A few days ago, I wrote about 5 under-appreciated super foods, including flax seed, one of nature's best sources for omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs). That's when my cousin Cheryl brought chia seed to my attention.
In pre-Columbian America, Chia seed was highly prized by Aztec and Mayan civilizations, and with good reason! It is an excellent source of high-quality protein, calcium, potassium, trace minerals and antioxidants. Better yet, according to some sources, chia seed has more omega-3 EFAs per serving than flax seed!
Does that mean we abandon the flax seed ship and climb aboard the SS Chia? Well, not so fast. One caveat worth noting is that when it comes to EFAs, many experts maintain that it isn't just the quantity of omega-3 that matters; it's also important to have the right ratio of omega-3 to omega-6, and when that ratio gets too far out of balance, you may be at greater risk for heart disease, autoimmune diseases, cancer and more.
What does this have to do with our chia versus flax showdown? For optimal health, conventional wisdom has been that we need about a two to one mix of omega-6 to omega-3. Most foods have a much higher ratio. For example, olive oil has a ratio of ten to one. Yikes! As a result, the typical Western diet is way out of whack on the EFA front.
So ideally, we want to find EFA sources with more omega-3 than omega-6 in order to counteract the imbalance we find in most other foods. Chia and flax both succeed in that regard, but flax seems to have the advantage, with a one to four 6:3 ratio versus one to three with chia.
But wait! To make things even more confusing, some authorities are now saying that the whole 6:3 ratio thing is nonsense. According to Dr. Frank Sacks at the Harvard School of Public Health, "While there is a theory that omega-3 fatty acids are better for our health than omega-6 fatty acids, this is not supported by the latest evidence. Thus the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is basically the "good divided by the good," so it is of no value in evaluating diet quality or predicting disease."
Okay, I think I need to lie down now.
Confusing as it all sounds, I think this discussion underscores the point I made last week: there are a lot of "super" foods to choose from, and there's no need to play favorites. Flax seeds are great. Chia seeds are great. Eat them both!
Need some help getting down with ch-ch-ch-chia? Check out these fine looking recipes at Raw Reform.
i'm completely obsessed with chia seeds. we put them in our health shakes every morning.
what i *really* want to do is to also plant them and grow a chia pet.
Posted by: Jasmin Singer | 01/29/2010 at 12:33 PM