The Chia craze is coming....

One of the blogs I follow is called Eat Yourself Skinny, by an American girl called Kelly.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that Kelly's blog name is so very apt for myself, as I have spent the better part of the last 10 years attempting just that, to eat myself skinny, with limited success and many £££ lost along the way.  Since becoming pregnant I have obviously ditched the fad diets which, until now, had sucked me in at every stumbling point.  I have made a new rule;  to achieve my goal through healthy and sensible eating along with doing more exercise....who would have thought it!??  What a novel concept.....why did I not think of this before!?  

A badge given to me by friends after
my declaration of scrapping
fad-diets.....
I think you can imagine what
the full script read!

Anyway,  I recently read on Kelly's blog, here, about using Chia seeds in a smoothie.  Now, as a Brit, you quite often come across ingredients on American sites and recipes which simply baffle and which you've never heard of.  Either that, or they have just been masquerading under a different, swanky, American name and have actually existed all along, in good old Sainsburys, but with the considerably less exotic-sounding title of courgette or aubergine. 

Chia Seeds.  From http://ahimsablog.files.wordpress.com

However in this case I was sure I just hadn't heard of them so, after some Googling, was excited to see that Chia are winging their way to the UK soon!  I found the following article on the BBC website explaining all the health benefits, from which I've gleaned a quote to sum it all up for us Brits who've yet to see the light...

"In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach and human growth hormone" 

Yummmmmy!! But, although a salmon smoothie sounds like probably the most repulsive thing to drink imaginable, I think I shall get some!  Although not yet in most shops here, they can be found in Holland & Barrett or online from many health food sites such as this one, so I shall let you know what crazy ways I think of to incorporate them into our food!  

The quote above was actually from Christopher McDougall who wrote a book called Born to Run.  I have only heard of this and of Kelly's blog because of a new friend Lulu, who has a blog called Berry Diaries,  she is truly inspirational in her attitude and approach to all things health and fitness related.  Lulu's in the process of converting my husband to 'bare foot running'  and suggested McDougall's book as a 'must-read' to get him started.  

It seems that you only have to start scratching the surface of this health craze business to see all the connections and apparent benefits.....maybe we shall be converted yet!