How to eat chia?

[doggyboarding]

I am so constipated and live on movicol to keep things moving. I keep seeing people say to eat chia seeds, but how do you prepare them? I tried just adding them straight to my morning yogurt but that made me even more constipated that week. Should I be soaking them?

You have to soak them?! Oh dear. I’ve been cooking them in porridge for my son since he was a baby. He always has chia seeds in his porridge with mashed banana. I don’t just sprinkle them on, they are cooked in with the oats and milk. Hope that’s an ok way to prep them!

I add them to a protein shake and give the whole lot a good blast in the jug blender to crush them up. Makes the shake lovely and thick.

I can’t stand the texture of chia pudding (the “leave it overnight in milk/liquid” recipe everyone recommends). I just add them to yoghurt and leave it for around 15 minutes until they turn to jelly. I still don’t like it, but at least they leak less of their flavour into the yoghurt than they do milk.

You can of course. They won't be doing much for you though.

I've never seen chia as a cure for constipation, I thought it was well known they can cause it and it's important to drink extra water if you're going to have them?

Fwiw coffee is my go to to get things moving. Also exercise never fails for me.

Soaking them can make them easier for the body to absorb, but they’re still good for you and worth it in their raw form.

@SummerCycling M&S have a range of Pop Marks fizzy drinks with 7g of fibre per can. I have one if I’m struggling on Nutracheck to hit fibre!

(Although if reducing constipation is the goal, soaking is best).

Me too!

I’ve never soaked them either and find they work just fine. They’ve been part of our nut and seed mix that we add to lots of things such as yoghurt and cereal.

Same here @Saturnista - I stir them into yoghurt a few minutes before I will eat it.

I don't think they provide any benefits when just raw though, so what's the point?

Vitality (health insurer) suggests both sprinkled and soaked as ways to consume:

https://www.vitality.co.uk/magazine/why-a-nutritionist-wants-you-to-eat-chia-seeds/

i thought is was bad to eat them without soaking

Try these

i used to be on Movicol many years ago and it made me worse. I ended up in hospital on a few occasions. we eventually figured out that my trigger is white bread/white pasta. These tablets are an absolute life saver and have also kept me on during pregnancy too. I highly recommend them. They sell them in Holland and Barrett but I think also on Amazon

I think you have to be a bit careful as they absorb a lot of water and might be a choking hazard, but careful in the "don't eat more than 15g a day and make sure you are drinking enough liquid" way.

ETA so if you don't soak them, they will take up liquid in the digestive process

They will absorb water. But most of us are dehydrated, especially at the moment. So not soaking them can lead to issues.

Just soak them.
Cooking it putting in yoghurt will do.

And drink more water anyway. It's good for you.

I make up a mixture of a fruit pot, a spoonful of vanilla yoghurt and seeds and stick it in the fridge overnight, ready for breakfast. It keeps me full til lunch which is quite some going for a tiny pot.

I make up a jar of chia seeds, raw cacao (not cocoa! - I use the brand Forever Cacao), runny kefir (not the thicker yoghurt kind), vanilla extract, bit of maple syrup and oats. Leave overnight and then it lasts half the week for breakfasts with berries or other fruit. Tastes chocolatey and delicious but is very good for you!

Quantities below for a 750ml jar if helpful -

5x tbsp chia
4x tbsp cacao
1x tbsp oats
fill jar with kefir and vanilla/maple syrup and shake before leaving overnight

Thanks for your concern.

I track my water on Nutracheck and I prefer the texture of unsoaked chia mixed with yoghurt or cottage cheese (as per my earlier post) to the squishy "chia pudding" type. So I will carry on as I am.

I make up a cup of low fat hot chocolate -200mls. Allow to cool. Add 2tblsp chia and leave in the fridge overnight.

Can eat as is for a chocolate pudding, or add a tsp or two to plain yoghurt for a cheesecake type taste.

If you want to cure constipation, forget movicol or chia seeds, take a couple of these before bed every night, you will be regular and sleep really well :)

@HelenDenver

Thank you so much for this brilliant tip!! I do a lot of our food shopping at M&S but haven't seen those drinks. I am definitely going to try it.

Nutracheck is really helpful isn't it. I love how it gives stats for each day, week and 4 weeks. The hardest things for me are getting enough fibre and keeping my sugar down.

I find a couple of pints of Guinness quite good for getting things moving…

Nothing to do with Chia but have you tried a magnesium supplement? I use Nutrition Geeks triple complex.