Let’s Talk About Chia Seeds

Chia seeds. I struggled for 3 days to write 459 words about them, reading articles and studies and trying to articulate clearly and concisely why you should add them to your diet… then I deleted all those words. (Yes, I know that it wasn’t very many words for 3 days, did I mention that I was struggling?!)

What I realized was that you don’t need me to go into all the nitty gritty (slight pun, because chia seeds is like eating grit) details about why you need to eat them. There are already so many articles out there, with two very informative articles here and here, with studies referenced so if you’re interested you can do some fact checking. I’m just going to give you a real quick rundown on these weird little balls of goodness

5 reasons to eat chia seeds (despite their unfortunate glugginess):

1. Fiber – they contain a heck of a lot of fiber. Just 2 tablespoons gives you approximately a quarter of your daily requirement, which does good things for your gut and helps you poop.
2. Digestion – they slow down digestion, allowing your body to absorb more nutrients from your food before it’s fully digested. In doing so the seeds can help regulate after meal blood sugar levels.
3. Omega 3 – is an essential oil that your body needs and can’t make itself. Fish is a fantastic source, but chia seeds are an amazing plant source of the good oils needed for a well-functioning body.
4. Antioxidants – this one is hard for me to wrap my head around, but there are free radicals in your body that can cause harm, like heart disease or cancer. Foods that contain antioxidants, like chia seeds, can protect your cells from damage. Some studies also say that chia works as an anti-inflammatory as well
5. Minerals – for such tiny little things, they contain a heck of a lot. Magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and copper are some of the main minerals which do a variety of good things for your body, like bone, muscles and heart health

 See? So many reasons!

Now for the unfortunate part – I can’t stand chia seeds. The taste is alright, it’s the texture. It makes me want to hurl. It’s just… it’s just bad. I can’t do it.

And I tried! I tried so many chia pudding recipes, waiting for just one of them to taste even remotely like how it was described. My hopes were dashed, one awful, chewy, gluggy mouthful at a time. And the time it takes to make it, I seriously cbf most of the time.

So I have come up with two ways that I can eat chia seeds:

1. Sprinkle it – this was surprisingly tolerable. Simply sprinkle a tablespoon into your yoghurt, smoothie, or whatever you’re eating and eat before it manages to swell. No time whatsoever! And the gluggy isn’t too bad this way
2. Scull – in the event that your stomach has decided that today is a no dairy day (a discussion that my stomach and I have on a regular basis), simply add a tablespoon of chia seeds to a cup of water, give it a quick stir and drink as fast as possible, then drink another glass of water straight afterwards. It may not be pretty, it’s not very Instagram worthy, but it gets it into your system and I feel like that’s the priority

There you go! 5 reasons to eat chia seeds, and 2 non-effort ways to get them down.

I am interested in finding other ways to eat them, so if you have a way where you don’t feel the icky texture at all, please let me know! I would love to try it x