The promising future of Chia Seeds, Salvia Hispanica L.

Chia Seeds are a simple food traditionally used in South America, and are nowadays known and consumed worldwilde.
They are in the list of the so-called functional foods for their interesting nutritional properties.
Chia seeds are composed of protein (15–25%), fats (30–33%), carbohydrates (26–41%), high dietary fibers (18–30%), minerals, vitamins, and they also contain a high amount of antioxidants as well as being gluten-free.

There are many factors that may cause a considerable variation in the concentrations of the active compounds in Chia seeds, such as the cultivation area and climate conditions.

Recently, Chia Seeds have regained their popularity by becoming one of the main sources of oils due to the high levels of omega-3, with an optimal ratio omega-3/omega-6. Western Diets are rich in saturated fats and have often an unbalanced omega-3/omega-6 ratio, where omega-6 are the most abundant. Chia seeds are recommended to prevent chronic disease such as cardiovascular diseases, to reduce fat intake and re-balance the omega-3/omega-6 ratio.

One spoon of Chia Seeds contains approximately 70 Kcal. It is a quite high caloric content and it is due mostly to the fat content, mainly omega-3.
The main commercial uses of Chia Seeds are:
– they cab be added to Flours, in order to increase total dietary fiber and decrease Glycemic Index (in order to prevent insuline-resistance and at the end, diabetes);
– As ingredient for cookies, cereals, breads and jellies, to improve their nutritional profile and their consistence;
– In carbohydrates loaded drinks, to enhance athletes’ sports endurance (maybe for their water-holding and hydrosaline properties);
– In supplement for postmenopausal women, to enhnance omega-3 levels (very important in this period where the cardiovascular risk is increased in women);
– In animal food, such as chicken, pigs and rabbits, to enrich it in omega-3 and also to improve aroma, flavour and digestibility;
– Chia seeds oil can be used as topical application for skin diseases, such as pruritus in diabetics.

How can we use Chia seeds at home?
They can simply be added to cereals for breakfast or salads or fruits, as raw seeds.
They can also be used as egg substitutes in cake’s preparation, thanks to their oozy texture.
Not only vegans, but also those who wish to reduce their eggs intake could find them interesting since not more than 2 eggs/week are allowed in healthy diets.
On this very blog you will find few interesting recipes with Chia seeds, such as: Peaches and Chia Seeds Cake and Vegan Breakfast Cookies with crunchy Oats, Chocolate Chips and Chia Seeds
Because of their oozy texture, they can also used for the preparation of smoothies (where the amount of seeds to add can be varied according to the texture wanted) or added to fruits mixed with water, in jellies preparation.
Back to science, further studies are ongoing, even on humans, and we can expect maybe in the near future to find out about more healthy properties of Chia seeds.

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