Health Benefits of Chia Seeds on Diabetes, Bone health and weight loss

                                                                             

 

Benefits of chia seeds. Among nutrient rich foods, nuts and certain seeds have always stolen the limelight. Chia seeds are a super hit when it comes to health benefits. Once you read the enormous health benefits of Chia seeds on health, it will be hard to keep it away from your next shopping list.

Before we see the benefits of chia seeds, let us first take an insight on its Nutrient content.

 

Nutrition in Chia seed:-

Amount per 100 gms of chia seeds
Nutrient	Amount	% daily value
Calories	490 cals	–
Carbs	44 gms	14 %
Fiber	38 gms	151 %
Protein	16 gms	31 %
Calcium	631 mg	63 %
Omega-3 fatty acids	17552mg	–
Omega-6 fatty acids	5785mg	–
Fat	30.8 gm	–
Phosphorus	948mg	95%
Zinc	3.5mg	23%
Manganese	2.2mg	108%
Copper	0.2mg	9%

 

*Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

How to buy Chia seeds?

Chia seeds come in 2 varieties, white seeds and black seeds. You can buy any of them to avail the benefits of chia seeds. You need to avoid the red seeds as they are yet immature. You also need to make sure that the seeds are not black in color as they may be weed seeds.Let us now see the benefits of chia seeds

 

Benefits of chia seeds:-

Chia seeds have numerous health benefits. Like the saying goes, “All good things come in small packages”, Chia seeds are the best example to live by it.

Let’s see the benefits of chia seeds one by one.

 

1] Chia seeds help in weight loss –

Chia seeds help in weight loss by increasing metabolism. Chia seeds when taken as a pre workout snack will help in increasing your stamina to burn out more calories and stretch your workout timings. Chia seeds are full of fiber and help by satisfying your hunger. Making you feel full. Chia seeds can be very helpful in ladies with Pcod and Pcos problem. Chia seeds help against bloating.

 

2] Chia seeds help in diabetes –

Chia seeds have a tendency to absorb a lot of water and swell up , this helps in slowing down the digestion process and hence slow release of sugar in the blood. This helps a type 2 diabetic person to manage his blood sugar levels well. This will help in keeping you full for longer and hence avoid overeating.

 

3] Chia seeds help in maintaining teeth and bone health –

Chia seeds are super sources of calcium and all the other minerals that are important for bone and teeth health. Chia seeds actually contain more calcium than dairy products. For people who do not consume dairies, chia seed comes as a blessing in disguise.

 

4] Chia seeds improve Heart health –

Several studies are being conducted on effects of chia seeds on heart health. A study at Cleveland suggested that chia seeds improve blood pressure levels in type II diabetics. The study also suggested that chia seeds have a positive effect on other markers of heart health. It improves the HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), and decreases the bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels in blood of a type II diabetic.

There are certain studies that have not been very conclusive of benefits of chia seeds on heart health. Chia seeds are good source of fiber, omega 3 and protein and they definitely are the best choice of food for your heart’s health.

 

5] Chia seeds are good source of protein –

We all know that proteins are the building blocks of our bodies and proteins have such important functions that are crucial for life processes. Chia seeds are protein by 14 % of their weight.

This helps chia seeds to be counted as a super food for weight loss. It not only reduces appetite and makes you feel fuller for longer, but it also suppresses hunger. Wow! These features are just what a weight watcher desires.

Chia seeds hence make a super snack especially in the evenings when one tends to feel hungry and over eat snacks.

 

6] Chia seeds are full of Antioxidants –

The department of food and nutrition of Purdue University in Indiana conducted a study on Chia seeds in 2008 and found than chia seeds contain a very good amount of antioxidants.

Chia seeds contain following antioxidants:-

Quercitin – Quercitin has endurance increasing properties. It gives an instant boost of energy for physical training. It also helps in fighting fatigue during workout, thus increasing the stamina.

Chlorogenic Acid – Chlorogenic acid may be helpful in slowing the post prandial release of glucose in the blood stream. It keeps the liver and the gall bladder healthy by regularising the flow of bile and not allowing it to stagnate. Chlorogenic acid may also be helpful in preventing and curbing the growth of certain brain tumours

Caffeic Acid – Caffeic acid may be of help in preventing colitis, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation and also certain cancers. It also increases immunity.

 

Chia seeds are a good source of Omega 3 –

Chia seeds are advertised as good source of Omega 3 fatty acids, but it is important to know the underlying facts. It is true that Chia seeds contain more omegas 3 than salmon fish. But amongst the different types of omega 3 fatty acids, chia seeds provide ALA (Alpha Linolenic Acid). Ala has to be converted to its active form to be of use to us. However humans are inefficient in converting these acids in to active form. And hence their consumption would hardly make any difference or benefit us. If you are looking to supplement omega 3 in your diet, you could rather choose flax seeds.

 

Now that we have all the facts and health benefits of chia seeds laid straight, we might as well use it to our benefit.

 

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Image : Copyright (c) stacy spensley  at Flickr