Chia Seeds

[Fraddycat]

Hi everyone, thanks for your comments, I'm just back from my hols (great tan!) and will be trying to improve my diet with these little seeds in the coming weeks. I also have some flax seeds and cinnamon capsules, I'm intrigued to see what happens.

[TUI]

What do these little seeds do? Do they help weight loss or constipation

A mixture of things it seems Eva. Firstly they are packed with nutrients, secondly they absorb a lot of water so help cut down the amount of food you need to fill you up so could help in weight loss, they are also reported to help lower BG and the anecdotal evidence from myself and others who have tried them seems to bear this out. I started taking them purely for nutrition, but the other benefits are a brilliant added bonus. IN the evening if I get hungry, I just have a teaspoon of chia and two glasses of water or two cups of green tea and I am full. You can replace chia in recipe's that call for an egg, or you can add it to all kinds of other foods. The seeds have no taste so are easy to add to meals or like I do, eat from a teaspoon.

Yes do, I will have to read up on macular degeneration and podiatry as all new to me. I don't like spinach cooked but like baby spinach leaves in salads. Sugar levels down to 6.2 ( a new record) had tsp of chia seeds in yoghurt at breakfast then a large spoon of yoghurt with tsp chia seeds at 9.30. Will try that again tonight and see if it works again.

I go tomorrow so will post when I get back. Well done on the new record, it makes you feel so good when you hit a new low doesn't it? Keep up the brilliant work, it's paying dividends now.

What happened at your appointments

[Defren]

Hi TUI,

I did put my results on another thread - sorry, I forgot this one

Both retinopathy and neuropathy tests came back as no signs of any problems at all. My retinopathy pictures were amazing, and I could see for myself there was absolutely nothing there at all. It was a huge relief, as was remembering my WAG sunglasses

[TUI]

Hi TUI,

I did put my results on another thread - sorry, I forgot this one

Both retinopathy and neuropathy tests came back as no signs of any problems at all. My retinopathy pictures were amazing, and I could see for myself there was absolutely nothing there at all. It was a huge relief, as was remembering my WAG sunglasses

Its got to be one of the worst worries so great news isn't it.

[xyzzy]

Bit of a weird one this. We recently did a slow cooker meal effectively a load of mince, veg and chia seeds that we calculated would end up around 12g of carbs per portion. MW cooked it as she had to go out and we had my three sons arriving for dinner so it was a nice easy thing to prepare. Anyway the effect on mine and my T1 sons BG's was dramatic. For that amount of carbs I was expecting a reading of less than 5.5 after two hours but was in the high 7's. I was still high 7's 4 hours later. My T1 son ended up injecting an extra 40 units of insulin to cover. I haven't yet confirmed it but suspect cooking the hell out of chia seeds in a slow cooker for hours does something!

[TUI]

Bit of a weird one this. We recently did a slow cooker meal effectively a load of mince, veg and chia seeds that we calculated would end up around 12g of carbs per portion. MW cooked it as she had to go out and we had my three sons arriving for dinner so it was a nice easy thing to prepare. Anyway the effect on mine and my T1 sons BG's was dramatic. For that amount of carbs I was expecting a reading of less than 5.5 after two hours but was in the high 7's. I was still high 7's 4 hours later. My T1 son ended up injecting an extra 40 units of insulin to cover. I haven't yet confirmed it but suspect cooking the hell out of chia seeds in a slow cooker for hours does something!

This is an eye opener xyzx and something to be aware of with winter dinners coming up, I must admit I have always put mine on food raw and last thing

[Defren]

I am pleased you have shared this Steve. I'm like TUI I add mine raw and at the last minute and I really do think after your experience, it's a wise move for all of us who use Chia seeds.

The more I use and learn about these little seeds the more impressed I become. I have them mostly with Greek yogurt and berries which always includes blueberries, as they are another power house of goodness. I also have flax, and this makes probably one of the most nutritious meals around, and it tastes so good. Hate fasting days when I can't have it. However, I love the fasting results I am getting, so have to just have my yogurt, berries, flax and chia seeds five days rather than 4.

[Fraddycat]

Hi Defren, I haven't really fallen in love with chia seeds unfortunately. I tried them in yoghurt with flax and raspberries but didn't really enjoy it - maybe I'll give it another go. I added them to my morning shake - made me gag (although I did manage to go 5 hours between brekkie and lunch today on only a shake and chia seeds.

I will keep persisting - they were expensive but I am not sure I would buy them again.

[TUI]

Autumns here and I'm back on porridge oats instead of yoghurt and berries, I have to admit I prefer the white seeds in yoghurt and porridge but use the black in everything else. I have the porridge with tsp milled flax with added ground sunflower and pumpkin seeds, a tsp chia, fresh blueberries and soya light milk. Everything is on a downward trend, blood pressure, weight and blood sugars (still not good but dropping slowly) so I will continue. I also started on the cinnamon a couple of weeks ago.

[Defren]

Yay TUI.. I am really pleased for you. I know patience is not easy when you are really eager to see your levels drop, but they will. I am looking at alternatives for my yogurt, berries, flax and chia. I am lucky, I was out shopping today, and my local greengrocer had all my berries (yay) so I have them for a few more days at least. I tell you what I also really like. I stew a little bit of rhubarb with 2g of splenda and add that to the yogurt, flax and chia and it flippin' lovely.

[ZoriWser]

Chia Seeds are very important and good to use for the health and fitness. Here are some benefits of the chia seeds.
1. One tablespoon of chia seeds contains 5 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein, 2282 mg of Omega 3 and 752 mg of Omega 6 fatty acid.
2. chia seeds are excellent for maintaining regularity.
3. These helps to normalize the glucose level in the blood.
4. This fiber content also helps normalize blood glucose levels by slowing the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar.


[link removed]

[Eva9]

I'd never heard of chia seeds until I found this forum. Now I'm seeing the word everywhere. 2 new breads that I've spotted contain them - Brennans an Irish bakery and Burgen. I've only seen it with linseed and flax (?) before. Its about 15 carbs a slice. I'm trying to cut down on bread so only have 1 slice at lunchtime.

[TUI]

Yay TUI.. I am really pleased for you. I know patience is not easy when you are really eager to see your levels drop, but they will. I am looking at alternatives for my yogurt, berries, flax and chia. I am lucky, I was out shopping today, and my local greengrocer had all my berries (yay) so I have them for a few more days at least. I tell you what I also really like. I stew a little bit of rhubarb with 2g of splenda and add that to the yogurt, flax and chia and it flippin' lovely.

I will keep trying, I like the rhubard idea, will try it this weekend