Comments on: Chia Seed Research

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:27:01 +0000

I’ve experienced all the benefits of Chia like stamina, mental clarity, great BM, and joint pain gone. However after 6 months of 2 tablespoons a day in AM I’m getting sores on my hands and feet and occasional on lips. These sores are similar looking to cold-sores, but do not respond to same treatment, and are about a 100 times more painful. I can hardly use my hands or touch anything as it’s so painful. The sores are not open, but more like blisters that stay under the skin. They last for about 7-10 days and dry up with a yellow/brown crust that eventually peels off. Another thing is a very significant problem with gas. It’s not like a little issue, but really excessive and powerful (if you get my drift). The third thing is that I have started to feel like I’m being poisoned very slowly, and in the afternoons my voice starts to become very weak and uncharacteristic of my normal voice, like I can’t provide the force to get it out, even though I don’t feel weak otherwise. Oh, and one last thing is that I’ve had three incidences of feeling a kind of faintness or disorientation for very brief moments.
I’m not saying that I have conclusive evidence that Chia is the cause of all this, but I certainly am questioning it and found a fair bit of collaborating evidence when searching online for Chia side effects. Also I’ve now stopped taking any Chia for 6 days and all symptoms except the sores have gone away. My hypothesis is that I’m allergic to Chia, and that over time some reaction is building and my body is trying to rid me of some substance in Chia through the skin (hence it is taking some time for that symptom to go away). Also I don’t have high blood pressure, so maybe Chia is lowering my blood pressure too much (voice + faintness).
I have not made any other changes to my diet or lifestyle in the last 6 months, only added Chia.
Would be nice to have more medical science done on Chia and allergies, and other side effects.

By: JP

JP — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:35:51 +0000

Will,

I’m away on a trip but wanted to post a quick reply:

1) I would take the chia prior to or with meals.

2) I would use unsweetened almond milk instead of cow’s milk (or any other milk substitute that contains sugar). This should lower the glycemic load of your morning meal.

3) I can’t say for certain, but I would guess the WF bulk chia is just fine.

Be well!

By: Will

Will — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:25:45 +0000

I just started taking chia seeds in an attempt to lower my A1C. I take about 2-3 tablespoons after my cereal (kashi go lean – which is already high in fiber) every morning and then take another 2 to 3 tablespoons in the evening following dessert around 8:30 (about two hours following dinner). I usually just put about a quarter cup of water on the chia seeds and let them soak for 10 mins before consuming. My question is the timing of eating the seeds. Most articles talk about eating them mixed with the meal but assuming I don’t do that, is it better to eat them before or after the meal/snack or does it matter? I also get my chia seeds at Whole Foods in the bulk area. I was just assuming they would carry the most nutritious version – should I look for a particular brand?

By: JP

JP — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:51:13 +0000

Gabrielle,

The forms of chia and types of administration varied among the studies. Some of the details are available via the footnotes/links presented at the end of (some of) the paragraphs in the column above.

You might be interested in a brief update I’ve posted recently about chia seeds – the updated data appears at the bottom:

http://www.healthyfellow.com/752/best-of-chia-seeds/

Be well!

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 07:03:55 +0000

Something of concern to me is how the test subjects were given the chia seeds: were they whole? ground? soaked? how long? what kind of water? with what other foods were they served (i.e. what other nutrients were present to assist/interfere with the absorption of chia’s nutrients?

By: JP

JP — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:46:20 +0000

SJ,

The most recent study looking into the effects of chia seeds re: blood pressure showed no significant alteration:

http://www.nrjournal.com/article/S0271-5317%2809%2900089-X/abstract

The study (linked above) used an even higher dosage of 50 grams/day (25 grams, twice-daily).

Be well!

By: s james

s james — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:07:07 +0000

and just in case you dont know the study i refer to, it lowered the diastolic bp in all 20 cases but they were taking a dose of 37g per day, which seems like a huge dose to me.

Thanks.

Any info would be a great help.

By: s james

s james — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:04:36 +0000

Hello,

I too (like JT) am wondering about chia and blood pressure. I can get low blood pressure at times and reading some info online im not sure now about chia for me. (It was the study in a Canadian hospital for elderly people who had diabetes type 2 that i refer to here). I am a young woman so not sure if i need to be cautious. Most of the stuff i have read says to consult the doctor but its been my experience that doctors dont know much about herbs!

Can you help with any info??

Thanks,

By: JP

JP — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:24:21 +0000

Diane,

Both chia and psyllium contain large quantities of soluble fiber.

re: fiber in cereal, muffins, etc.

I’m not sure what the fiber cut off should be. 10 grams? 20 grams? I can sometimes reach over 20 grams of fiber in one meal. Would I take a supplement with such a meal? Probably … if I needed to. But I don’t think I’d risk taking a medication with it.

What worries me is how you’ll know (or not) if the medication absorption is being affected in an adverse manner. If you were taking an aspirin for a headache you’d know. But many other medications aren’t so obvious.

Unless the drug information specifically states to avoid fiber when taking it/them, I wouldn’t be too concerned about eating a healthy meal which contains naturally occurring fiber. But I think it would be safest not to include additional fiber to meals or snacks with which you plan to take medications.

Just my two cents.

Be well!

By: Diane

Diane — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:01:00 +0000

I just looked back at the article and it deals with fiber and medications — not sure if that is exactly the same thing. For example, would a high fiber cereal interfere with medications? would a flax meal muffin be a problem? or is chia gel just so high in fiber that it should be treated with the same precautions as specific fiber supplements — like psyllium?

I appreciate your opinion.
Diane