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THOUGHTS FOR SPRINGGOOD CHIA It has been a little over a month now since I began to include chia seeds in my daily diet
– long enough to know that they will always be an essential part of my life. Sweets have always been my downfall. I know better, but I crave desserts
and am very partial to a sneaky candy bar, several rich cookies or a big dish of ice-cream. Replacing the sugar in
my tea with stevia was a good thing, but didn’t stop me from the clandestine cookie/candy greed. Chia has solved the
problem. Not only do I not get hungry between meals, but I can walk past a plate of the sweet stuff without a pang! I am not sure what the magic ingredient is,
but those wee chia seeds obviously contain something I have been lacking for seventy-odd years. One tablespoon (15 grams)
of chia seeds contains: - Omega 3 equal to 250 grams (9 ounces) of salmon.
- Antioxidants equal to 15 grams of blueberries.
- Fibre equal to 19 grams of bran.
- Protein equal to 44 grams of kidney beans.
- Calcium equal to 3 ounces of milk and boron to facilitate calcium absorption.
Chia also contains three times more iron than
spinach, fifteen times more magnesium than broccoli, a perfect balance of Omega 3 to Omega 6 and various other trace elements
and vitamins. It has no cholesterol or trans-fats, is gluten free and is not known to cause allergies. Storage is easy –
no need to refrigerate, and like all seeds, it stays good for ages. No wonder the Aztecs loved it! There are lots of chia recipes on the web, but I take mine the easy
way by stirring a teaspoonful into a glass of juice, water or kombucha and allowing it a minute to soften before drinking.
Two tablespoons a day works for me. I think everyone my age will benefit from a few cups of ‘good chia’ but its
usefulness goes far beyond the Senior Supplement category. Because the seeds swell in one’s stomach to about seven times their original size
and form a kind of gel that digests quite slowly, this is an ideal food for dieting. Drinking extra water is important and
helps to maintain the ‘not hungry’ feeling. Because the energy of chia is released so slowly, your body will not
get the spikes and crashes inherent in regular diets and the urge to binge on unsuitable food. This is particularly important
for diabetics and is one reason that it is creating such interest in medical circles. Obviously it is an important food for
athletes too, offering stamina and endurance. Even Oprah is enthused about chia! The two varieties of seeds, white and black, have
the same analysis. Seeds are available locally for twelve - fifteen dollars for 500 grams (enough for two weeks). If you can’t
find it there are several web sources (our favourite is www.getchia.com where they pay the postage and you can buy in bulk
if you wish). .. . So be chia-ful.
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CHIA-FULL Do
you eat wisely? Many people in our ‘advanced’ society choose food that leaves their bodies unsatisfied and unwell.
We could learn something from the diet of the sixteenth-century Aztecs – their ABC foods (amaranth, beans, corn and
chia) were usually home-grown and supplemented by wild game and herbs as well as the more exotic maca and cocao. Analysis
of their diet meets the criteria suggested by our health regulators, a criteria that too many of us ignore. Chia is
a power food. Although fairly expensive, a little goes a long way and it is dream-stuff for dieters. The little seeds swell
readily into a gel that can be kept in your fridge and used as an extender for the ‘fat’ stuff like margarine,
yogurt, jam, mayonnaise, puddings and most everything you count calories for. The gel is flavourless so takes on the taste
of anything you add it to without affecting the overall chow-down experience (it is also much better for you than most of
the stuff it displaces). To make the gel, use a scant tablespoon of seed to a cup of water. Whisk with a fork or a wire
whipper to break up the clumps and leave for five minutes before whisking again. Sit for a further fifteen minutes before
using – it will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but I guarantee you will have used it long before that. Use
for baking in place of oils and fats, for an extender in anything you can blend it with or for a fortifier in juice, smoothies
and any drinks, hot or cold. It adds an interesting texture to drinks, but the best thing is that you know you are being good
to your body. Great for the conscience! The perfect balance of Omega3 and Omega6 oils in chia is one of its important
power points. It is equally as valuable as flax seed, without the problem of having to add preservatives for storage (the
seeds will keep for years just the way they are). Fish oils, our other great source of Omega3, have become a bit scary with
the issue of mercury contamination being prevalent. Chia is squeaky clean from the ground up, as the plants have their own
natural bug repellent in the leaves and require no pesticide spraying while they grow. I am still waiting to get my
hands on some chia oil, as I think it should make an interesting cosmetic ingredient - the Aztecs used it for a base for their
body paint. They also packed infected wounds with the gel as a poultice to draw out infection and put a few seeds in their
eyes to clear up eye problems. But the most interesting use of the gel was by the Indian tribes who used the seeds as ‘running
food’. The night before a deer hunt, they would sleep with chia gel under their arms. This sounds a mite uncomfortable,
but apparently it would remove every trace of underarm odour so that the deer would not smell them coming. Now there is an
idea with possibilities!
