Therapeutic Perspectives on Chia Seed and Its Oil: A Review

Abstract

The attraction of novel foods proceeds alongside epidemic cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and related risk factors. Dieticians have identified chia (Salvia hispanica) as a product with a catalog of potential health benefits relating to these detriments. Chia is currently consumed not only as seeds, but also as oil, which brings about similar effects. Chia seeds and chia seed oil are used mainly as a food commodity and the oil is also used popularly as a dietary ingredient used in various dietary supplements available in the U. S. market. Chia seed is rich in α-linolenic acid, the biological precursor to eicosapentaenoic acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, and docosahexaenoic acid. Because the body cannot synthesize α-linolenic acid, chia has a newfound and instrumental role in diet. However, the inconclusive nature of the scientific communityʼs understanding of its safety warrants further research and appropriate testing. The focus of this work is to summarize dietary health benefits of S. hispanica seed and oil to acknowledge concerns of adverse events from its ingestion, to assess current research in the field, and to highlight the importance of quality compendial standards to support safe use. To achieve this end, a large-scale literature search was partaken on the two well-known databases, PubMed and SciFinder. Hundreds of articles detailing such benefits as decreased blood glucose, decreased waist circumference and weight in overweight adults, and improvements in pruritic skin and endurance in distance runners have been recorded. These benefits must be considered within the appropriate circumstances.

Long-Term Dietary Intake of Chia Seed Is Associated with Increased Bone Mineral Content and Improved Hepatic and Intestinal Morphology in Sprague-Dawley Rats

“…This study explored the effects of the long-term administration of chia seeds, a promising functional plant food with therapeutic perspectives [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], compared with a conventional diet in an experimental model of Sprague-Dawley rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a conventional diet tend to increase their bodyweight and reach a plateau of growing at around 12 months of life [ 47 ].…”

“…The dietary n -6/ n -3 ratio has been a topic of great interest, because recent evidence suggests that a high n -6/ n -3 ratio is associated with higher risk of several diseases [ 58 , 59 ]. The health benefits of n -3 ALA have been highlighted in different studies owing to its potential effect for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, fracture risk, obesity, and other obesity-associated disorders, such as diabetes [ 4 , 60 , 61 ]. A recent investigation in animals prone to diabetes found that the intake of chia seeds rich in n-3 ALA was able to reduce blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and ameliorate insulin sensitivity [ 62 ].…”

“…The association of certain foods and dietary habits with several chronic health conditions, including osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some types of cancers, has boosted the search for novel and healthier food options [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Among a diversity of plant foods with high nutritional interest, the chia seed ( Salvia hispanica ) has recently been highlighted for its chemical composition and potential nutritional value [ 4 ]. The chia seed contains important quantities of protein, minerals, fiber, polyphenols, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and is currently known as one of the best plant sources of the omega-3 ( n -3) fatty acid, α-linolenic acid (ALA) [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Safety of chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L.) as a novel food for extended uses pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283

“…The applicants provided eight articles on human studies (Nieman et al, 2009Vuksan et al, 2010Vuksan et al, , 2017aIllian et al, 2011;Guevara-Cruz et al, 2012;Jin et al, 2012;Ho et al, 2013) and three reviews (Ulbricht et al, 2009;Ali et al, 2012;Teoh et al, 2018). EFSA retrieved six additional human studies in literature search (Brissette et al, 2013;Toscano et al, 2014Toscano et al, , 2015Nieman et al, 2015;Ayaz et al, 2017;Vuksan et al, 2017b) and three review articles (De Souza Ferreira et al, 2015;Parker et al, 2018;Grancieri et al, 2019).…”

Modulation of Oxidative Stress and Hyperglycemia by Rheum spiciformis in Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rats and Characterization of Isolated Compound

“…These secondary metabolites show therapeutic effects by acting as analogs to various endogenous metabolites like, hormones, ligands, signaling molecules or neurotransmitters [13]. As a matter of fact herbal medicines possess multiple therapeutic properties [14] show little or negligible side effects or toxicity. With the advent of modern drugs, there has been a decrease in the use of herbal medicines for some time but interestingly, the trend has changed now.…”