Chia Seed-Three Problems With Chia Seeds

While the Chia seed is an excellent "super food" packed with nutrients there are three major potential disadvantages to people who consume as outlined below:

1. While some Chia seed companies claim that all of the Chia seeds nutrients are absorbed in the digestive tract and the outer husk is passed out of your body through a bowel movement, we have seen little science to prove this. In fact, many people pass the whole seed a day or so later in their bowel movement so one potential drawback of the chia seed is that you may not be getting all of the benefits of the nutrients within the seed and it may just be a source of fiber for you.


2. Another drawback to Chia seed is that it tends to expand when it comes into contact with liquid due to the high insoluble fiber content. The chia seed is designed to do this and there is nothing wrong with it. As an example, put a few chia seeds in water and in less than five minutes you will see the chia seed start to resemble what looks like slimy fish eggs. This becomes a problem if you like to mix your chia seed into food and it will make the food quite slimy in a fairly short time.


3. Not all Chia seed has the same nutrient quality as there is some extremely cheap chia seed products available. A good quality Chia product will list nutrient facts on the package.

So, while Chia seed is a fantasic source of nutrients you can see that it may have some potential disadvantages based on how you eat it and the quality of Chia you purchase. In a future post, we will discuss other forms of Chia including ground chia, milled chia and more.