Let us look at the history of these tiny seeds and see if we can make some sense out why this question has come about. (This color text contains information I retrieved from the Internet.)

In chia's previous, more glorious existence, it served as the power food of the ancient Aztec civilization. According to Spanish manuscripts, the Aztecs ate the seeds of this semitropical plant to improve their endurance. They called chia their "running food" because messengers reportedly could run all day on just a handful. The Aztecs prized chia more highly than gold. They even used it as medicine. When the Aztec civilization ended, the much-vaunted grain fell into relative obscurity. Now, after half a millennium, chia is poised for a comeback in something other than a pottery animal (Chia Pet)

Scientists investigating chia since the 1990s have found the grain surprisingly nutritious. Superior in protein quality to wheat, corn, rice, oats, barley, amaranth and soy, chia also offers a disease-fighting arsenal of antioxidants, including chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, myricetin, quercetin and flavonols. Of keenest interest at present, however, is chia's abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, which studies have shown promote a wide range of cardiovascular and mental health benefits. Chia turns out to be the highest known wholefood source of omega-3s.

Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, a pioneer of the functional foods movement in Europe and one of the developers of the revolutionary glycemic index at the University of Toronto, recently conducted the first long-term study of chia's health effects. He and his colleagues used a commercial variety of chia called Salba, developed especially to produce white, rather than the original black seed and a more reliable omega-3 content of about 60 percent.

In their six-month study of type 2 diabetes patients, the researchers found impressive health effects from eating Salba daily. In patients who already were on diets or medication to control their disease, Salba lowered systolic blood pressure by 10 and diastolic by five mm mercury. It also reduced c-reactive protein (CRP) levels by 32 percent and lowered fibrinolytic (blood thickening) factors, which can trigger cardiovascular disease.

"We asked ourselves, why is this happening?." Dr. Vuksan says. "Then we remembered one of the things from history, that Aztecs used chia seeds as a 'running food.' So we thought that maybe something [about chia] was helping the body to function better. We measured the body inflammation, the so-called c-reactive protein, which has been discovered as a major risk factor for heart disease, even more important than cholesterol, according to studies from Harvard. This was one of the rarest studies in the world, showing that CRP dropped about 32 percent in type 2 diabetics who were heavily medicated and well controlled," he continues. "The only other major studies showing a reduction in CRP have been done with statin drugs."

In the beginning, Dr. Vuksan says, he only looked at the main nutrients in Salba. He knew that the seed's protein quality was higher than soy and that it had the highest fiber content of any food, higher than wheat bran. But to explain some of the effects he and his team had seen in their study, they had to look more closely at the seeds' makeup. And there they found a nutritional goldmine. They calculate that 3 1/2 ounces of Salba contain the same amount of omega-3 as 28 ounces of Atlantic salmon, as much calcium as 3 cups of milk, as much fiber as 1 1/4 cups of All-Bran cereal, as much iron as 5 cups of raw spinach, as much vegetable protein as 1 1/2 cups of kidney beans, as much potassium as 1 1/2 bananas, and as much vitamin C as seven oranges!