Healthy recipe --- Chia seed

Chia seed (Organic) 

Chia seeds are usually not organic but raw. They are very similar to flaxseeds in that they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. Water 5.8%  47/19/34  LA (5.8g) 1:3 (17.8g) ALA

Culinary uses:

How should you use chia seeds in cooking? Chia seeds are becoming increasingly popular as they can be used so diversely in modern cuisine. They can be used as a crispy topping in soups, salads, and desserts, and can add variety to bread and biscuits. Chia seeds are a tried and tested hit in smoothies, muesli, and ice-cream. You can also sprout chia seeds and use the sprouts in salads, or grind them into a nutritious flour and use for baking.

Chia is best known in its gel form, which is also known as chia pudding. Raw chia seeds expand significantly when they come into contact with liquid, growing several times their original size to form a gelatinous mass. This gel can be used in many ways, with chia pudding (made with oat milk or rice milk) being a delicious breakfast or dessert. In baking, chia gel can substitute up to 50 percent of the required amount of fat, and it can also be a binding agent that substitutes eggs in vegan cooking. In addition, chia seeds can be used instead of gelatin to make a healthy variety of jam.

As chia seeds can swell up to 27 times their weight, you should make sure you drink enough fluids after eating them. This prevents problems in the gastrointestinal tract arising when the seeds gel.

Chia seeds are an ingredient in our gluten-free, raw vegan Erb Muesli. This muesli mix not only contains citrus fruits rich in vitamin c and berries with antioxidants, it also contains pseudograins, seeds, and golden millet. You might like to try the version Erb Muesli with Rolled Oats — unless, however, you are following a strictly raw diet. Oats are never sold raw as a food; they have always at the very least been dried.

In pre-Hispanic times, roasted chia seeds were ground into flour called Chianpinolli, which was combined with corn flour to make tortillas, tzoalli (tamales), and thick gruels (chianatolli). Soft drinks made from chia seeds, lemon, and sugar or fruit juice are still popular today, and are known as “agua de chia,” “chia fresca,” or “Iskiate.”1

Vegan recipe for Chia Pudding with Coconut Milk and Mango:

Mix 200 mL coconut milk with agave syrup and ground vanilla, stir in 2 tablespoons chia seeds and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, puree a mango and layer the chia pudding and mango puree in a glass. You can also use raspberries or blueberries instead of mango.

Vegan recipe for Strawberry Chia Jam:

To make the raw version, puree 200 g strawberries and add the juice of half of a lemon. Sweeten with a little agave syrup. Add 2 tablespoons chia seeds and mix well. Leave the jam in the fridge overnight to thicken. The jam keeps in the fridge for about two days. If you boil the fruit before adding the chia, the jam’s shelf life increases to about one week.

Nutrients — nutritional information — calories:

At 18 g per 100 g, chia seeds contain a high content of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid, ALA). Chia seeds also contain a lower amount of omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid, LA) than most vegetables. Just 10 g of chia seeds are equivalent to 89 % of a woman’s recommended daily intake (RDI) (based on a diet of 2000 calories per day). This means that eating 12 g of chia seeds would be sufficient to get your daily supply of omega-3 fatty acids. Flaxseed, in comparison, contains 23 g of omega-3 fatty acids per 100 g, which is the highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids of all vegetable foods.1 To benefit from flaxseed’s and chia seeds’ polyunsaturated fatty acids, the seeds should be freshly ground before eating.

At 1:3, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in chia seeds is very positive.

According to the Swiss Federal Office for Public Health, the average ratio of omega-6 (linoleic acid) to omega-3 fatty acids should not exceed 5:1. However, chia seeds have an inverse ratio of 1:3, which is 15 times better. This means that eating chia seeds is a good way to get the average intake down to 5:1 or lower. And in flaxseed, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids even better at 1:5 - to 1:3. However, many other types of seeds and nuts have a very poor ratio (e.g., cashews come in at 130:1 and pumpkin seeds at 180:1).5

Chia seeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. When combined with a low intake of omega-6 fatty acids, a healthy body can use omega-3s to produce eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both of which have anti-inflammatory effects.6

Chia seeds have a relatively high protein content for a pseudograin (17 g per 100 g), with a fairly balanced amino acid pattern. Lysine is the limiting amino acid in chia seeds (0.97 g = 52 % of the recommended daily intake), while chia seeds contain a far higher content of tryptophan than other amino acids.5

Chia seeds are rich in fiber, containing 34 g per 100 g. This is even more fiber than flaxseed (27 g per 100 g), legumes, and many other seeds.