Chia seeds health benefits are starting to give rise to a lot of hullaballoo worldwide. I don’t care what your nationality, age, or gender is – almost all people can profit from eating chia seeds!
The Aztecs and Incas greatly prized this vitamin-packed wonder food. The reason for these ancient tribes treasuring chia so highly is not a mystery. The medicinal properties of chia grain were intimately understood by the ancient tribes. This is why they valued this seed so dearly.
Moving on, why don’t we go into a bit more detail about these health benefits. Here goes:
Chia will Make Your Heart healthy
Chia offers the largest proportions of omega 3 of any plant-based item. So just why should we require omega-3? Because it’s absolutely vital for a healthy heart. Cholesterol can be diminished by the chia plant. You know that too much cholesterol is bad for a person’s heart. It slowly builds up in the internal walls of the arteries and eventually will form plaque. The effect of this on a person’s arteries is to make them very inflexible.
For folks with thickened, stiff arteries, heart disease may be a consequence. Doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Especially if you have a known history of heart attacks in your family, you must certainly be trying hard to maintain a healthy heart.
So let’s go back to omega-3. It is vital for a strong heart. How exactly can you get omega-3? One way is, you can swallow supplements, but they aren’t always that easy to absorb. Or you can eat fish. On the other hand, lots of individuals don’t relish a fishy smell and taste. The best technique is to eat chia! There is no unpleasant smell or fishy taste at all. Plus, the body can easily digest it. So if you want a healthy heart eat up your chia. Yum!
Chia Gives You Oodles of Dietary Fiber
Everyone always tells you to make sure to obtain enough fiber. But is it enough to merely declare “eat plenty of fiber”? Well, it’s a good start, but you have to discern the reason. The reason people are so in favor of dietary fiber, or roughage as it’s also called, is as follows. The chief purpose of fiber is to keep an individual’s digestive system running smoothly. roughage has also been shown to offer extra benefits for individuals who have obesity. Soluble fiber reduced cholesterol in the body, so this goes along with keeping a heart strong.
Were you aware that you are only able to get fiber from plants? Does that startle you? It’s true though, so if you were to eat lots of meat but few vegetables, you may not be getting enough fiber! There’s no fiber in fish or meat. Only plants give you fiber! Chia gives you over 35% fiber. That’s a lot!
Now, even if you don’t eat a lot of vegetables, you can still get all the fiber you need easily just by eating chia. A couple of tablespoons a day will boost your fiber intake. You will feel healthier and have more regular bowel motions. Fun stuff, huh?
Chia Seeds Are Gluten-Free
Seems like every time you go out to eat these days someone is asking about special gluten-free choices on the menu. Allergies are so prevalent these days! Maybe you even have one. If so, you’ll be happy to know that chia seeds don’t have gluten. They are an ideal choice for individuals with gluten allergies.
You can use chia flour for gluten-free baking. It is so easy and simple. Just substitute gluten-free chia flour for regular flour. You may need to bake for perhaps a couple of minutes longer. But your food will taste great! Chia doesn’t have a strong flavor so when you bake with it, you don’t need to worry about how your food will taste. That’s a relief after trying some of those processed so-called gluten-free products on the market, isn’t it? Phew!
These are just three of the amazing health properties of chia. There are so many more, including dozens of minerals and vitamins. You can use it for weight loss, energy supplements, and just to add some pleasant texture to your meals. Chia seeds health benefits have been ignored for too long!
Tiffany is a Medical Student and also works as a fitness coach in part-time. She is also a writer and writes on health and fitness articles. Tiffany loves to engage with users and help them provide various useful information on General Health. She provides researched-based information and also featured on various blogs and magazines.