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| Adapted from a Pixabay image |
The chia seeds 'strength' comes from it's nutritional contents. For such a little seed it packs a mighty nutritional punch. They contain a large amount of fibre, quality protein, omega 3 and several essential minerals and antioxidants.
It certainly seems like something cool to add to your diet right? The only question now is how. I brought some chia seeds to use last year, but before I got a chance to use them my husband brought me home a chia pudding to try. I did NOT like it! I then left the chia seeds in the cupboard unopened, I'm sure some of you can relate to that happening!
So what changed? As many of you know beginning January 2018 I embarked on a journey to reset my health, fitness and lose some of my excess weight. At the beginning of the year I was looking at the chia seeds and thought - I'll pop a teaspoon into my morning protein shake. This was upped to 2 teaspoons in my shake.
Now to be honest I couldn't tell you if it was helping my health at all, but it certainly wasn't hurting it and you can't really beat good nutrition.
Around this time my daughter was following a fitness guru on Instagram and brought home some chia seeds because she was going to put a tablespoon into a liter of water every day and drink them. Her face when I opened the cupboard and showed her that I already had chia seeds was priceless (any mom to a teen will appreciate that moment!)
Last month I was on holiday and at the hotel they offered a buffet style breakfast - one of the offerings was a small bircher muesli in the bottom of a shot glass filled with yogurt and topped with chia seeds (about a teaspoon of them). I had one with my breakfast every day I stayed there and it was delicious - might be time to try chia pudding again!
We are now entering winter here in Australia which means porridge season and this past week I have been adding a couple of teaspoons of chia seeds to my oats and almond milk before cooking it. It tastes delicious.
If you're baking for a vegan, chia seeds can also be used as an egg substitute (I haven't tried this yet). You simply add 1 tablespoon of chia seeds to 3 tablespoons of water and leave to sit for 20 minutes.
Since first writing this article (about 3 years ago), I have found another way of incorporating chia seeds into my diet and that is through overnight oats. I always add chia seeds to these to get more nutrition into my breakfast.
I have also been using them as a topping for my proats (porridge made with protein powder added), I take some fruit such as apple and blackberry (one of my favourite combinations), add 1 tbs chia seeds to 2 tbsp of water and 'stew' them in the microwave. It was supposed to be a way to make jam that didn't work for me, instead it became a delicious topping!
Now you know both how to use chia seeds in your diet and why to use them - will you be getting some anytime soon?
Now you know both how to use chia seeds in your diet and why to use them - will you be getting some anytime soon?
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