If you aren’t familiar with chia seeds other than the infamous pets, you probably clicked on this post out of sheer curiosity.  I personally was a skeptic at first.  I immediately added them to my mental list of foods that are a hippy gimmick.  I even tried to convince myself that I wasn’t a hippy at heart.  Then I went over my life passions in my head.  Oh yeah, I am part hippy.  I figured I at least owed it to my fellow hippys to try the seeds.  If I didn’t like them, I could move on to something else weird.

Ok, seriously people, they don’t taste like anything.  If you like tapioca, you will like them.  If you don’t like tapioca, grind them up and drink them in a shake, use them like a flour, so on.  There are tons of uses for the nutrient packed seeds.  Here is a short list of benefits these poppy seed like beauties contain:

• Full of omega-3’s (improves mental performance)
• High in fiber
• High in protein
• High in calcium
• High in antioxidants
• Helps with weight loss (gives you a full feeling)
• Redeuces inflamtion (great for those with arthiritis)
• Absorbs extra acid (great for reflux sufferers)
• Lowers cholesterol
• Lowers the risk of heart disease

With all of these benefits and no taste, I will be adding these to whatever I can.  The reccomended amount for an adult is 2 tablespoons a day.  An easy amount to add to a morning smoothie, shake, eggs, yogurt, cereal, toast, or even sorbet for dessert.  Honestly, I would reccomennd starting off with the recipe below as an introduction.  It’s an easy recipe to make, and tastes amazing!  The chia seeds act as the thickener.  They absorb the liquid and grow 8 times in size.  The gelatenous coating creates the pudding like texture.  The hardest part in making this is waiting for it to thicken.  It will start thickening immediately, but I noticed the greatest consistency 12 hours in.

You can buy these little beauties at your local health food store or by clicking here.

Recipe

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups almond mlik

2 tablespoons real maple extract (vanilla works too)

7 tablespoons chia seeds

Mix the ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Cover and chill 6 hours.  Serve by itself or with fresh berries.

Servings: 8 • Size: 1/2 cup

Calories: 110 • Fat: 6g • Carb: 13g • Fiber: 7g • Protein: 4g •
Sugar:  4g • Sodium: 53mg • Cholesterol: 0mg