Dr. Crystal Chanderbhan, N.D.

Dr. Chanderbhan, N.D. here. Happy 2018 and with that said I’d like to share with you one tip that’s going to help you achieve any New Year’s resolutions that might include improving your overall health in addition to possibly losing some weight. So that tip is basically including about 3 tablespoons of chia seeds into your diet everyday. The average American consumes about 22 grams of fiber per day and studies have shown that if you want to be losing weight and preventing certain risk factors for developing different types of cancers then you need to be consuming about 40 grams of fiber.  So with just three tablespoons [of chia seeds] I’m able to get 11 grams of fiber into my diet right off the bat.  In addition to that I’m getting 5 grams of protein, 20% of my calcium intake, and about 15% of my intake for iron everyday.

The great thing about chia seeds is that there is no flavor so what I do is I actually just include the three tablespoons into my water bottle. I add a little bit of vitamin C in there because Vitamin C is great for hair, skin and nails.  It also helps to balance your hormones. And so I include this and I drink it over the course of about 1 or 2 hours and the wonderful thing is that chia seeds, like I mentioned before, they have no flavor and because one chia seed absorbs about 10 times its own weight in water it helps me to feel fuller for longer so that I’m not binge eating or that I’m not over consuming food.

So I hope you’re able to incorporate this super easy tip into your diet.  If you are, by all means share your story with everyone else.  Enjoy the rest of your 2018 and good luck with the rest of your resolutions!