Chia Power

Bob's Red Mill

Two pieces of good news from Bob's Red Mill:

News Item #1. At last Bob has added chia to his line of over 50 whole grains, beans, seeds, flours, and meals. $33.49 plus shipping will buy you 4 pounds of black chia seed.

(He say that this is in response to overwhelming customer demand.)

News Item #2. Bob turned 80 last month, and to  celebrate, he gave his multimillion dollar company away---to his employees!

Chia Seed Giveaway!

No, I'm not giving away chia seeds, but these people are!!

(I noticed that there were a lot of blogs posting chia seed giveaways, so I thought I'd create a standing search for them, for the benefit of my readers. I hope this is helpful.)

Mitchellicious Chia

Mitch Propster of Winter Springs, Florida is CEO of Core Naturals. He has exclusive distribution rights to sell Salba in the U.S. 

(According to this letter  from Salba N.A. CEO Larry Brown, Mitch has exclusive international distributions rights as well.)

I like Mitch's take on the value of natural foods: "The old paradigm says: Go to the doctor or take a pill versus depending on food or nutritional sources to heal your body. The key is to get the public to practice prevention, rather than reaction to illness, to reconnect with food as the source of health and nutrition." You can read more in this article about him: 40 under 40.

BTW, I received the following email from Mitch a few years ago:

Margaret:

 I appreciate your inquiry however, we don’t think it’s in the best interest of Salba to be featured on any web site that chia seeds are sold, as Salba is not chia.

 Thank you.

 Mitch

 

Mitch Propster

CEO

5703 Red Bug Lake Rd.

Suite 190

Winter Springs, FL 32708

407.671.5525  x901

www.salbausa.com

 

From: Margaret Conover [mailto:mcon@optonline.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 8:32 AM
To: sales@corenaturals.com
Subject: as per Larry Brown

I'm starting a home-based business devoted to distribute Salba and other chia seed products www.chiativity.com

I'd like to establish an account and place my first order with Core Naturals.

Thanks,

Margaret Conover

Long Island, NY

Is Your Chia Seed Buggy?

About a year ago there was a rash of claims that one particular band of chia seed, Anutra, sometimes contained bugs.

One writer stated:

    I just recvd my Anutra (ordered thru Ebay). When I opened the container it gave a little pop and on the inside top of the rim there were webs (I still have the napkin with the webs on it to prove it). Also, there was a small greyish/beige bug with wings, which literally fell apart when I tried to spoon it out.

Read the whole exchange here. The company owner even responded at one point.

EEW! I'll bet it was an Indian Meal Moth like this one:

 

Indian Meal Moths can infest your pantry, especially the grains and flour. The larvae will wiggle around and try to look like grains of rice, but if you accidentally cook them, they float right to the top of the pot and you can skim them off. Not that I've ever done that!!

I have to admit that I've sometimes had Indian Meal Moths in my chia seeds, but ONLY after the open container has sat on my shelf for quite awhile. I've never found them in the whole seed, only the ground seed.

I suspect that the writer above purchased old and previously opened seed on eBay. That's a good reason not to buy food on eBay.

Anyway, a different guy, Jesse, really went crazy with this idea of bugs in Anutra, and he posted all these:

http://anutrahasbugs.blogspot.com/
http://anutrahasbugs.wordpress.com/

http://jesse1969.xanga.com/680002194/alert-anutra-by-valuhealth-has-bugs/

(Some suspect he was a distributor for another brand of chia seed.)

Anyway, Dear Reader, please tell me your experience. Does your chia have bugs??? Leave me a comment.

Navitas Naturals Chia Video with Julie Morris

Be inspired to create a raw chia seed breakfast pudding. Read more about Navitas Naturals organic chia seed here. Or buy some here.

Chia Seed Oil

100 grams of chia seed contains over 30 grams of chia oil, of which 17 grams is oil containing omega-3 fatty acids.

You can buy it here or here.   

Chia Moon Drops

UliManaMana is a raw chocolate company based in North Carolina. Recently they introduced Chia Moon Drops, a chia product that has received rave reviews.

Ingredients: Organic Dates, Organic Cashews, Organic Chia Seeds, Organic Cacao Powder, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Coconut Shreds, Organic Agave, Organic Vanilla Beans, and Celtic Sea Salt.

You can buy them here.

Separating the fiber from the oil

Why would anyone want to do this??

These two jars will cost you over $30, shipped. This will give you 20 daily doses of fiber (a ground powder to add to smoothies) and 30 daily doses of omega-3 softgels. Here's a descriptive brochure.

I love to do math, so I created a spreadsheet comparing these products with a pound of generic whole chia seed, purchased for about $15. You can check my figures, if you like, by downloading the spreadsheet: Download Fiber and oil worksheet

Here's the bottom line:

So for an extra dollar per serving, this product will give you fewer calories and a little more protein,  fiber and calcium, but only 2/3 the omega-3s.

If you prefer your food in powdered and pill form, maybe it's worth it to you. But not to me!

Organic Chia Seed Enters US Market

Navitas Naturals has launched what it claims to be the first organically certified chia seed product available on the North American market. Here is their press release, excepted here:

NAVITAS NATURALS ANNOUNCES THE FIRST CERTIFIED ORGANIC CHIA SEED

Novato, CA (April 2, 2009) – Chia seed is an ancient, nutrient-dense superfood that is one of the hottest natural products in the marketplace today. Now, superfoods leader Navitas Naturals  is boosting the interest and confidence of health- and sustainability-minded consumers even more by introducing the first certified organic chia seed to North America. Sustainably harvested in the highlands of Mexico, raw Navitas Naturals Organic Chia Seed is offered in re-sealable 8 oz and 16 oz pouches, as well as bulk quantities for sale to manufacturers.

<snip>

Bonus Recipe for Chia Fresca Breeze
By Kristen Suzanne  - Courtesy of Navitas Naturals
Yields approximately one 12-ounce serving
2 teaspoons Navitas Naturals Organic Chia Seeds
1 cup water
Juice of ½ grapefruit
2 teaspoons raw agave nectar
1 dash powdered ginger
Stir all of the ingredients together in a glass and enjoy.

THIS IS A LINK TO NAVITAS NATURAL CHIA SOLD THROUGH AMAZON. Note that this seed does not appear to be certified as organic. I've applied to become an affiliate, and will post a link to the organic chia as soon as it becomes available.

A List of Online Chia Distributors: Updated