Lately I have been getting some fantastic suggestions from readers about how to incorporate chia into a healthy diet. Here’s a really simple and yummy breakfast recipe that Tonya shared with me:

Beginner’s Breakfast

• Soak 1 tablespoon of chia seeds in a cereal bowl with just enough water to cover them for fifteen minutes.
• Add a big spoonful of vanilla yogurt. Mix well.
• Stir in washed or organic strawberries and blueberries.

Chia sprinkled over blueberries, muesli and yoghurt makes a delicious breakfast.

Tonya said in her email to me:

I am new to chia seeds and after reading your articles will be incorporating them into my diet more, but this is a great recipe for beginners. I eat it for breakfast and find I eat much less throughout the day as a result.

I agree – eating chia first thing in the morning is a great way to kickstart the day. Thanks heaps for this yummy idea Tonya!

Do you have a delicious recipe you’d like to share? If so, just contact me and I’ll post the recipe.

This reader wanted to know if she can buy chia seeds in South Africa. Here’s her email and my response, below. If you want to know how to get chia seeds in a particular country, just ask me and I’ll do my best to help.

Anna writes:

I will be in Durban, South Africa for six months and would like to know if I can purchase them there.

My answer:

Anna, I haven’t been to Durban so I can’t tell you if chia seeds are available in shops there. However, I’ve found that in general, it’s much more convenient – and cheaper! – to buy chia seeds online.

Since you are going to be in South Africa for six months, you might want to buy chia seeds in bulk. You can order them online while in Durban, or order them now & have them shipped to your home and then take them with you – not sure where you are at the moment, so you’ll have to figure out what works best for you. Either way, buying chia seeds in bulk could save you money in the long run.

Here are a couple good places to order chia seeds online:

• Chia Seeds from Nuchia
• Chia Seeds from The Raw Food World

Hope this helps! Good luck and have a wonderful time in South Africa.

This is a guest post by Stephanie Barton, RD, of Chosen Foods, Inc.

With the recent chia craze, product manager of the Chia Pet – Peter Georgii – released a statement advising proud owners of a sprouted clay critter not to eat their pet. Fortunately, the super seed can be found in any number of natural food products – smoothies, breads, cereals, nutrition bars, even energy drinks. Several online retailers, including Chosen Foods, sell chia seeds that can be sprinkled on salads, cereal, or used as a fat replacement in baking.

Chia is a hot, recently rediscovered nutrient powerhouse – once a staple of the Ancient Aztec warriors. With double the fiber, double the protein, and over 500 mg more omega-3s than ground flax, it’s little mystery why chia seeds are quickly outpacing flax. Adding a tablespoon of chia to your morning smoothie also adds vitamin A, vitamin B3 and 3x as much of both calcium and iron than flax!

The seed magically gels when introduced to water – giving it the texture of tapioca or Japanese bubble tea – and making it a healthy weight loss solution. The power is in the soluble fiber, which allows the seed to swell and hold up to 10 times its weight in water. Similar to psyllium, the mucilage that’s produced by chia’s soluble fiber adds bulk to stool and absorbs water in the intestines. This process has a positive, normalizing effect on bowel activity and can be beneficial for those suffering from constipation or diarrhea.

According to research, chia may increase the feeling of fullness, decrease caloric intake, and promote weight loss. Drinking chia about twenty minutes before a meal sends a hormonal trigger to the brain, signaling fullness. The gel creates a slow, constant release of energy and sustains fullness. The soluble fiber also cleanses the digestive tract, acting like a broom to sweep out toxins and lower cholesterol. Two tablespoons of chia has the dietary fiber of five pieces of whole wheat bread, or over a third of the recommended daily dietary fiber.

Chia packs a double punch – helping you eat less and power up for a workout. Ancient Aztecs – thought to be the fiercest warriors of all time – kept hydrated and energized while running the equivalent of high-altitude ultramarathons by eating only handfuls of chia seeds. Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run tells the story of the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico who ate chia seeds on their fifty to one hundred mile desert runs.

And today’s athletes – from casual gym-goers to professional superstars – are finding an equally powerful, energizing benefit. The seed is touted by runners, cyclists, and all manner of health-crazed, clean-eating aficionados for its ability to sustain energy.

