Is Chia the new Flax?

As I was walking through London Ontario's largest summer event, the Sun festival, I came across a booth that offered Nicaraguan food. Once I realized I couldn't indulge in any of their meat infested tasters or meals, I quickly moved to three very interesting juices that they offered. One in particular was very tasty. It was sweet, with a mix of tamarind, some other flavors and these tiny little seeds called chia. I quickly fell in love with the texture of these seeds. Each little seed had formed its own little gel covering, and I could feel each cold gelly seed sail down my throat and cool my insides instantly - it was very refreshing!

As soon I got home, I did a little research, and soon came to know that chia seeds have unbelievable health properties, even more so than flax. Many of the articles I read claim that chia seeds have more omega-3, are much higher in fibre, and have significantly more calcium than flax. Flax seeds need to be grinded in order for a human to take advantage of the flax seeds health properties and moreover it is claimed that ground flax seed can only be stored to a maximum of 3 days before oxidation occurs and deteriorates its health properties. Chia seeds do not have this issue because they do not oxidate and therefore can be stored for a much longer period of time in this form. Chia seeds also have no flavor, so you can add them to pretty much anything without altering the taste of the food.

Flax Seeds and Chia Seeds











Pretty amazing stuff! With one down side...

Cost - Flax is dirt cheap, chia is quite expensive. I just purchased about a 1/2 pound of chia seeds for $7 (for you Torontonians, I purchased them at the back of King's Cafe Restaurant in Kensington Market), I can purchase flax for no more than $2 for 1 pound. I have no doubts that chia seeds will get more cost effective once it grows in popularity, but for now, I think I may mix the use of both seeds with different food items.

Here is my attempt at a cold refreshing chia drink, with a limited amount of sugar.

Refreshing Chia Drink

3 cups of water
3 hibiscus flowers or one hibiscus tea bag
2 tsp tamarind paste
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chia seeds, soaked in 1 cup of water for 30 mins

Boil water and remove from stove.
Throw in hibiscus flowers or tea bag and sugar. Cover and let steep for 10 mins.
Mix in tamarind paste until dissolved.
Taste it at this point and adjust the sweet (sugar) and sour (tamarind) to your taste. The flavor should be strong because you will be diluting it later, but should be a good balance of both flavors.
Pour into a jug and mix in chia seeds.
Fill jug with water to the rim and put in fridge until chilled through.

Enjoy! Garnish with mint to make it fancy.

And yes, they are the same as the seeds you sprout on a Chia Pet!