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QUESTIONS FOR SPRING 1 tablespoon of CHIA contains: Omega 3 equal to ? ounces of salmon Antioxidants
equal to ? grams of blueberries Fibre equal to ?
of bran Protein equal to ? grams of kidney beans Calcium equal to ? ounces of milk CHECK BELOW FOR SOME
FRIENDLY LINKS...
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SPRING TONIC It is truly Spring in Crescent Valley. I know this because an elk visited us two nights ago and ate most of my
crocuses – he must have needed a spring tonic. Crocuses are not one I would recommend, but I suppose they looked pretty
good after a few months of eating bark and twigs. This is the time of year when we are inclined to suffer from ‘spring fever,’ a sort of droopiness and
malaise brought about by the restrictions of winter living. Even though, unlike our forefathers, we can now eat a varied diet
during winter, most of us are faced with months of stale air. We don’t breathe deeply and well until we can escape outside
into spring sunshine. Traditional spring
tonics help tone up our systems and get rid of accumulated toxins. Many early plants are beneficial, especially those that
are bitter, but dandelions are probably the most widely used. Jessica Godino (Red Moon Herbs) tells us that dandelion root
stimulates bile production to flush out liver cells and also ‘stimulates respiratory function at the cellular level.’
Make a tea by simmering a tablespoon of root, dried or fresh, in a quart of water for ten minutes. Take a cup three times
a day for about three weeks. Dandelion leaves added to salads are high in potassium and are also a useful diuretic. French
folk call them ‘pis-en-lit’ (piss-in-the-bed) so use with care! Young nettle greens are one of the most nutritious foods available (rich in calcium, magnesium,
zinc, iron, cobalt, copper, potassium, trace minerals, and B-complex) and taste even better than spinach. Cook them like spinach,
but wear gloves when you pick them and don’t try eating them raw. Violet leaves are high in vitamin C and delicious added to spring tonic teas, The flowers are
edible too, and are a dainty and tasty addition to salads. My grandmother used to coat them with sugar crystals and use them
for cake decorations. Red clover is not
blooming yet, but watch for it. Although not a ‘bitter,’ it is a powerful purifier and the fat, pink blossoms
make a delicious tea. Cheryl Hoard tells us that it is also known as a folk cancer remedy. It contains an anti-angiogenic
chemical called genistein – angiogenesis is the means by which tumours send out biochemical signals, inviting blood
vessels to grow into them, a sort of welcome mat for cancer. Don’t use red clover if you are pregnant. Other useful ‘spring cleaners’ are burdock
roots and shoots, yellow dock, Oregon grape, honeysuckle, tansy (use very sparingly), chicory root, fiddlenecks, horseradish
and chickweed. Experiment with different combinations, then invite your friends over and force them to drink a cup of spring
tonic tea with you. Or you may prefer to try this recipe from North Carolina: Chop roots of spring burdock, yellow dock, dandelion and sasparilla. Mix with moonshine. Take as needed.
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