Chia seeds are great for you. They reduce inflammation, give you an energy boost, keep you hydrated, and do so many other wonderful things. But like any food, you can, in fact, have too many chia seeds. How do I know? Well, because I have had the unfortunate experience of eating far too many chia seeds and lived to tell the tale.
Anyone who knows me knows I can’t cook — not at all. But this was one of my worst cooking disasters yet and it only has two ingredients: milk and chia seeds. Unfortunately, I misread the measurement of three tablespoons of chia seeds as a third of a cup, and as a result my ratio of milk to seeds was WAY off. The seeds did not absorb enough liquid and it made me feel sick.
Here’s the issue with eating too many chia seeds: It will seriously hurt your stomach. Chia seeds can absorb up to 12 times their weight in water, so if you don’t soak them with enough liquid, (or eat too many dry seeds) the seeds will start absorbing liquid from your body instead. Think of it as your food eating you instead of the other way around.
But I don’t want to scare you off from chia seeds because they are very healthy and can taste good too. My advice is just to follow your recipe strictly. Another way to avoid stomach aches from chia seeds is to drink plenty of water after eating the seeds. The bottom line is to give the seeds something to draw liquid from, besides your stomach.
Here’s a foolproof recipe that will ensure you get all the benefits of chia seeds and none of the stomach-eating side effects.
If you’re at all worried about overdosing on chia seeds, just check out the consistency of your pudding before eating it. Mine was very dense, very gelatinous. A good pudding should be gelatinous, but also kind of loose like in the video. There should be some space in between the seeds and it should wiggle a little when you move it.
Some recipes call for different ratios of seeds to liquid and depending on your stomach and your texture preference, you can choose which ratio works best for you.
Thankfully, my little mishap didn’t turn me off chia pudding for good. I have since perfected my chia seed pudding recipe with peanut butter, almond milk and strawberries and I still really enjoy the taste, even though it brings back a few bad memories.
Nobody said cooking in college was easy. Even the simplest of recipes can make you feel like your life is in shambles. But keep working at that adulting thing and eventually, you’ll get there.