GARDENPlants and seeds

Will chia seeds lose vitamins/antioxidants if you cook them?

I’m trying to add chia seeds to my diet, but I am not sure if they are best eaten raw so they don’t lose any of their healthy benefits?

Heat always diminishes vitamins but I still cook with chia seeds as well as eat them raw.

I add ground flax seed or chia seed to about everything. They are both incredibly nutritious. Chia seeds swell up when soaked and remind me of tapioca with a strawberry seed inside. They really have no taste but I love the texture. No other whole grain compares on a nutritional level, and it has an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) that is greater than blueberries on a per-gram basis (80 micromole TE/d). I let them sit on the counter to soak for 12 hours this germinates them and raises the ORAC level 2.5x higher.

I think they are much more nutritious raw and add them to salads & tuna as well as making faux tapioca regularly. I also add them to cooked food for bulk but prefer to use flax seed for cooked food. Flax seed has a slight taste to it but chia seed is tasteless so it doesn’t change the flavor of foods the way flax seed would. In Mexico, they add chia seed to lemonade and call it chia fresca and it is addicting. I was getting 400% of my daily requirement of fiber by drinking this and have to regulate my intake, but it is fun.

I make a “porridge” as suggested by Dr.Mercola with low carb whey powder & water, I add ground flax seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, coconut milk, tahini (ground sesame seeds) & raw egg. All seeds & nuts are raw & soaked to germinate them.

I make a green drink with spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass & kelp with lemon juice & stevia & add rehydrated chia seed gel and drink this all day.

I’ll make a salad with canned foods: mackerel & or sardines, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, artichoke hearts, sweet red peppers & add mayo, chia seed gel & sometimes soaked sunflower seeds. Lately I’ve been mixing in cod liver oil to virgin coconut oil & adding in soy sauce & miso before adding mayo & all the other items.

Faux tapioca – 2 cups of water, 5 scoops of low carb whey protein powder, stir together & add cup of chia seeds, after they have started to absorb the water, add in 2 cans of coconut milk & sweetener if you like and mix it all in. Can be eaten after an hour but will be better tomorrow. Cream a pkg. of cream cheese into a can of pumpkin and add to the faux tapioca for an even more nutritious pumpkin pie pudding.

I put them in a blender once & did not like them that way at all. The blender broke up the seeds from the “gel packet” & it just ended up gritty. Next time, I will blend every thing else & then fold in the chia seed gel separately.

Chia seeds sound so expensive but 1# will make 10# food. I buy in bulk from getchia.com for $5# with free shipping.

Ground flax seed (4 Tbsp) 1/4 cup water, artificial sweetener, mix in a raw egg – let sit 10 min. to absorb liquid, put some cream cheese in the middle & nuke 2 minutes. For daily fiber needs.

Highly nutritious foods you should consider: sprouts, spirulina, paprika, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, garlic, brewers yeast, raw almonds, ground flax seeds & chia seeds.

Flax seed – 3.5oz – 534 cal – 65% calories from fat (high in Omega3 fatty acids) for 2gram carb – 27g fiber 109%DV – 26% DV Calcium – 64% Phosphorus – 29% Zinc – 61% Copper – 124% Manganese – 36% Selenium – 98% Magnesium – 32% Iron – 110% Thiamin – 9% B2 Riboflavin – 15% B3 Niacin – 24% Vit.B6 – 22% Folate – 10% Vit.B5.- 39% Potassium

Chia seeds – 3.5 oz is nearly 500 calories, half calories from fat (high in Omega3 fatty acids) 38g fiber 151%DV & 16grams of COMPLETE protein for 6grams carbs & 63% DV Calcium – 95% Phosphorus – 23% Zinc – 9% Copper – 108% Manganese. & many of the same vitamins as flax seeds.

How to Eat Chia Seeds

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