How to Eat Chia Seeds

Chia seeds have a mild, nutty taste and can easily be added to most dishes as a garnish, yet chewing small seeds like flax or chia generally doesn’t make the omega-3s and other nutrients readily available for digestion and assimilation. The best way to access their vitamins and minerals is to either grind or soak them.

Raw vs. Soaking: There seems to be much debate as to whether you need to soak chia seeds before eating. It won’t hurt to eat them straight, but if you soak them, then you “sprout” them, which releases the “enzyme inhibitors” that are used to protect the seed.

One, this makes it much easier to digest, and two, your body can then access the dense nutrients inside the seeds. In my opinion, you always want to get the most nutrition out of any food that you eat, so I prefer soaking them before adding them to my recipe or smoothie, if possible. Either way, they’re still an excellent source of nutrition.

How to Soak: To soak chia seeds, simply mix them in a 1:10 ratio chia to water. That’s about 1.5 tablespoons chia seeds in one cup of water. It does not have to be exact, but you do want it to gel all the way and not be too watery. Then let them sit for about 30 minutes to two hours.

Since chia seeds can hold up to 12 times their weight in water, they’re wonderful to prevent dehydration. However, if you choose not to soak them, they can also absorb water from you during digestion. So make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep your body hydrated.

Ground: Another option is to grind chia seeds in a coffee grinder or Vitamix to break down the hard outer shells before eating them. When pulverized, chia seed flour can be used in most gluten-free recipes like pancakes, muffins, breads and even pastas. When grinding omega-3-rich seeds, however, it’s important to store them in a sealed, glass container in your refrigerator or freezer.

如何食用奇亞籽？
１．奇亞籽本身沒有味道，不過蠻有嚼勁，有點像西米加芝麻，或火龍果的籽。食用時將兩湯匙加入３００毫升水中，靜置30分鐘-就會呈現膠狀物質。攪拌後即可食用，亦可加入其他食物中。
２．加入果汁、乳酪或麥皮是最簡單的營養早餐。亦可伴入沙拉，增加養份。

３．如果食譜要家麵粉、鷹粟粉或薯仔增稠或打芡，可以奇亞籽替代。將數匙未發的奇亞籽加入湯汁或醬料中，靜置１０分鐘，待呈現膠狀便有勾芡效果。

４．奇亞籽布丁這個吃法是最流行的，也是夏天消暑的健康冰品。最棒的是前一晚只需把材料準備好，第二天早上就可以加入水果、燕麥等進食，當是早餐或飯口甜品皆可。