In honor of Earth Day, we report breaking news on a new Super Food. Fox News is reporting on its Health Blog, that the humble but hoary (that means old) Chia pet may have more value than meets the collective late-night TV eye. Yes, it seems that the seeds that germinate on the porous clay host are a storehouse of nutrition and taste great and are less filling (sorry, could not resist). They are small, after all. Well, OK, maybe the taste part is stretching it a bit. I have never eaten any, have you?

Perhaps we should:

· One ounce of Chia seeds contains 137 calories, four grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. Chia seeds are tasteless so you can add them to just about anything.

· Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica) are extremely high in Omega 3 and are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. More than 30% of Chia seed oil is Omega 3 oil, while 40% of it is Omega 6 oil. This appears to be the perfect balance of essential fatty acids.

· Chia seeds are great for athletes because they are highly hydrophilic, meaning they can absorb large amounts of water. They can hold 10 times their weight in water making them a great enhancer in hydrating our bodies. (In other words, they swell in the stomach.)

· Studies show that eating chia seed slows down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrate calories into simple sugars. This leads scientists to believe that the chia seed may have great benefits for diabetics.

· The chia seed swells when wet forming a gel. This gel, when in our digestive systems, helps prevent some of the food, hence calories that we eat from getting absorbed into our system. This blockage of calorie absorption makes the chia seed a great diet helper. Eating the seeds also helps dieters by making them feel full faster so they will be less hungry (the less filling part). Trust me, I am not making this up.

· You do not need to grind the Chia Seeds to digest it. It is a relatively easy to digest seed, whereas flax seeds are not. Often, one has to grind flax seeds to be able to process them in their digestive system. That is not the case with chia seeds. Again, this is from research, not from personal experience.

· Chia seeds can be eaten raw as a dietary fiber and Omega 3 supplement. Chia seeds soaked in water or fruit juice are often consumed in Mexico as and known as chia fresca. The soaked seeds are gelatinous in texture and are used in gruels, porridges and puddings. Ground Chia seed is used in baked goods including breads, cakes and biscuits.

With some studies suggesting that a high-fibre diet can help control diabetes Dr. Vladimir Vuksan and a team at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto decided to test chia seeds, also known as Salba Grain, on diabetics.

The study tracked 20 otherwise healthy diabetic patients for 12 weeks. His team ground the Salba grain into flour and baked it into bread, which was served to the diabetics. They were also given additional amounts to sprinkle on food they ate at home. Their total intake was approximately 37 grams or three to four tablespoons of Salba a day.

The subjects then had their blood measured for a variety of changes. The researchers noted a slight drop in blood glucose, but more importantly, the Salba grain:

· made blood thinner and less prone to clotting - a risk factor for heart attacks and stroke

· lowered levels of internal inflammation as measured by C-reactive protein, a protein produced by the liver.

· and reduced blood pressure, lowering systolic blood pressure, on average, by six points mmHg (millimetres of mercury).

While the study found no ill effects on the grain on any of the 20 subjects tested, Vuksan cautions because of Salba’s ability to thin blood, those on anticoagulants, blood thinners or other blood pressure medications should consult with their doctors before taking it.

Researchers plan further studies of the grain’s effects on heart disease, arthritis — and even weight loss, because of the grain’s apparent ability to suppress appetite.

In the meantime, Salba has already become a popular seller in health food stores, with many embracing this ancient seed as a modern nutritional wonder grain. Doug Cook of the Toronto Star Vice Squad (I am not making this up) calls the salba seed “An Ancient Nutritional Wonder“. In his article about these Aztec chia seeds he compares the salba seed (Salvia hispanica L.) to the well known flax in terms of a source of omega-3 fats.

Chia Pet® is the registered trademark belonging to Joseph Enterprises, Inc., the manufacturers and originators of the Chia Pet. The name was first used on September 8, 1977. The Chia Pet is not a patented invention. Other companies can freely make and sell novelty items similar to the Chia Pet, but the name of Chia Pet® belongs to Joseph Enterprises, Inc.

The first Chia Pet® was the ram, marketed and distributed in 1982.

Now you know. Send me some cookies with chia baked in and I will offer a free review of your baking masterpiece.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 12:25 am and is filed under Nutrition, diabetes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.