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Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
By Sam McManis - smcmanis at sacbee . com
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, April 27, 2008
Story appeared in SCENE section, Page L8
* w w w .sacbee . com /adrenaline/story/887967.html
As a gag gift, the Chia Pet remains a popular choice for the kitsch-
inclined. Slather on some seeds, add water and voil=E0, a ceramic Homer
Simpson sprouts fluffy green "hair."
But chia seeds as a valuable source of nutrition?
Well, to paraphrase Homer, Umm, chia!
Turns out, maybe we should have been spreading those seeds on toast,
not on a ceramic "pet" all these years.
Nutritionists say that chia seeds, plucked from a Central American
plant called Salvia hispanica, have many beneficial qualities that are
making them a trendy choice in the natural supplements aisle.
According to a 2007 University of Toronto study published in the
journal Diabetes Care, a quarter-cup of chia seeds supplies as much
omega-3 fatty acid as a salmon fillet, 25 percent more dietary fiber
than flaxseed, 30 percent more antioxidants than blueberries and as
much calcium as three cups of milk.
The study, so far the only peer- reviewed one concerning the health
claims of chia seeds, showed that diabetes patients reduced
cardiovascular risks by ingesting chia seeds along with standard
diabetes therapy.
Dr. Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr of the UC Davis nutrition department says
chia seeds have a "nice nutritional profile" but hastens to add they
are not the dietary cure-all some are trumpeting.
"The redeeming qualities of it is omega-3s, specifically the lenlinic
(acid) that's in there," Zidenberg-Cherr says. "Because of that tie-in
with heart disease and diabetes, I see potential for it as something
that could be added to someone's diet if they're already following a
healthy eating plan with the proper recommendations."
At the very least, she adds, chia seeds can't hurt.
"The (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) considers it safe, as for
now," Zidenberg-Cherr says. "So it doesn't look like there's any
danger. You're just now starting to see a lot more research going on
with it."
That could be because the health claims associated with chia seeds =96
in particular, a certain kind of seed marketed under the name Salba =96
are eye-popping.
"Read some of the stuff on the Internet about it, and it's like the
new wonder food," she says.
Among the claims for chia:
=95 Levels blood sugar.
=95 Controls weight via soluble fiber.
=95 Increases energy, endurance and strength.
=95 Works as a remedy for colds, sore throats, wounds, body odors and
constipation.
=95 Keeps bones strong with calcium and boron.
While some cast skeptical eyes at such sweeping health claims, others
have embraced chia, which is said to have been a major nutrient for
ancient Aztecs and Mayans.
It's become chic, too. Few had heard of flaxseed before 2004, and now
it's a staple on the shelves of every drugstore. Chia's recent
proponents include alternative-therapy guru Dr. Andrew Weil, who has
praised the seeds in a Prevention magazine column, and none other than
Oprah Winfrey, who ate a pumpkin chia muffin on air.
As for taste, chia seeds are bland, not as nutty as flaxseeds. And
because they are water-soluble, they don't need to be ground up, as
flaxseed must.
Finding chia seeds outside of health-food stores is a challenge. The
Vitamin Shoppe franchises in Citrus Heights and Elk Grove carry Salba
while the Davis Food Co-op carries seeds in bulk.
Chia doesn't come cheap, though. At the Davis Co-op, chia seeds sold
for $21.95 a pound, compared with $1.65 a pound for flaxseed.
Twenty-one bucks? Heck, a Chia Pet only costs $19.95.
Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
By Sam McManis - smcmanis at sacbee . com
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, April 27, 2008
Story appeared in SCENE section, Page L8
* w w w .sacbee . com /adrenaline/story/887967.html
As a gag gift, the Chia Pet remains a popular choice for the kitsch-
inclined. Slather on some seeds, add water and voil=E0, a ceramic Homer
Simpson sprouts fluffy green "hair."
But chia seeds as a valuable source of nutrition?
Well, to paraphrase Homer, Umm, chia!
Turns out, maybe we should have been spreading those seeds on toast,
not on a ceramic "pet" all these years.
Nutritionists say that chia seeds, plucked from a Central American
plant called Salvia hispanica, have many beneficial qualities that are
making them a trendy choice in the natural supplements aisle.
