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Chia Seeds - An Ancient Superfood

(Updated Sep 24, 2011) Not all chia seeds grown today are super foods - that is my consideration from my personal experience. Chia was documented to exist as a food in 3500 BC. They were cherished in Central America before the Spanish Invasion 1400-1500's.

The chia seeds have become very well known and demanded within the last few years. But I have been looking for a particular quality - possibly like that quality that existed over a thousand years ago.

Salvia hispanica photo - Christian Froissart
Chia Seeds photo - Wikipedia

Salvia hispanica

Here you see the chia plant (Salvia hispanica) and a blown up picture of the seeds.

Obviously, someone kept growing them since we have them today.

These chia seeds are actually about the size of a pin head. From this picture you can see the detail and variety of the seeds from one crop.

Who Brought this Superfood Back?

A small group decided to bring back a few of the lost foods of this era which included chia seeds. A project was started called the Northwestern Argentina Regional Project.

"The project started in 1991 with an agreement between Partners of the Americas Inc., a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC, and Agropecuaria El Valle S.A., an agricultural enterprise with offices in Buenos Aires and Catamarca, Argentina.

"This technical cooperation was made possible through the Farmer to Farmer program, financed by the Congress of the United States as a part of the 1990-95 Farm Bill (Public Law 480), and the Agency for International Development (USAID)."

- Reference: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-045.html

Not All Chia Are the Same

I have known about them for many years but the kind I was buying didn't seem to do much for me. At least I couldn't tell that they did anything. I had added them to my diet because I was wanting to eat as much of a variety of foods as I could find. I would keep a small supply on hand and add them to my meals now and then.

So What Changed?

As far as I can tell, they weren't grown properly. For a couple of years, I had been looking for foods outside the normal health food stores. I am very picky about what I buy and I found a particular brand that was marketed as a super food.

I found a brand called Chian which were produced on a farm under the guidance of Wayne Coates. He and a person named Ricardo Ayerza had worked with the Northwestern Argentina Regional Project, focusing on research and development to commercialize them.

From what I've read, there were particular growing conditions and locations required for the best results. So I am guessing that is why some are better than others.

Not all Chia Seeds are Superfoods

I had the opportunity to test the differences by eating the Chian chia for several months. Then, when I ran out, I purchased another brand from my local health food store. But... after eating them for about a week, I just couldn't keep eating them. I threw them away.

So what was different? I'm very sensitive to foods. They were not uplifting and I didn't feel anything positive from eating them which I did with the Chian. I presume it has to do with the amount of life energy contained in the foods.

When I was able to get Chian again I could definitely tell the difference. Since I am so sensitive to the foods I eat, good and bad, it's important to me to eat the highest quality when I can get it.

Chian does not exist anymore. But... I did find another brand which has been really good. The brand is Navitas. I called the company to see where it was grown and all the details I could find out.

Their chia is grown in Mexico, which is excellent! That's were it was originally grown before it was carried to other parts of the world ages ago. They also grow it organically.

I tried it out and found the Navitas brand to be quite acceptable. I felt like it was very close to the Chian brand that I use to eat. But... what happened after finding Navitas - the Chian brand re-entered my life under another name. Can you believe this? I couldn't...

You'll have to read what happened because I'm still not done working this out. Check this out...

More on Chia...

Chia Seeds - How Much a Day?
Best Chia - Why My Choice
Where to Buy Chia
Chia Plant - Gathering the Seeds

References

http://www.eatchia.com
http://wwwl.wikipedia.com
http://www.robinssalvias.com/gallery23.shtm
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/
newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-045.html

Please feel free to email me if you have questions or comments. I am always happy to respond.

Go to the Natural Healthy Eating Home Page from Chia Seeds

SBI!