Anyone who has ever been to a smoothie shop or has had the pleasure of raising a chia pet knows what chia seeds are. Besides being the cute side of home gardening as-seen-on-tv, chia seeds are no short of amazing when it comes to nutritional value and the benefits you get in your health and weight loss not to mention helping you pin down your appetite. If you've ever had trouble with controlling your hunger, with chia seeds that's killing it.
What are chia seeds other than amazing! - Chia Diet
Chia seeds are seeds taken from parts of South America where it is grown in tropical southern Mexico and Guatemala. They are a gluten-free food known for high nutritional value which explains its various applications in diet and weight loss. Like other fiber-rich foods, chia seeds have a way of growing in your stomach for satiety to control your appetite.
A single chia seed measures about 2mL in length. That's smaller than a grain of rice. However, when it comes to soaking up fluids such as the digestive juices in your stomach to rapidly expand in size helping you get full easier, chia seeds are no short of a super food containing resistant starches while having a low glycemic index.
Resistant starches like that contained in Chia seeds spends more time in your stomach soaking up digestive fluids. After absorbing water they are said to expand to 10 times in size filling up empty space in your stomach after being consumed. The reason why it is able to suck up digestive juices so well is that it is rich in dietary fiber, the same fiber found in konyaku, glucomannan.
On top of being low-gi, Chia seeds are a good source of nutrition and low in calories. They give you the protein, calcium, iron, potassium, minerals, B vitamins, essential amino acid, oleic acid, alpha linoleic acid you need to balance your chia seed diet. A 5g serving of chia seeds only adds 25 calories to your intake of calories making chia seeds a low calorie plus in your diet.
Eating chia seeds may help prevent overeating due to the fact that its expansion in your stomach is said to promote fullness helping you get full eating less. For use in your diet, eating chia seeds mixed with yogurt or a beverage of choice is recommended.
Chia seeds health benefits for healthy weight loss
Chia seeds help you reduce calories, stabilize blood sugar, and lower cholesterol. These three benefits promote healthy weight loss. That means not having to go on an impossible diet trying to lose weight. Incorporating chia seeds in your diet may be the best thing to help you slim down the healthy way not having to worry about the potential health effects of choosing the wrong diet.
Reduce calories
Resistant starch found naturally in chia seeds helps you reduce calories in your diet.
Studies show weight loss in rodents fed a diet of resistant starches versus a diet with no resistant starch. In addition to resulting in less body fat, eating resistant starch is said to promote healthy gut flora that is said to aid in obesity prevention. - KEENAN, Michael J., et al. Effects of Resistant Starch, A Non‐digestible Fermentable Fiber, on Reducing Body Fat. Obesity, 2006, 14.9: 1523-1534.
So, what are some examples resistant starches in food other than chia seeds?
Resistant starch foods
Beans, unripe bananas, and shirataki noodles are excellent examples of resistant starch rich foods other than chia seeds. Note, that there are more foods with resistant starch that you can shake a stick out so if the food you have is not in the following list, that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't have resistant starch. A more inclusive list of starch resistant foods will be added in the near future.
- Beans
- Unripe bananas
- Shirataki noodles
Replacing high calorie foods, natural resistant starches such as that found in chia seeds make an excellent way to reduce calories in your diet.
Stabilize blood sugar
The fact that chia seeds are both low-gi having a low glycemic index and also gluten free may help you stabilize your blood sugar level.
Gluten free means very low gi. As you know the glycemic index of your food is a measure of the rate sugars from food are related in to your bloodstream affecting your blood sugar and insulin level.
Eating a gluten-free diet or otherwise counting the gi-values in your food can help you better stabilize your blood sugar.
Gluten-free chia seeds that are gi can aid in stabilizing your blood sugar.
Lower cholesterol
Healthy fats in chia seeds such as polyunsaturated fats to lower cholesterol such as the Omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linoleic acid combined with fiber help you lower cholesterol.
3 ways chia seeds lower cholesterol
Polyunsaturated fats
Omega-3 fatty acids a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid said to lower cholesterol.
Dietary fiber
Fiber found in chia seeds lower cholesterol by reducing bad cholesterol levels in your blood.
Replacement for eggs
Eggs with special emphasis on egg yolk are a high cholesterol food. Chia seeds are said to work good as a replacement for eggs. By replacing eggs with low cholesterol chia seeds, you not only lower bad cholesterol in your blood but dodge high cholesterol eggs in your diet.
Bottom line on the chia seeds diet
Chia seeds make a great complement to any drink. Whether that is in a smoothie is just a glass of water like seen previously in the sweet basil seed diet. Soak these seeds in liquid just to see how big they can get. Amazing, isn't it!? - Just imaging what they do inside your body.
Start up on the chia seed diet to kill hunger pains the easy way. Chia seeds are one of the best ways to get full while eating less right next to brewer's yeast, konyaku glucomannan, and the psyllium husk super fibers. You never know this may be the only way to eat yourself skinny.