According to a 2007 University of Toronto study published in the
journal Diabetes Care, a quarter-cup of chia seeds supplies as much
omega-3 fatty acid as a salmon fillet, 25 percent more dietary fiber
than flaxseed, 30 percent more antioxidants than blueberries and as
much calcium as three cups of milk.
The study, so far the only peer- reviewed one concerning the health
claims of chia seeds, showed that diabetes patients reduced
cardiovascular risks by ingesting chia seeds along with standard
diabetes therapy.
Dr. Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr of the UC Davis nutrition department says
chia seeds have a "nice nutritional profile" but hastens to add they
are not the dietary cure-all some are trumpeting.
"The redeeming qualities of it is omega-3s, specifically the lenlinic
(acid) that's in there," Zidenberg-Cherr says. "Because of that tie-in
with heart disease and diabetes, I see potential for it as something
that could be added to someone's diet if they're already following a
healthy eating plan with the proper recommendations."
At the very least, she adds, chia seeds can't hurt.
"The (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) considers it safe, as for
now," Zidenberg-Cherr says. "So it doesn't look like there's any
danger. You're just now starting to see a lot more research going on
with it."
That could be because the health claims associated with chia seeds =96
in particular, a certain kind of seed marketed under the name Salba =96
are eye-popping.
"Read some of the stuff on the Internet about it, and it's like the
new wonder food," she says.
Among the claims for chia:
=95 Levels blood sugar.
=95 Controls weight via soluble fiber.
=95 Increases energy, endurance and strength.
=95 Works as a remedy for colds, sore throats, wounds, body odors and
constipation.
=95 Keeps bones strong with calcium and boron.
While some cast skeptical eyes at such sweeping health claims, others
have embraced chia, which is said to have been a major nutrient for
ancient Aztecs and Mayans.
It's become chic, too. Few had heard of flaxseed before 2004, and now
it's a staple on the shelves of every drugstore. Chia's recent
proponents include alternative-therapy guru Dr. Andrew Weil, who has
praised the seeds in a Prevention magazine column, and none other than
Oprah Winfrey, who ate a pumpkin chia muffin on air.
As for taste, chia seeds are bland, not as nutty as flaxseeds. And
because they are water-soluble, they don't need to be ground up, as
flaxseed must.
Finding chia seeds outside of health-food stores is a challenge. The
Vitamin Shoppe franchises in Citrus Heights and Elk Grove carry Salba
while the Davis Food Co-op carries seeds in bulk.
Chia doesn't come cheap, though. At the Davis Co-op, chia seeds sold
for $21.95 a pound, compared with $1.65 a pound for flaxseed.
Twenty-one bucks? Heck, a Chia Pet only costs $19.95.
Re: Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
On Apr 27, 9:26 pm, Ablang <ron...@gmail . com > wrote:
> Among the claims for chia:
It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
consumed.
> As for taste, chia seeds are bland, not as nutty as flaxseeds. And
> because they are water-soluble, they don't need to be ground up, as
> flaxseed must.
Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with
less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
> Chia doesn't come cheap, though. At the Davis Co-op, chia seeds sold
> for $21.95 a pound, compared with $1.65 a pound for flaxseed.
* w w w .chiaseedandoil . com is considerably less expensive.
--
Ron
On Apr 27, 9:26 pm, Ablang <ron...@gmail . com > wrote:
> Among the claims for chia:
It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
consumed.
> As for taste, chia seeds are bland, not as nutty as flaxseeds. And
> because they are water-soluble, they don't need to be ground up, as
> flaxseed must.
Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with
less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
> Chia doesn't come cheap, though. At the Davis Co-op, chia seeds sold
> for $21.95 a pound, compared with $1.65 a pound for flaxseed.
* w w w .chiaseedandoil . com is considerably less expensive.
--
Ron
Re: Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
On Apr 27, 9:45 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> On Apr 27, 9:26 pm, Ablang <ron...@gmail . com > wrote:
>
> > Among the claims for chia:
>
> It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
> that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
> consumed.
>
> > As for taste, chia seeds are bland, not as nutty as flaxseeds. And
> > because they are water-soluble, they don't need to be ground up, as
> > flaxseed must.
>
> Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with
> less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
> chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
>
> > Chia doesn't come cheap, though. At the Davis Co-op, chia seeds sold
> > for $21.95 a pound, compared with $1.65 a pound for flaxseed.
