There are ridiculous amounts of health food crazes, think wheat grass, kale, goji berries and acai… but what really is a so-called ‘superfood’?. The official definition is loosely based around the following: natural, disease-fighting, calorie sparse vs. nutrient dense i.e. the foodstuff packs a punch for their weight as far as goodness goes. Based on this definition chia seeds fit squarely in the superfood category, they are brimming with the essential nutrients our bodies crave.
Lets take the teeny chia seed under a microscope: having higher omega-3 levels than salmon, containing a wealth of antioxidants and being almost all protein and fibre they are a nutritionist’s dream. The other benefit which particularly interests me is that chia seeds help stabilise blood sugar levels which is ideal when trying to remove or reduce the white stuff from your diet.
Now how do you eat them? Well, they are great to sprinkle, for example I have a tablespoon in my porridge daily. You can chuck them into a batch of muffins or bread, add them to a stew to thicken it up or simply make a delicious chia seed pudding as below (which takes all of 5 minutes)…
Ingredients Serves 2-3
- 5 tbsps chia seeds
- 300ml full fat coconut or almond milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1tbsp brown rice syrup
- 8 strawberries
Method
- Mix together the chia seeds, milk, vanilla, spices and brown rice syrup
- Leave the mixture in the fridge overnight
- In the morning, blend together the strawberries
- Give the chia mix a good stir and then layer alternatively with the strawberries
Beyond the Sugar Veil 