Chia seeds and the like

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Eating healthy is a new experience for me. I've spent the weekend researching and reading, trying out different sites and finally settled on this one.

I wonder if anyone has tried some of the natural supplements (term?) out there, like chia seeds, flaxoil, cinnamon, capsasin, apple cider vinegar and the like?

The chia seeds sound like a super food if all the claims are true, but I'd like some advice from people who've lived healthy a lot longer than my 2 days before I drop real cash on them.

Any advice?

Replies

  • scrook43
    scrook43 Posts: 78 Member
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    I have been eating chia seeds now daily for almost a year. I love them, They fill me up and I really think they have helped me maintain my weight loss. I usually add 2 tablespoons a day to my oatmeal or protein shake for breakfast. I also add them to my protein peanut butter balls and cookies and muffins. Another thing I now eat daily is nutritional yeast. I don't eat much meat or fish and nutritional yeast is an excellent way to get your b vitamins. I just sprinkle it on my veggies or popcorn Give them both a try. I think you will really like the results.
  • waterpanda
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    I can't speak about chia speeds specifically, having never tried them, but my personal feelings are to never drop real money on anything. If it has to come from some crazy far away place, or be processed in some crazy fashion to make it super expensive I don't see why I should be eating it. People were made to eat common, normal foods. Fruit, vegetables, meat. There's plenty of super healthy people out there who don't spend a lot of cash on acai, spirulina, and the like.

    Also from what I understand, "super foods" are foods that have a high degree of nutrients (vitamins, etc.) per their calorie content. If you're hitting your recommended daily values of vitamins and minerals, however, I don't really see any added biological benefit in getting over that. It might even be bad for you (not saying that chia is bad for you, just the principle of getting more nutrients than you need). You can easily meet your recommended daily values if you balance your diet with non-superfoods (normal people food).

    Just my two cents.

    Edit: My point of view on expensive supplements may also be jaded by living the poor student live style :P
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
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    Before I came to this site, the only people I knew who used Chia seeds for anything were ultra marathoners. They certainly weren't using them for weight loss.