Chia seeds return to diets with new benefits

Chia seeds are making a comeback.

They are sprouting on store shelves and included in puddings, breads and even jams. According to forecasts by Grand View Research, a company that tracks the food industry, the chia seed market is expected to grow more than 22% per year from 2019 to 2025.

That’s the chia lifecycle – always showing up in one trend or another. Seeds have been a staple food in Latin America and were even offered to Aztec gods during religious ceremonies, but every generation on the American continent seems to think they discovered them for the first time, said Beth Czerwony, a nutritionist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition. .

Over the past 40 years, chia has maintained a fairly frequent presence in the public consciousness. It appeared as the hairy Chia Pets plant in the late 1970s, and in the 1990s, health food companies began marketing it as a nutritional powerhouse.

Over the past decade, in particular, the tiny seeds have gained an outsized reputation: as a supposed weight-loss trick, a protein supplement, and an ultra-healthy staple.

Now, thanks in part to social media, chia seeds are back on many people’s minds.

Some TikTok users tout the purported benefits of an “inside shower” — a viral trend that involves drinking a purportedly purifying mud of chia seeds, water, and lemon to relieve constipation and aid weight loss. The hashtag #internalshower (or internal shower, in Portuguese) was viewed more than 100 million times.

“When it was fashionable, in the early 2000s, young people who talk about it today might not even have been born,” said Czerwony. “All that is old comes back.”

We asked nutritionists and doctors this recent fad justifies its reputation as healthy.

Is chia really good for us?

Chia seeds are not a magic channel for losing weight or curing disease, but they are “incredibly healthy as a natural food source,” said Melinda Ring, an integrative medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine.

As with anything, though, care must be taken not to overdo it, said Lisa Ganjhu, an associate professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine who specializes in gastroenterology.

She warned that it is not ideal to eat the seeds directly, as it can interfere with digestion. Instead, soak them in water or plant-based milk for several hours, until they expand to form a jelly, or add ground chia seeds to baked goods. You can also shake them in a shake, where they can soak up the liquid, or mix them into a pudding.

If you eat a lot of chia seeds — say, more than a pound at once — you risk experiencing bloating, cramping, discomfort and diarrhea, she said.

What are the benefits of chia seeds?

One serving of chia seeds – about 2 tablespoons – will not transform your entire diet or replace the vitamins you should get from vegetables. But doctors and nutritionists point out some important health benefits:

They are rich in fatty acids. Chia seeds contain remarkably high levels of an essential fatty acid called omega-3, known as alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA.

You can only get these acids in your diet, Ring said, and eating foods rich in ALAs can help prevent heart disease.

In fact, seeds are one of the richest plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids. One serving has more than twice the daily amount of ALA recommended by the National Institutes of Health.

They have a lot of fiber. Two tablespoons of chia seeds have about 10 grams of dietary fiber – more than twice as much as an apple.

Fiber-rich foods promote gut health by encouraging bowel movements – hence the “internal shower” idea. But Ganjhu said he thinks of chia seeds more like “an inner steel sponge.”

“She definitely pushes things,” she said.

The fiber in chia seeds also keeps you feeling fuller for longer, especially if you hydrate the seeds first. The soft outer layer that coats the seeds softens and forms a gel, which can expand further in the stomach, Czerwony said.

They contain antioxidants. Chia seeds are rich in several potential antioxidants that can help break down free radicals that damage our cells, Czerwony said.

While it is possible to consume excess antioxidants, doctors say that most people would benefit from adopting more of them in their diets, because free radicals can build up in the body over time, leading to plaque formation in the heart, among other problems.

They are a useful solution to dietary restrictions. Czerwony said he has seen patients use chia seeds, which are gluten-free and vegan, as an egg substitute in pancake and bread recipes, as they have similar consistency.

And chia seeds are a good source of protein, albeit considerably less than soy or quinoa, Ring said, making them an ideal supplement for vegetarian diets or anyone looking to reduce their meat intake.

“It’s a good trend, it’s healthy,” said Czerwony. “It won’t hurt you.”

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves