Over the last few years, it’s become cool to live a healthy lifestyle and evidently, social media has played a huge part in driving this wave of health awareness. Just take a look on Instagram! More and more young people today are bragging about eating superfoods and lifting at the gym rather than the lychee martini they’d had over the weekend.
Well, one superfood that we’ve been obsessed with for a while now are chia seeds, which originate from a flowering plant in the mint family. Loaded with healthy omega-3 fats, fibre, and many other nutrients, chia seeds can offer a huge array of health benefits for the body and brain. Fortunately, it’s also an ingredient that’s very easy to incorporate into our daily diet.
Here are some benefits you can get from consuming chia seeds:
1. Regulates blood pressure – With its ability to slow down digestion, chia seeds can also be consumed by those who suffer from type 2 diabetes as it can prevent sudden blood sugar spikes and improve blood pressure.
2. Healthier bones and teeth – Also ideal for those of old age, the calcium content found in chia seeds can help maintain bone and oral health, and prevent osteoporosis.
3. Reduces appetite – Chia seeds are great for vegetarians as every 28g of seeds contain 4.4 g of protein, which is almost 10% of the daily intake value. This, and the amino acids, could help to reduce your appetite and food intake.
4. Helps with anti-ageing – The antioxidants found in chia seeds protect the body from ageing, cancer and free radicals. Thanks to its high antioxidant content, chia seeds can last up to two years without being refrigerated.
5. Lowers risk of heart disease – Got a problem with your cholesterol levels? Chia seeds can help to raise good cholesterol levels and reduce the unhealthy kind, so your heart will be happy.
6. Regulates bowel movement – When in contact with water, chia seeds expand into gel-like capsules because of its fibre content. This increases fullness, slows down absorption of food, helps with digestion and regulates bowel movement.
7. Delivers nutrients without tons of calories – The tiny seeds pack a powerful punch, and yet when consumed, they only deliver 137 calories per 28g. This superfood is mostly packed with nutrients anyway, and they are gluten-free and GMO-free.
8. Boosts brain health – Chia seeds are rich in polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, just like salmon. Besides reducing inflammation and reducing cholesterol, it enhances brain health and boosts cognitive performance.
9. Combats cravings – When you consume chia seeds, you’ll feel full and satisfied for longer. This helps to reduce food cravings in between meals, which is always a good thing, right?
The possibilities are endless when it comes to chia seeds, and because they essentially have no taste, you can add a little bit of chia seeds into anything, without altering the flavours.
Here are a few simple ways to have chia seeds, and we kid you not, we do this almost on the daily:
1. Just add a teaspoon or tablespoon full of chia seeds to your water, then add a squirt of honey and lemon juice. The honey and lemon makes plain ol’ water more exciting, and this sort of entices us to chug down that H2o!
2. Make overnight oats in a jar with some rolled oats, milk, honey dried fruit, coconut flakes, cinnamon, and chia seeds. The next morning when it’s ready to eat, just cut up some fresh fruit and add them in before serving.
3. We love chia seeds in our smoothies too! Our super quick and easy go-to recipe includes fresh banana, milk, chia seeds, yoghurt and a generous dash of honey.
