Essential Fatty Acids - What are they?

Essential fatty acids are nutrients that you must consume, since your body does not, and cannot make them on its own.

Omega-3 is one essential fatty acid. Interestingly, only the short chain form of omega3 fatty acid, called ALA (alpha-linolenic fatty acid), not DHA or EPA, is considered essential.

Why?

This is because the body can convert ALA into the other two forms of omega-3.

Chia is the highest plant source of omega-3.  Being a food derived from plants, all types of consumers (gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, meat lovers, etc.) can safely enjoy chia.

Have you had your chia today?®

Chia as a SUPERFOOD

What makes a food, a SUPERFOOD?

There is no technical nor scientific definition for what constitutes a superfood. However the term superfood is commonly used to describe a food with high nutrient or phytochemical content, that may confer health benefits, and having few properties considered to be negative, such as being high in saturated fats or artificial ingredients, food additives or contaminants. The Oxford English Dictionary includes citations for superfood as being "a food considered especially nutritious or otherwise beneficial to health and well-being.”

Given the above statements, chia could rightly be called a superfood since it:

1.  is nutrient-rich

2.  contains health promoting nutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants)

3.  contains phytonutrients (plant based nutrients)

4.  is low in saturated fats and has no artificial ingredients or additives

Have you had your chia today?®

My New Book at Barnes at Noble

Chia Lovers

The street teams were out in NY, Chicago, Philly, SF and Seattle May 1 and 2 handing out cards and samples of Chia-2-Go packs® to advertize the launch of my new book entitled "CHIA: The Complete Guide to the Ultimate Superfood".

The book will be discounted 30% in all Barnes and Noble stores May 1-7.

Here is a photo of the book on display in the Arlington Texas store.

Chia in the News

Chia Friends

Well chia is hitting the news all over the place with lots of articles being published lately.

If you are interested, go to http://drcoateschia.com/chia_in_the_news.htm and click on the links to read them.

Have you had your chia today?®

Wayne

My New Chia Book

Chia Friends

My new book CHIA: The Complete Guide to the Ultimate Superfood just came out and is available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon or DrCoatesChia

We are very pleased with the book as not only does the book have a lot of information on chia, it talks about some of the myths and misconceptions about chia, contains over 75 recipes as well as exercise plans to help you get and stay healthy.

Some chapters are: Staying Healthy with Chia, Cooking Eating and Healing with Chia.

It was written so as to help everyone better understand chia and its potential health benefits.

Wayne

How to tell Good from Bad Chia

To our chia friends......

An individual sent me an email to which was attached a photo of chia seed they had purchased from two different vendors.  The question posed to me was what is the difference?  Is one better than the other?

Here is some information and photos

The seed on the left is clearly inferior quality, contains many immature seeds (brown) and even the black seeds are a lighter color which is not normal. The seed on the right is much higher quality. So look at the seed you buy, brown is bad, white(cream) or black are good.

Have you had your chia today? ®


Wayne

Ways to add CHIA to your diet

5 easy ways to add CHIA to your daily diet

• Mix in with your morning juice or milk 

• Add to your smoothie 

• Sprinkle on your salad 

• Add to your yogurt 

• Sprinkle on peanut butter and banana sandwich 

Have you had your CHIA today?®

Why you need to consume Omega3

5 reasons for Omega-3 in your daily diet:

* improve cardiovascular health
* lower cholesterol
* reduce inflammation
* boost your immune system
* improve your mood

Chia is the highest known plant source of Omega-3.

Have you had your CHIA today? ®

New Articles on Chia

The international community is taking note of CHIA. Check out these 3 recent articles:

BBC Newsmagazine

Independent from the UK

Toronto Globe and Mail

Have you had your chia today? ®

Chia - seed or grain?

Is chia (Salvia hispanica L.) a grain or a seed?

People have been calling chia a grain, but that simply is not correct. It is a seed. Here is an explanation of the difference between a grain and a seed from a botanical standpoint.

A grain has its fruit wall and seed coat fused, so you cannot separate them. So each grain is technically an individual fruit (called a caryopsis) containing a single seed. When processed, the fused ovary wall (fruit coat) and seed coat are the "bran," the embryo is the "germ," and the endosperm is the part full of carbohydrates that we eat. Of course, if you eat whole grains you get the bran, germ and endosperm together. So on an ear of corn or the head of a grain, each grain is an individual ovary with a seed inside.

Seeds are fertilized/ripened/mature ovules (that are found within ovaries), and the seed coat is made of the maternal tissue called integuments. The ovary is part of the flower that contains the ovules. So in fruits, like watermelon, the rind and what we eat is all ovary, and the "seeds" are the black things inside (to confuse matters, the little white things are ovules that did not get fertilized). Most plants have true seeds, but in some plants, like wheat, rice, and corn what we see and use is really the fruit and seed combined. Interestingly what have often been called ancient grains (amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat) are actually seeds!

Chia grows multiple seed heads on a single plant, within each head the seeds are singular within a capsule or husk, which is formed at each flower. If you hand strip the head from the plant, the capsules come off, rubbing them in your hand the seed comes out. The husk is what is left of the ovary (fruit) coat. You have just a single seed per ovary in chia, which is not uncommon in plants. The capsule or husk is the ovary, with the individual seeds coming from ovules in the ovary.

So in summary: Seeds just have a seed coat, embryo and endosperm/cotyledons, whereas grains also include the ovary.

Hence chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is technically a seed, and because if the high oil content, is an oilseed.