Chia also boasts more protein than every other ancient grain including quinoa, wheat, corn, rice, oat, barley and amaranth. It is a complete, vegan plant-based protein, containing every essential amino acid – perfect for promoting fullness, maintaining a healthy body weight, and building lean muscle.

Like Dr. Oz says: “They just may be one of the healthiest things around. Nutty-tasting whole-grain chia seeds are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, and they have among the highest antioxidant activity of any whole food — even more than fresh blueberries. And they do good stuff for the body, like keeping blood pressure and blood sugar under control.”

Chia seeds health benefits don’t have to come with a high price tag. If you decide that this health food is one you would like to make part of your everyday diet, then it makes sense to buy in bulk. This way, you will always have chia seeds on hand when you need them, you don’t have to worry about running out, and you will save money in the long-run! The more you buy at one time, the more money you save.

I can recommend a special bulk package from Nuchia. Check it out and see if you think this would work for your family. What I like about this bulk chia package (apart from the great price) is that it includes chia flour as well as seeds, so you can easily incorporate chia into your baking and cooking.

The Chia Special Package Includes:

• 4  Original Chia Seed Flour Packs
• 2  100% Chia Seed Flour Packs
• 1  16oz Chia Seeds

With Free Shipping!

Why not save money by buying chia seeds in bulk?

>> Buy The Chia Special Package

Chia seeds have a very subtle flavor, so they’re perfect for adding to smoothies because the flavor is not affected. You get all the chia seeds health benefits plus the benefits of green smoothies when you mix the two together!

What is a green smoothie?

A green smoothie is your favorite smoothie with a green veggie of some kind added into the blender. I usually go for about 40% vegetable and 60% fruit or additional ingredients. This is a nice balance as far as the taste goes. Any more vegetable in your smoothie, and it tastes more like a pure vegetable juice than a mixed smoothie. But play around and see what ratio works for you.

Health benefits of green smoothies with chia

• Regular bowel movements
• Immediate boost in energy
• Blood sugar is stabilized
• Reduced cravings for processed and sugary foods
• Healthier skin, hair and nails

Mixing chia and green vegetables into your smoothies is an exceptionally healthy way to start your day. If you drink a green smoothie with chia once a day for a month, you will start to see positive changes in your overall health and feeling of well-being. If you drink one once a day for an entire year, you will feel total transformation!

Possible green vegetables to add to your green smoothies

• chard
• arugula or rocket
• kale
• spinach
• dandelion greens
• lettuce
• celery
• watercress
• turnip greens
• broccoli
• cabbage

Basic Recipe for a Green Smoothie With Chia

• Take 2-3 sweet fruits, such as pears, mangoes, bananas, apples or blueberries. Put them in your blender and mix them up.
• Add and blend 2 cups or 2 large handfuls of pre-washed organic leafy green vegetables.
• Add and blend 2 tablespoons chia seeds. These can be black chia seeds or white chia seeds, it doesn’t matter.

Here are a couple of sample recipes. Be creative and make up your own!

Pineapple Green Smoothie

• 2 apples
• 2 cups crushed pineapple
• 2 big handfuls mixed baby greens
• 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• A squirt of lime juice

Minty Green Smoothie

• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 10-12 freshly picked mint leaves
• 1 cup soy milk
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

You may have thought about replacing eggs or oil with chia when cooking or baking. Perhaps you’ve worried that this will affect the flavor or texture of your product. Worry no longer!

A study conducted in 2010 used chia gel to replace 25%, 50%, and 75% of the oil or eggs in a cake. 75 panelists were then asked to rate the cakes. (Sounds like a study I’d like to be part of!)

The verdict?

…the 25% chia gel cakes were not significantly different from the control for color, taste, texture, and overall acceptability. The 50% oil substituted (with chia gel) cake, compared to control, had 36 fewer kilocalories and 4 g less fat per 100-g portion.

In English, that means: it’s all good. The chia rocked the panelists’ world. They couldn’t even tell the difference when the 25% substitution was used.

Personally, I think it’s a matter of taste and habits, so if you want to get to the point where you substitute more than 50%, you can gradually get there over time. But if you don’t want to miss out on your favorite flavors, just go with the 25% substitution and know that you’re getting the chia seeds health benefits too.

