I've heard of chia seeds before. I've seen videos of how they swell up when put in water, so I knew already that they take on a jelly like consistency. My aunt had never heard of them before, and so I decided to demonstrate to her, with one 'shot' in half a glass of water and another in a pot of yoghurt. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed as they turned into frogspawn and then I ate them both. They tasted like nothing and I thought to myself this could work for me.
Fast forward about 24 hours and I was in agony, my stomach cramping so bad that I was screaming out, I couldn't keep down water and let's just say neither end was unaffected. 12 hours on from that, and I'm still cramping but it is getting better.
Nowhere on the packaging did it tell me that chia seeds can take on up to 12 times the amount of liquid to seed. At no point was there a warning about making sure to drink plenty as if the seeds don't find enough liquid to absorb in your stomach, it'll start drawing it from your tissue. These little seeds expand so much that of course your body is going to struggle to move them along if they continue to swell as you are trying to digest them.
I'd like to point out that I didn't overdose on these little seeds, I had ONE serving. In retrospect, I should have worked my way up to that seemingly insignificant 20g, and drunk literally a fuck tonne of water even after soaking them in a bath overnight to ensure they had taken on as much liquid as they could.
So where does this leave me now? The nutritional benefits still stand, and I have to admit, I didn't feel hungry at all the day after I ate them, so they obviously help you to feel fuller for longer. Maybe I'll try them again, in a significantly smaller quantity, much more carefully, with plenty of water, and pre-hydrated.
Tl;dr version - chia seeds lead to severe abdominal cramping, vomiting and other stuff that makes the 42 hours after eating them pretty unpleasant. But they are good for you, so you know ....
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