Anyone ever use em? where to get em? etc. Educate me please.
mean chia seeds? i love them. trace minerals, omega 3s, protein, and a good endurance booster. if you have a whole foods where you live you can easily find them there. you can also find ground up versions called “salba”. you can get them online too, but check a local health food store
whered you hear of chia seeds?
mean chia seeds? i love them. trace minerals, omega 3s, protein, and a good endurance booster. if you have a whole foods where you live you can easily find them there. you can also find ground up versions called “salba”. you can get them online too, but check a local health food store
whered you hear of chia seeds?
I heard about them from a guy at the running store but he couldn’t tell me much. how do you personally like to use em? in a water bottle or is it more complicated than that?
Anyone ever use em? where to get em? etc. Educate me please.
ive been adding them to my oatmeal every morning lately
i have noticed no difference in performance or how I feel
When you mix them with water, it turns into a sort of a tasteless, odorless jelly. Mixed with lime and a little suar, it can be tasty. I have never found it to actually -do- anything(tried it two or three times before workouts), but if you’re in the mood to eat speckled goo, go for it.
When you mix them with water, it turns into a sort of a tasteless, odorless jelly. Mixed with lime and a little suar, it can be tasty. I have never found it to actually -do- anything(tried it two or three times before workouts), but if you’re in the mood to eat speckled goo, go for it.
its pretty unoffensive if you just add it to cereal
its gotten popular from the book born to run, but i read it from “the thrive diet” which was written by a vegan pro ironman.
i basically use them in my pre-workout smoothie for long endurance workouts 2+ hours usually. although i havent lately i prefer to put the 2 tablespoon of chia seeds in water to soak overnight so its even easier to digest then put them in my pre-workout smoothie. they make i also do the same soaking and sometimes put them in my homemade gel’s which are chia seeds, celery, and dates.
an article on chia seeds and the gel form they kinda turn into after you soak them, and other benefits
Pretty interesting, I’m gonna toy with this for my long workouts and see how it goes. Do you find it pretty easy to digest while on the move?
I’ve been eating them a lot lately and the enormous alfalfa-afro that has started growing out of my cranium makes my head a lot less aero.
Anyone ever use em? where to get em? etc. Educate me please.
ive been adding them to my oatmeal every morning lately
i have noticed no difference in performance or how I feel
pretty much agree. Add them to salad/cereal or soak in water with a little fruit juice (citrus, lime, lemon, oranage). But I dont buy that they are as good as gold. Have found that when taking them before training I am slightly less thirsty, but a multitude of factors could play into that.
A friend told me he started taking them, and while he hasn’t noticed a difference in energy, his good cholesterol count has gone up…take that for what it’s worth.
Apparently the Raramuri (spelling?) running tribes of Mexico drink it for energy. My boyfriend has noticed that he doesn’t need so much coffee (and some days even can get by without), after drinking for a few days…He also swears he feels better on long runs.
I get them at a local health food store like Sprouts or wholefoods (Sprouts have them loose in bins). I put them in homemade granola/energy bars, sprinkle on cereal and put them in smoothies. They go really well with chocolate, I made soem espresso chia bars the other day that were awesome! They are like poppy seeds though and get stuck in your teeth, so be sure to floss/brush whatever afterwards.
so it seems safe to say most are using chia as a part of a normal diet and not specifically for nutrition during heavy execise. I’m planning to use it only for pre-exercise and during exercise nutrition/hydration. Am I way off base planning to use it this way?
I think I’m the only guy here not into them. Everyone mixes these rather foul looking drinks and ingests them. The guys down here swear by them. I still need a bit of convincing…
I prefer Red Bull.
even better mix em with redbull!
Hey fa,
I’ll include my N=1 study. I’m going into my 3rd month of using the seeds. I mix 1/2 cup of the seeds w/ 3 cups of water to make the jelly/gu. I have them preworkout in the am and again w/ dinner at night (more on that in a bit). I bot them online. I can’t remember the website, but it was much cheaper then at the Co-op in town.
Notable observations:
- No change in perceived energy levels or fitness.
- I feel better hydrated while running and biking over 1 hr (for me this is confirmed by pee color post workout and amount of sweat during workout).
- More consistent bowel movements (yep, you needed to know that one).
- The biggest thing I’ve noticed is the lack of hunger. When I have the gel b/4 meals I eat less and feel fuller for a longer period of time. Usually I am starving hungry by about 8 pm and then I resort to having something unhealthy. W/ the seeds, I only eat at meals unless I desire something b/t and then I only have a bit of whatever I am desiring b/c I am not eating it to get full. My guess is this is a function of the seeds containing something that my body is naturally lacking (I don’t think it’s protein). I’m sure I could be getting the same thing from “normal” food but I could be way off. This has resulted in weight loss (7 lbs) - and probably lower body fat % - although I certainly was not trying them to lose weight.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
great info, thank you.
Are these the same seeds you spread on a Chia Pet and watch it grow?
Cool!
I gave them a try after talking to an individual selling them but also doing research on the net. Initially, I thought maybe I could use it for nutrition/hydration in IM races. They were used by the indians in Mexico for energy and hydration. They supposedly used them when traveling long distances on foot. From what I read, it gave them energy and also hydrated them. If I recall, each seed could attach (4) times it weight in fluid. So by mixing them with your fluid, you could have a complete nutrition/hydration system. I did (2) rides, using them in my water bottle, mixed with juice and water. I also put some in my oatmeal each morning and yogurt mix for lunches over a period of about a month. Here is what I found:
- Didn’t notice any improvements in my work output.
- Didn’t feel any better then when I wasn’t using it.
- Don’t laugh, but always had big shits while using it. I was consuming on the order of (2) pounds/week. It would be good to reduce colon cancer.
- During both my rides, one of 160km and another of 190km I tried to use only my mixture of chia seeds in my water bottles mixed with juice diluted with water. At around 130 to 150km into each ride I found it not to be any help and actually had to fall back on my back-up of normal nutrition and hydration.
I personally think the ancient indians used it to give them a feeling of a full stomach while traveling those long distances. They are dry, so they don’t spoil and they’re light, so a few pounds can last a long time. The energy content of chia seeds is very minimal. Somewhere on the order of 30cal/oz. I packed each bottle with as much as it could hold mixed with liquid and still be drinkable. I would carry (4) of these bottles on my ride. IT WASN’T ENOUGH! I eventually gave up on using it as a nutrition/hydration mixture for IM races.
You can do some research on them. They have other health benefits, but as a nutrition/hydration system for training, there are better choices out there.