Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia

So while watching Extra or Access Holywood or something with Mario Lopez or possibly Billy Bush there was a story on "Super Foods", the buzz word for foods packed with nutrients giving you the most bang for the calorie. Note: I do not generally get my nutritional information from Access/Extra/Hollywood/Gossip.

The list was typical: salmon, blueberries, pumpkin seeds. I was tuning out when I heard "chia seeds" and thought to myself "There must be something else called chia seeds, they can't mean the seeds you put on your terracotta bust of President Obama or Homer Simpson.

But surely enough they were in fact referring to chia seeds. Being a child of the 80's I had many a chia pet and while the idea first seemed ridiculous to me, I soon realized that the green leafy results of successful chia pet gardening are sprouts and sprouts and their husks are generally full of fiber and nutrients.

So off to the interwebs I went and sure enough there are tons of articles (dating back a few years) about the nutritional benefits of chia seeds. Here is one that had some useful nutritional information.

Most interesting to me in the article are the benefits of chia over flax seed which I have tried to incorporate in my diet. As the article states flax is most beneficial when ground up, but chia is better when taken whole (which I prefer) and chia has a better shelf life than flax (which makes sense since they are still trying to sell Chia Jerry Seinfelds).

I am all for upping my Omega 3s, my fiber and my antioxidants so why not? I will check out the rejuvenating effects of chia. What is the worst that can happen, my hair gets unruly? Oh wait...

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