Did you know you can easily add chia seeds to water? Here is what you do:

Just add 1 tablespoon of chia seeds to a glass of water and mix well.

It’s as easy as that!

The chia seeds have a mild flavor so you will not notice much, you may notice the soft texture of the chia seeds as you drink. You can also add a spritz of lemon or lime.

This is a great weight loss tool if you drink the water before a meal. Read this article to find out why.

Cooking with chia seeds

Cooking with chia seeds is easier than it sounds. You do not have to reinvent the wheel or throw out everything you ever knew about cooking.

How to cook chia seeds

1. Simply add chia seeds to whatever you are cooking. A tablespoon or two is usually enough for a meal that serves four.
2. Use ready-prepared chia gel in your cooking if you want to add bulk or body to sauces, stews, soups and gravies. Just make your chia gel ahead of time, store it in the fridge, and dollop out a couple of spoons when you need it.
3. Don’t stress about exact quantities. Chia is not a miracle pill, nor does it have negative side effects. It really doesn’t matter if you consume 1 tablespoon one day and 3 tablespoons the next day. Just incorporate it into your cooking in the way that suits your cooking style and families needs. It is meant to be fun not a chore!
4. Don’t worry about using special chia recipes; just tweak your family’s favorite recipes to include chia. Easy! (But if you do want some inspiration, here are some chia recipes for you)
5. Raw chia seeds can be a great topping for a salad, casserole, or fruit salad.

Cooking chia seeds is easy and quick. I hope this helps give you some ideas of how to include chia seeds health benefits into your healthy meal plans! Any questions just contact me.

Dave sent me this question:

Once you make the chia gel do you strain it or use the seeds and all?

This is a great question. I had to laugh though because, Dave, if you had seen chia gel you would know how impossible it would be to strain it! Trying to strain chia gel would be like trying to separate the ingredients of a cake after baking it.

chia gel, 15 minutes after water is added

When you add water to chia seeds, they swell up and become soft. After about ten minutes, the mixture forms a gel and the individual chia seeds are impossible to individuate. Depending on the ratio of water to chia, the chia gel can be runny or thick.

Here is a fantastic new article I recently published all about chia gel. In this article you can see some hi-res photos I took to show you how chia gel looks as it is forming.

I hope this answers your question, Dave. If I can help further please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Ever wondered how to make chia gel or how you can use chia gel?

I get so many questions about chia gel that I decided to make some just for you and document the process so you can follow along with every step. I hope this helps!

Step One

I’ve poured 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of chia seeds into a small container. I happen to be using a plastic container with a snap-on lid; I sometimes use a glass jar. Any clean, dry container with a tightly-fitting lid will do.

Here’s a close up of the chia seeds. As you can see, I’m using a mix of white chia and black chia. (Is there any difference between white and black chia? Find out in this article.)

Step Two

Here, I’ve added 1/4 cup of water to my chia seeds. Water from the tap is fine. Shake well!

In this close up, you can see that the chia seeds are already starting to soften a bit. A minute or two after adding the water, I put the lid on and shake again.

Step Three

If you’re following along, you can now chuck your container in the fridge until you’re ready to use your chia gel, but since I want to show you what the chia gel looks like after it’s properly set, I’m waiting around with my camera for another 15 minutes.

And 15 minutes later…we have chia gel!

See how in this close-up, the chia seeds are much softer and…well, gelled. Chia is highly absorbent; these little power-packs absorb 9 times their weight in water! That’s part of why chia is a fantastic health food and weight loss tool. (For more on chia’s health benefits, check out this article and this article.)

Now that you have your chia gel, what can you do with it?

• You can use a chia egg in place of a hen’s egg in your next batch of brownies or blueberry muffins….
• You can spread chia butter on your breakfast toast to cut down on calories and add protein…
• You can mix it into a soup, stew, sauce or gravy to add body without adding calories….
• You can chuck a couple tablespoons into a smoothie or milkshake for those vital omega-3 acids…
• You can store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, saving you time and energy when you want to add chia to your baking or cooking.

I hope you enjoyed this photo essay of how to make chia gel. If you have any questions about how to prepare chia seeds gel or how to use chia gel, please contact me.