The way we eat is constantly changing. As a consequence of an overwhelming daily routine, in recent decades the consumption of fast food and snacks has become the center of our habitual diet.

Most of the modern food is made up of processed products, unknown ingredients, additives, pesticides, hormones, etc. These fast options that are poor in essential nutrients, plus bad habits such as tobacco, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle and inadequate rest lead to diseases that are preventable. Precooked, ultra-processed foods that we used to see as the solution, today we know are harmful and unnecessary.

Finding ourselves today, face to face with a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives, many of which were influenced by diseases caused by our everyday choices (eg obesity, type 2 diabetes), leads us to wonder if we can do something different.

It is necessary to construct new habits in order to live in harmony with our body and maintain a lifestyle that supports our well-being.

To take care of our food is to prioritize our health. Acquiring healthy habits implies a commitment to ourselves and the environment that surrounds us. Making conscious choices, where the natural and the organic prevails, choosing food that, without a long list of ingredients, give us twice as many nutrients and, most importantly, they provide beneficial effects for those who consume them.

There is a group of food that are known as FUNCTIONAL FOODS. Their consumption reduces the risk of disease or are used in the treatmentof certain pathologies. They must contain among their ingredients some of the following components: vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, dietary fiber, etc

Within this group we can highlight the oilseeds. As a food they have great importance at a nutritional level. This is the particular case of the Chia seed, rich in a wide variety of nutrients providing a list of health benefits.

• Source of fiber that regulates intestinal transit, reduces lipidsin the blood and helps control blood glucose levels indiabetic patients.
• Antioxidants, among which can be mentioned caffeic acid, chlorogenic and cinnamic, which reduce oxidative stress, which promotes cell aging and inflammation.
• Omega 6, Omega 3 fatty acids. The latter has properties anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic and vasodilatory. Decreasing the risk of arrhythmias, heart attacks and strokevascular).
• Vitamins and minerals. Calcium, magnesium and boron that promote the
• good functioning of the organism.

Autor: Cecilia Fara / Licenciada en Nutrición