If you were a child in the 70’s, the word Chia probably evokes memories of funny objects that were made into “pets” after the Chia Seed grew into the clay pot. There are few people alive today in their late 30’s and early 40’s that did not have this novelty item at one point or another in their lives. Finding it under the Christmas tree was quite common back then, but little did we know we were wasting something that had incredible health benefits.
Chia is famous for its ability to grow quickly, but what most people never realized is that the fast growing seed that was such novelty is also a regular part of the diet of the Indians that lived in the South West and in Mexico. This little wonder was their equivalent of Red Bull in that they used it for energy and would often live on this alone during long conquests.
When Chia seeds are put into water, they form a gel that apparently slows down the digestive process. If you want to see it for yourself, merely place some organic chia seeds into a glass that is filled with water and let them sit for 30 minutes or so. What you will see is an almost solid glass of gelatin. Doctors believe that the same thing happens when they are digested and this barrier of gel that is created slows down the conversion of carbs into sugars.
The obvious benefit of this is that your body is able to feed off of these carbs for a longer period of time and therefore creates more energy for you to live off of. This in turn will give you more energy allowing you to have more endurance. Instead of having the ups and downs that you would experience with today’s energy drinks, you would just have one prolonged burst of energy from a single dose.
Another benefit of the Chia seed is something that is right before your eyes, but something that you may not have thought of. The reason that the Chia seeds forms this gel like substance is because it has the ability to absorb about twelve times its weight in water and hold onto it. Think about that for a moment and think of how valuable something like that can be to an endurance athlete.
While you may not think to buy Chia seeds for an athletic competition, your mind will quickly change when you realize that this ability to absorb so much water is ideal as it can prevent you from dehydrating. If your body suddenly has the capacity to hold onto 12 times the amount of water, your likelihood of dehydrating during an endurance event declines significantly. This gives you a natural advantage over the completion.
As you can see, the Chia seed is for much more than creating a cute little pet out of a plant. The benefits of the Chia are very unique and few natural substances can claim the benefits of what was once only considered a novelty item. Introduce organic Chia seed to your diet and you will immediately notice a difference in your energy levels and the ability to stay hydrated.
