© 2008 DBA Design Action MySeeds Chia
How to Save Money Making Chia Seed Drinks
at Home With MySeeds Chia
You’ve probably seen the ads, or
maybe even bottles in the
refrigerated section of grocery
stores…chia seed drinks are
gaining popularity.
What is a chia drink?
A bottled beverage with a thicker
texture & a variety of fruity or
fermented flavors. They're always
refrigerated, and generally packed
with tiny seeds that you can see
swirling in the bottle.
This new, textured beverage has every right to be popular too, there are
so many delicious flavor combinations…and the health benefits are
undeniable. If you could have a fruity, fun beverage that kept you feeling
full for hours, was loaded with plant protein AND gave you a big dose of
your daily fiber, wouldn’t you want to drink it as often as you could? Chia
seed beverages are definitely worth looking into, for flavor and for your
health…but what if you could make your own in mere minutes for MUCH
less money and with custom flavors too?
Concentrated fruit flavor with plenty of
healthy fiber...all for much less money
when you easily mix it up yourself!
To learn about chia drinks and making your own, first, you have to know
about the chia seed. The chia seed is a very tiny, flavorless seed. It’s this
ability to taste like whatever flavored food/beverage you add it to, that
both you and companies can love. Next, is the nutrition of these tiny seeds.
They are 23% complete protein by weight. (This is one of the highest
numbers in the plant world!) They have more calcium by weight than milk,
plus the minerals boron & magnesium, to help you absorb it. There are
also B- vitamins AND healthy omega-3 oils along with antioxidants to keep
them fresh. With all of these fantastic benefits, it’s no wonder everyone is
scrambling to add chia to beverages.
Chia Seeds are very tiny & they have no flavor.
Flavorless foods go with any flavor you DO like!
The third property of chia is its high
fiber content. It’s this fiber that gives
chia drinks their distinctive texture &
their ability to keep people feeling
full. Most bottled drinks are thick,
closer to a smoothie than to a fruit
juice. The seeds have 2 kinds of fiber,
soluble & insoluble.
Neither type can be digested, so it
does not add to the calorie count. Insoluble fiber keeps food moving
through the digestive system. Soluble fiber hydrates the digestive system &
feeds good bacteria (Probiotic bacteria eat soluble fiber) which further
improves your digestive ability.
You can actually witness the fiber in action. When you see the seeds floating
in little ‘bubbles’ of gel, that’s the hydrated soluble fiber—there’s so much of
this normally-invisible micro fiber, that it actually becomes visible to the
naked eye. This is called chia gel. See how the seeds are sitting apart from
eachother in the tablespoon measure above? That's chia gel in action. It's
scoop-able, pour-able, and makes the textured drink you're looking for.
Chia drinks come in many flavors. Everything from fruit juice to tea to
kombucha (a fermented flavor) are available. You might wonder why you
should make your own, if so many options are available right now.
First off is price.
Single serve bottles can range in price from $3.18 to $4.56 . What if you
wanted to use it to replace breakfast or lunch, in a weight-loss effort? That’s
between $15.90 & $22.80 per week extra. Second is flavor. Using chia for
your health should be delicious and fun. If there are only 3 or 4 flavors in
the store to choose from, you could get bored, or even get ‘turned off’ if
none of the brands or flavors are to your liking. What if kombucha just isn’t
for you? Making your own means nothing’s off the table: seasonal fruits,
fruit & tea mixtures (raspberry tea with a splash of lemon), fruit & veggie
mixtures (add a splash of cool with cucumber) as well as your own favorite
no-calorie natural sweeteners like stevia and monk-fruit.
A sampling of cold chia drinks includes lemon-lime-aid, tea with mint &
lemon, raspberry cold tea & sweet tea with honey
What goes into the drink is as important as what comes
out of it.
If you see a product on a store shelf or in a refrigerator case, you can be 99%
sure it has been pasteurized. (unless otherwise marked on the label)
Pasteurization is a safety method that involves heating the product to kill
any possible bacteria so that the item is guaranteed to be safe, and have a
decent shelf life. However, some plant compounds & important enzymes in
fruits or vegetables are killed by heat. Making your own fresh drinks
eliminates the need for heat & preserves more nutrition for you.
What sort of juice
should you use?
