Chia Seeds- can they help you lose weight and get healthy at the same time?

Last week in First Magazine, I read a column by Louise Gittleman, Ph.D. on page 22 (December 7, 2009) issue on how Chia Seeds can help you lose weight. She stated that not only can you lose weight (I'll show you how below with the Chia Seeds) but that they are very high in omega-3's- even more than flaxseed. I looked up the nutritional content of the Chia Seeds just to see how healthy these seeds are and here is the breakdown:

(from http://www.nutritiondata.com)

Serving size: 28 grams (2 tablespoons)
Calories: 137
Total fat: 9 grams
Total Carbohydrate: 12 grams
Dietary Fiber: 11 grams
Protein: 4 grams

They are a very good source of calcium with a daily value of 18%. Another nice bonus is that you get 42% of your daily intake of fiber! They're also good in good fats- polyunsaturated fat is 6.5% and monounsaturated fat is .6%. It is also high in phosphorous (27%) and maganese (30%)as well as Omega-3's (4915 mg) and Omega-6's (1620 mg) fatty acids.

The only drawback is if you are on a calorie counting diet you have to obviously add this in your daily count. When making the gel you end up using 1/3 of a cup of the seeds which should last you at least two days perhaps three after you've added the water. So keep in mind that 1/3 of a cup of chia seeds will add an additional 242-363 calories per day to your daily calorie count. It may seem like a lot but if the gel helps fill you up and you eat a balanced healthy diet for the rest of your calories it will definitely be worth it! Below is how to make this weight loss gel:

To help with the weight loss, you simply do this:

add 1/3 of a cup of Chia seeds to 2 cups of cold water. Whisk or stir well. Wait another 15 minutes and whisk or stir again. Leave in refrigerator for 12 hours so that the seeds and water become a gel. I didn't have a whisk and stirring them didn't seem to do much, so I put mine in a container and shook the hell out of it, then waited the 15 minutes and did it again. It started gelling then which proved to me that there has to be something to this because it was forming right before my eyes.

Today I ate a total of 1 cup of this mixture- half a cup before lunch and half of a cup before dinner. It does indeed cut down on your appetite, especially if you wait another 15-30 minutes before you eat your meal after consuming the gel. I found that out when I ate my dinner meal- I had eaten the gel about a half an hour before my dinner and found that I wasn't as hungry as I usually am during dinner.

The taste? It wasn't too bad really. Very plain tasting, and as one person had written on their blog, the gel kind of looks like frog eggs (I said eggs, not legs!). I might try adding a little bit of cottage cheese tomorrow to my lunch gel to see if it helps give it a bit of flavor as it takes a few minutes to eat it. One could add it to yogurt or a smoothie, but that would add additional calories to it, to which would be the only drawback. However, if you ate it with your oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast it will definitely fill you up and perhaps make it taste better. I am going to try doing this with other foods just because it really is tasteless. Still, if it works I'll eat it plain for the rest of my life!

Oh and where to buy Chia Seeds? I bought mine off of Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes who sell Chia seeds as well as other wonderful raw health foods and supplements. Angela Stokes lose 160 pounds from eating raw foods- good for you, Angela!

You can purchase them right here at their website:



Good luck with your weight loss journey, and here's to yours and my health!