>
> * w w w .chiaseedandoil . com is considerably less expensive.
>
> --
> Ron
Download the SR-19 program from the USDA.
Dried chia seeds are in the database.
They have quite a lot of carbs and fatty acids.
It refuse to window refuses to "cut" so I can "paste"
the values.
On Apr 27, 9:45 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> On Apr 27, 9:26 pm, Ablang <ron...@gmail . com > wrote:
>
> > Among the claims for chia:
>
> It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
> that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
> consumed.
>
> > As for taste, chia seeds are bland, not as nutty as flaxseeds. And
> > because they are water-soluble, they don't need to be ground up, as
> > flaxseed must.
>
> Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with
> less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
> chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
>
> > Chia doesn't come cheap, though. At the Davis Co-op, chia seeds sold
> > for $21.95 a pound, compared with $1.65 a pound for flaxseed.
>
> * w w w .chiaseedandoil . com is considerably less expensive.
>
> --
> Ron
Download the SR-19 program from the USDA.
Dried chia seeds are in the database.
They have quite a lot of carbs and fatty acids.
It refuse to window refuses to "cut" so I can "paste"
the values.
Re: Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
On Apr 30, 1:55 am, "trigonometry1...@gmail . com |"
<trigonometry1...@gmail . com > wrote:
> On Apr 27, 9:45 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> > It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
> > that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
> > consumed.
> > Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with
> > less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
> > chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
> > * w w w .chiaseedandoil . com isconsiderably less expensive.
> Download the SR-19 program from the USDA.
> Dried chia seeds are in the database.
> They have quite a lot of carbs and fatty acids.
> It refuse to window refuses to "cut" so I can "paste"
> the values.
I found the web site and can cut and paste, but it doesn't make a
table suitable for a newsgroup posting. The web page link doesn't
work right for distributing. The general site address is * w w w .nal.usd=
a.gov/
.
Anyway, 100 g of chia seed have:
energy - 490 kcal
protein - 15.62 g
total lipids - 30.75 g
ALA - 17.55 g
carbohydrate - 43.85 g
Fiber - 37.7 g
I would conclude that chia is a good source of ALA and fiber, but
protein needs to be supplemented. 100 g of chia is probably too much
to consume in a day.
--
Ron
On Apr 30, 1:55 am, "trigonometry1...@gmail . com |"
<trigonometry1...@gmail . com > wrote:
> On Apr 27, 9:45 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> > It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
> > that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
> > consumed.
> > Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with
> > less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
> > chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
> > * w w w .chiaseedandoil . com isconsiderably less expensive.
> Download the SR-19 program from the USDA.
> Dried chia seeds are in the database.
> They have quite a lot of carbs and fatty acids.
> It refuse to window refuses to "cut" so I can "paste"
> the values.
I found the web site and can cut and paste, but it doesn't make a
table suitable for a newsgroup posting. The web page link doesn't
work right for distributing. The general site address is * w w w .nal.usd=
a.gov/
.
Anyway, 100 g of chia seed have:
energy - 490 kcal
protein - 15.62 g
total lipids - 30.75 g
ALA - 17.55 g
carbohydrate - 43.85 g
Fiber - 37.7 g
I would conclude that chia is a good source of ALA and fiber, but
protein needs to be supplemented. 100 g of chia is probably too much
to consume in a day.
--
Ron
Re: Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
On Apr 30, 3:38 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> On Apr 30, 1:55 am, "trigonometry1...@gmail . com |"
>
> <trigonometry1...@gmail . com > wrote:
> > On Apr 27, 9:45 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> > > It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
> > > that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
> > > consumed.
> > > Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with=
> > > less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
> > > chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
> > > * w w w .chiaseedandoil . com isconsiderablyless expensive.
> > Download the SR-19 program from the USDA.
> > Dried chia seeds are in the database.
> > They have quite a lot of carbs and fatty acids.
> > It refuse to window refuses to "cut" so I can "paste"
> > the values.
>
> I found the web site and can cut and paste, but it doesn't make a
> table suitable for a newsgroup posting. The web page link doesn't
> work right for distributing. The general site address is * w w w .nal.=
usda.gov/
> .