Avoiding less-than-
healthy additives like
high fructose corn syrup
(it’s likely ok in
moderation…but then
it’s in almost every food
which makes “actual
moderation” very
difficult), aspartame (this
can make some people
unreasonably hungry,
and that's just the
opposite of what you
need if you're trying to lose weight) sucralose (gives some people
unhealthy food cravings--again, cravings sabotage weight loss efforts) or
lots of added sugar / cane juice (lots of added sugar means lots of added
calories), is also easy to do when you go homemade. Real fresh & ripe fruit
is often sweet enough on its own—but if it’s not, you can use a natural
sweetener like stevia that doesn’t add chemicals or calories and sweeten
only as much as you would like. Avoid high fructose corn syrup or
artificially sweetened juices
Making your own drink recipe is super simple. Chia will hydrate in almost
anything that’s not too acidic. (You can’t make chia gel in pure lemon juice,
for example) One tablespoon of dry chia seeds makes 9 tablespoons of
chia gel. With a 1 to 9 ratio, you can see how buying dry chia & then
hydrating it yourself can save you so much money. You can make the gel
first with plain filtered* water (Just add seeds & water in a 9 to 1 ratio,
shake or stir to prevent clumping & wait 15 minutes for gel to form) or
allow dry seeds to gel in your favorite fruit juice mixture or tea.
*Filtered water is important because chia can magnify flavors. If there are
any unsavory flavors in the tap water, it can influence the taste of the
beverage. Chia gel should taste like nothing at all, when made with plain,
filtered water.
You can add even more fiber &
freshness when you use fresh
fruits instead of juices or
concentrates alone in your
drinks. A little fruit puree, like
blueberry or strawberry in
some unsweetened apple or
white grape juice with the chia
gel & you’re ready to go. (After
all, the flavor of a fruit is
throughout the whole thing, not
just in the juice)
You can also make great drinks
with watermelon (just put it in
the blender or food processor &
mix in the chia seeds—how
about a twist of lime, or
strawberry too?) , thawed
frozen fruit (so season doesn’t
matter & frozen is often very
inexpensive) and even healthy
coconut water. When you go
homemade, you are in charge
of the flavor combinations &
textures.
Coconut water with a splash of blueberry
puree makes a refreshing ice cold drink on a
hot day.
Pure fresh squeezed orange juice & a little papaya
or canteloupe is a great wake-up chia drink.
Can you make chia drinks with your favorite greens, algae, powdered
plant suppliments (such as wheat or barley grass powder, macca or
moringa) or protein powder?
Yes you can!
Grab your favorite brands or veggies & get the blender started
because they're all just as easy to use as fruit. Here, you can see a
spirulina-pineapple drink that tastes tropical & refreshing. Almond
milk, rice milk or coconut water can be used to control the thickness.
Now that you know just how easy, diverse and FUN homemade chia
seed drinks can be, why not try some of your own? Use MySeeds mixed
black & white chia to enjoy great quality seeds and lots of special
bonuses too! There's a whole lot more you can do with chia than just
making drinks. You can use your instant bonuses to open up a whole
new world of tasty fun with chia. It's time to get started now and Buy
Chia Seeds - MySeeds The Chia With the Best Bonuses
Make a Light Refreshing
Chia Drink Now
Pomegranate and lime combine
with a hint of ginger for a flavor
you just can’t get in stores! The
Pomegranate Lime Chia
Refresher (seen here) brings just
the right mix of sweet, tart and
tangy for an afternoon wakeup
call.
This drink mixes up in minutes,
but keeps you feeling full longer.
You can easily replace a snack
with it, and still feel satisfied.
Ingredients
¼ cup pure pomegranate juice
1 and 1/3 cup filtered water
1 and ½ tsp pure lime juice
1 tsp agave nectar OR 1 and ½ tsp honey OR ½ tsp stevia
1 tbsp MySeeds chia gel
1 tbsp pomegranate arils
¼ inch thickness ginger slice (depends on ginger diameter)
This drink produces a beautiful mix of refreshing flavors that complement
each other.
Powerfully fruity pomegranate gets a light zing from the lime while the
ginger adds a kick of complexity. Chia seeds and a sprinkling of arils add
fiber and fights hunger. It’s so quick to make, too!
Simply combine all ingredients & stir for about 30 seconds to ensure the
sweetener is dissolved. Cut your ginger root slice, and place it in your garlic
press. Squeeze it over the pomegranate mixture & the ginger juice will
begin to drip. Use about 5 to 8 drops of ginger juice (or, to taste). Ginger
benefits digestion, and here it makes the drink really stand out. This makes
about 8 ounces / 1 glass of fruit drink. Freely customize the fruit balance to
your liking! Add more water or ice cubes for a milder drink.