Chi-chi-chi-chia Update

My fascination with the mini chia seed continues.

The experiment took a seemingly dark turn last week when, the day after feeding my son “banana chia seed pudding” (soaked chia seeds mixed with mashed banana), he started throwing up. As a mother, I instantly feared I’d created some kind of chia blockage in his intestines. After all, he’d asked for a second helping of my banana/chia concoction. (You heard that right.) As the vomit was spewing from his mouth I thought, “Oh dear, he ate so many chia seeds yesterday that they gelled up in his intestines and now no food will go through!”

Alternately, I thought perhaps he’d swallowed a small lithium battery, since I’d just read of a similar incident on FoxNews. Since there were no small silver shiny things among the undigested carrots and celery spattered across the porch (which is where he threw up), I went back to blaming the chia seeds. To compound matters, the next day he developed a blazing red rash on his cheeks. “Oh no! He’s allergic to them!” I thought, deriding myself for going all hippie on my son.

Turns out he just had a stomach bug, and the red cheeks were caused by stomach acid that lingered on his cheeks for too long. That’s what happens when you sleep in it, I guess. (Before you think I’m a bad parent, he threw up, we wiped his face, then he took a nap. I guess baby wipes aren’t strong enough to neutralize acid.)

My bout with the stomach bug the day before Thanksgiving confirmed I had not poisoned my son, so I’ve decided it’s safe to resume the chia seed experiment.

Here’s the latest development:

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Kombucha tea mixed with chia seeds. If you’ve been to Whole Foods, perhaps you’ve happened upon it.

What is Kombucha tea, you ask?

I asked the same thing after I’d bought it. (The cashier was a good saleslady.)

Now, I don’t want to sway your opinion or anything, but after researching what Kombucha tea actually is, I decided it’s kind of gross. What’s gross about it is, nobody really knows what it is or where it came from. (So, we eat it, of course. Why not?)

Here’s what I found out from Wikipedia:

Kombucha is an effervescent tea-based beverage that is often drunk for its anecdotal health benefits or medicinal purposes. Kombucha is available commercially and can be made at home by fermenting tea using a visible, solid mass of yeast and bacteria which forms the kombucha culture, often referred to as the “mushroom” or the “mother”.

YUMMMMM!!

It gets better (or worse depending on how you want to look at it). Here’s the Kombucha “mushroom” in it’s solid state:

Here’s a few more interesting bits…

The origins of Kombucha have become lost in the mists of time. It is thought to have originated in the Far East, probably China, and has been consumed there for at least two thousand years. The first recorded use of kombucha comes from China in 221 BC during the Tsin Dynasty. It was known as “The Tea of Immortality”.

The Kombucha culture looks like a beige or white rubbery pancake. It’s often called a ‘scoby’ which stands for ‘ symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts. The culture is placed in sweetened black or green tea and turns a bowl full of sweet tea into a bowl full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and health-giving organic acids.

Hungry yet? Er. I’m not.

But I paid two dollars for the bottle, so I felt obligated to try it. Besides, it has chia seeds in it.

I should note, I’m not a fan of things soured or fermented. I will eat yogurt and cheese but that’s about it. Anything pickled…no thanks. Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms. I just feel weird eating anything that could grow on a person’s sweaty feet.

Not surprisingly, I’m not a huge fan of Kombucha tea. I took mere sips, and even at that, I felt the drink might burn holes in my stomach. Proponents of the “health giving” nature of this fermented tea will likely say that any initial adverse reaction to it is result of its “detoxifying” effects. I hear that argument a lot in health food circles. This might be true in some cases, but not all. (Sometimes, it turns out we are allergic to soybeans, and that’s why we can’t make tofu a daily staple. Oh darn! :p)

I will not be buying Kombucha tea again. (Despite the fact that my son liked it and asked for seconds.) I will begin experimenting chia seed drink options, because, oddly, I liked the texture of the chia seeds paired with the fizziness of the Kombucha. As I type this I have some seeds soaking in San Pellegrino. I plan to add some lime to it, and maybe a little juice. I bet my son will like it.

Tagged as: chia seeds, detox, FoxNews, hippie, kombucha, whole foods