I wanted to rave for a moment about chia seeds! Yup, chia seeds, as in the chia pet. lol

Health benefits:

*2 times the protein of any other seed or grain,

*5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones,

*2 times the amount of potassium as bananas,

*3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries

*3 times more iron than spinach

*copious amounts of omega-3 and omega-6, which are essential fatty acids

Also:

* Provides energy

* Boosts strength

* Bolsters endurance

* Levels blood sugar

* Induces weight loss

* Aids intestinal regularity

The chia seed soaks up 9-12 times it's weight in water! When mixed with water or any liquid, it makes a gel. You can add it to dressings, oatmeal, shakes, whatever...or eat them as is already rehydrated. It does have an off texture so if you're texture sensitive, mix it with something. (I had to at first.)

Chia slows down the conversion of carbs into sugar which means energy is released steadily resulting in prolonged endurance. I eat 2 tsp dry mixed with 1/4 cup water three times a day. It feels me up without feeling heavy and does as I said, gives me sustained energy.

Chia is reported to be beneficial for a vast range of issues, for example:

*weight loss/balance

*thyroid conditions

*hypoglycemia

*diabetes

*IBS

*celiac disease

*acid reflux

*lowering cholesterol

So, as you can see. It's quite possibly the best thing EVER. lol Ok, done ranting now.

The chia gel, instantly reminded me of ztrim (the fat replacer made from vegetable fiber), and I googled to find that yes, it can be used as a fat replacement gel. Apparently flax seeds do something similar. Hmm, very interesting.

I don't think I've ever seen chia seeds in the health food store. Where do you find them?

How fascinating, Alexander Weil has a write up here along with a URL to purchase them

I'm definitely interested!

How about chia sprouts? I had a chia pet in college but never tried to eat it.

Yup, you should be able to find them in the health food store. If they don't have them natural food stores are very accommodating of special orders.

lol Eating your chia pet. That just struck me as hilarious. I guess that's one way to keep it trimmed. hehe Normally all the nutrients are in the seed itself. I haven't read anything about sprouted chia seeds before. That's something for me to Google!

just an FYI for those looking for chia seed - it is also marketed as "salba" seed.
as far as i know, it's the same thing.

I saw Christina Pirello use these on TV, I'm intrigued!

You think they could possibly be used as egg replacement in baking recipes, like ground flax?

Absolutely, shananigans! I've only experimened with them once as an egg replacer, but I'm going to do it a lot more in the future. My first attempt didn't work out 'cause I had too many factors. I'd tried baking with coconut flour for the first time, and well...let's just say it oozed through the cooling rack. lol I definitely think it'll work in a regular flour recipe though. Same concept as the flax seeds.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that you can whip up a batch of the gel and keep it in a the fridge for about 3 weeks. They recommend using a glass jar. If making one serving at a time you'll want to leave them sit for about 10 mins. before eating them in order to get the most nutrients out of 'em.

can you just sprinkle them into your food?

You can, just remember to drink lots of water with your meal. Since the seeds soak up 9-12 times their weight in water if there isn't enough water in the stomach to soak up, it'll leach it from your body. I'm actually eating the gel in my oatmeal right now! Hehe

Oh, when I saw this post it reminded me of these little seeds we put in an Indian cold drink called Falooda. They're tiny black seeds that plump up into a gelatinous thingy but realized they're actually basil seeds. I wonder if they work the same in suppressing appetites... has anyone heard of that?