Chia Power

Ophthalmic uses of chia seed

Put a chia seed in your eye? Why?

Barbara writing on Healthmad.com:   "I had just that morning awakened with a really pink and swollen eye. Hated the thought of an expensive doctor visit. ... I put 3 or 4 seeds in my eye (just dropped them in to the lower lid area) and laid back with my eyes closed for a bit, waiting for the seeds to soften a bit. I could feel them but it was not painful. Well, I continued that for the next 24 hours, and my eye began to get better immediately. I never did go to the doc - by the next day the swelling was pretty much gone, with just a trace of redness left. I continued to keep a seed or two in the eye for a few days and never had any more trouble." June 11, 2008

ChrisMC writing in Ode Magazine says, "because I have dry eyes I started putting one Chia seed inside the lower lid of each night before I go to bed and removing it in the morning. I started doing this the beginning of January and when I saw my eye doctor the end of January, he said I have more moisture in my eyes than he had seen in a long time."

Where did people get this idea? Apparently it comes from an old fashioned remedy for removing a foreign object from your eye. One old guy remembers using flaxseed, which also has a gelatin-forming seed coat. So .... just put'tim in yer eye:

Chia Pet Pet Costumes?

Apparently this is a thing now!

 

A lame attempt made with real chia seeds! Seen at Tompkins Square Park, NYC.

But usually these costumes are made with artificial plants of some sort. Example DIY instructions.

 

Chia Duck Eye

NEWS from 2009: According to Sarah Enriquez, Lifemax Distributor in Orlando, her pet duck, Mingming, has made a miraculous recovery from an eye infection with the help of chia seeds! She says, "I noticed her right eye wasn't moving. It was shut close for a few days and when she finally opened it, it won't see a thing. It won't respond to any movements and it looked as though there was a clear film on it." 

Sarah learned of the reports of ophthalmic uses of chia seeds among native Californians:

"...seeds were dropped into the eye, and rolled around or left in overnight.  The Cahuilla tribe used chia seeds in this fashion to remove sand in the eyes acquired from sandstorms encountered after a long day of hunting . Seeds were sometimes mashed with a rock or hammer and placed in the eye overnight The film that resulted from the gelatinous seeds in either method absorbed any foreign body or irritant and helped to ease inflammation." (This is from a  USDA document on Golden Chia)

So Sarah sprinkled some MILA (ground chia seed) on Mingming's eye and says, "the next morning, the clear film was gone. Her eye is still not as good as the one on the left but it really did get better with MILA. I will put more tomorrow so it will completely heal."

P.S. Sarah has also used MILA to heal her chick's broken leg!