role in maintaining normal brain function by building and preserving cell membranes and promoting communication between brain cells. As your brain is responsible for performing recall functions, this would support the rumour that chia seeds are good for memory too. 

Here the reality is a bit more nuanced than the rumour. While Chia seeds don’t actively make you lose weight, they do promote a sense of satiety and can therefore help you to eat less. A great deal of their fibre content is soluble fibre, which is what causes chia seeds to absorb water and expand. By expanding as a gel in your stomach, chia seeds keep you feeling full and hydrated for longer. What is more, chia seeds are among the highest plant sources of protein, which is associated with reduced appetite and fewer food cravings. This combination of high fibre and protein content has a powerful appetite suppressant effect, stopping you reaching for calories you don’t need. 

The above benefits you get from eating chia seeds are supported by an impressive nutritional profile that comprises all essential amino acids (making chia seeds a complete protein), a whopping 40% fibre content, tons of omega-3 fatty acids, iron, copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, zinc, B vitamins and plenty of antioxidants. Iron and copper are key to heart and blood health; calcium and phosphorous are essential for bone, muscle and tissue maintenance; magnesium, manganese, zinc and B vitamins help turn food into energy and promote a healthy nervous system; while antioxidants protect our cells from the debilitating and ageing effects of free-radical damage. 

Chia flour is made from whole chia seeds, so all the essential nutrients present in the seeds themselves are present in the flour too, as are the health benefits that they entail. Where chia flour pulls ahead though is in its powder form that easily blends in with other foodstuffs. So chia flour gives you all the health and nutritional benefits of chia seeds, but without getting stuck in your teeth! 

As the saying goes, there’s no smoke without fire, and in this case, chia seeds certainly do live up to the hype. But, as “chia” means “strength” in ancient Mayan (the language of the people who domesticated these super seeds), the clue was in the name all along.