It’s no secret that good nutrition is an essential part of a healthy human life. Yet, despite it being a vital part of our well-being, quite many of us struggle with it. The reasons why people struggle can be various – from financial difficulties (healthy food tends to be more expensive) to mood changes to being overwhelmed by choices or incorporation into a current diet.
That’s where the superfoods come in. While no food item can contain all the nutrients we need, superfoods tend to have enough to be dubbed as super. The list of these foods isn’t short, but today we’re going to focus on only one of them – chia seeds.
In order to eat healthy, you can always turn to the so-called superfood, as they are packed with nutrients the human body needs
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One of these superfoods is chia seeds, which are not only extremely beneficial for your health, but are very easy to use
Chia seeds are edible seeds that come from the Salvia hispanica plant. They’re oval, gray, and black with white spots and are around 2 millimeters. They can absorb up to 12 times their weight in liquid when soaked, which makes them develop a mucilaginous coating, or, as others refer to it, a gel texture.
Now that we've got the theory of what chia seeds are out of the way, let’s discuss what kind of nutritional benefits they have. And there are quite a few of them.
First of all, these seeds are pretty low in calories. A tablespoon of them weighs around 12 grams, which contains about 60 calories. At the same time, they are nutrient-dense. With these calories, you also get 4 grams of healthy fats, 5 grams of fiber, 2 grams of plant-based protein, and some calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. So, as you can see, such mighty seeds carry a lot of good with them.
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Those 5 grams of fiber in this teaspoon are actually nearly 20% of your daily intake, as many dietary experts recommend a person consume around 25 to 30 grams per day. But why do we need this fiber? Well, just like chia seeds, fiber alone has a lot of benefits.
For instance, it lessens our chances of constipation, it helps with bowel health, lowers cholesterol, improves blood sugar levels, and even prevents certain types of cancer. Basically, it's a super nutrient within a superfood.
Besides fiber, chia seeds also provide a healthy fat called omega-3. It improves a person's cardiovascular health by lowering the chances of heart disease and stroke. And that’s not all – omega-3 can also lower the risk of diseases like breast cancer, dementia, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and many others. Basically, this is another very beneficial nutrient that chia carries.
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Just a teaspoon of chia seeds provide nearly 20% of daily fiber intake, healthy fats, protein, hydration, and other benefits
Besides this, chia also introduces plant-based protein to a diet, something that’s extremely important for those who do not eat meat. It also provides hydration from the inside. As we mentioned previously, they can absorb a lot of liquids, becoming like a gel, which, when consumed slowly, releases moisture into a person’s system.
So, it might seem that such a powerful food item might be hard to incorporate into an everyday diet. But that’s not true. In fact, chia is one of the easiest foods to use – there are so many ways to eat it or add it somewhere that it might even feel overwhelming.
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One of the most popular ways, something you’ll find many people online recommending, is chia seed pudding. Basically, it’s when seeds are soaked in some kind of milk and topped with sliced fruits or other toppings. There’s also a blended version, for those who don’t particularly care for the consistency of soaked seeds (or just want to mix it up), but want the taste and benefits.
You can also make a chia drink by simply soaking them in water and drinking it; or put the seeds into your smoothie, cereal, soup, salad, bread, or anything else you think would fit them. As we said, the seeds are pretty versatile, so it’s not hard to find a way to use them if you want to. And after reading how beneficial they are, you should want to use them.
One of the most recommended ways online to eat these seeds is in chia pudding, but you can also add it to basically any of your meals, as they're very versatile