>
> Anyway, 100 g of chia seed have:
> energy - 490 kcal
> protein - 15.62 g
> total lipids - 30.75 g
> ALA - 17.55 g
> carbohydrate - 43.85 g
> Fiber - 37.7 g
>
> I would conclude that chia is a good source of ALA and fiber, but
> protein needs to be supplemented. 100 g of chia is probably too much
> to consume in a day.
>
> --
> Ron
First, humans convert very little alpha lenolenic acid into EPA and
DHA
as I recall unlike mice or fish. Neither Chia or Flaxseed are going
to fully replace wild caught cold water marine fish and fish oil
supplements.
Second, I might quoted more of the values than you did but I doubt
the "overuse" of USDA assay values is going to get upset the
government
that much. Perhaps the food assay numbers should be stamped top secret
and kept
out of the hands of the great unwashed masses. Right?
On Apr 30, 3:38 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> On Apr 30, 1:55 am, "trigonometry1...@gmail . com |"
>
> <trigonometry1...@gmail . com > wrote:
> > On Apr 27, 9:45 pm, Ron Peterson <r...@shell.core . com > wrote:
> > > It's a good source for the omega 3 fatty acid (ALA). I am not sure
> > > that the other nutrients are significant for the cost or calories
> > > consumed.
> > > Grinding them in a coffee mill helps them assimilate water faster with=
> > > less gritiness. I use 1 g of chia per 1 oz of milk when making a
> > > chocolate shake. (the chia acts like a thickener).
> > > * w w w .chiaseedandoil . com isconsiderablyless expensive.
> > Download the SR-19 program from the USDA.
> > Dried chia seeds are in the database.
> > They have quite a lot of carbs and fatty acids.
> > It refuse to window refuses to "cut" so I can "paste"
> > the values.
>
> I found the web site and can cut and paste, but it doesn't make a
> table suitable for a newsgroup posting. The web page link doesn't
> work right for distributing. The general site address is * w w w .nal.=
usda.gov/
> .
>
> Anyway, 100 g of chia seed have:
> energy - 490 kcal
> protein - 15.62 g
> total lipids - 30.75 g
> ALA - 17.55 g
> carbohydrate - 43.85 g
> Fiber - 37.7 g
>
> I would conclude that chia is a good source of ALA and fiber, but
> protein needs to be supplemented. 100 g of chia is probably too much
> to consume in a day.
>
> --
> Ron
First, humans convert very little alpha lenolenic acid into EPA and
DHA
as I recall unlike mice or fish. Neither Chia or Flaxseed are going
to fully replace wild caught cold water marine fish and fish oil
supplements.
Second, I might quoted more of the values than you did but I doubt
the "overuse" of USDA assay values is going to get upset the
government
that much. Perhaps the food assay numbers should be stamped top secret
and kept
out of the hands of the great unwashed masses. Right?
Re: Chia seeds, packed with nutrition, have become a health-food fad
On May 1, 8:58 pm, "trigonometry1...@gmail . com |"
<trigonometry1...@gmail . com > wrote:
> First, humans convert very little alpha lenolenic acid into EPA and
> DHA
> as I recall unlike mice or fish. Neither Chia or Flaxseed are going
> to fully replace wild caught cold water marine fish and fish oil
> supplements.
Yes, it is important that people get EPA and DHA in their diet as
conversion from ALA may be inefficient especially as people age.
But, both EPA and DHA are expensive and ALA helps reduce CVD disease
independently of EPA and DHA as experiments with walnuts in the diet
have shown.
I find that chia is more palatable than flax, but it is difficult to
obtain even in places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Walnuts are
highest in ALA of all the nuts, so I try to eat a few of those on a
regular basis.
--
Ron
On May 1, 8:58 pm, "trigonometry1...@gmail . com |"
<trigonometry1...@gmail . com > wrote:
> First, humans convert very little alpha lenolenic acid into EPA and
> DHA
> as I recall unlike mice or fish. Neither Chia or Flaxseed are going
> to fully replace wild caught cold water marine fish and fish oil
> supplements.
Yes, it is important that people get EPA and DHA in their diet as
conversion from ALA may be inefficient especially as people age.
But, both EPA and DHA are expensive and ALA helps reduce CVD disease
independently of EPA and DHA as experiments with walnuts in the diet
have shown.
I find that chia is more palatable than flax, but it is difficult to
obtain even in places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Walnuts are
highest in ALA of all the nuts, so I try to eat a few of those on a
regular basis.
--
Ron
