9. Inflammation
Chia seeds may also be anti-inflammatory which is a very important and useful benefit. That’s because of the omega 3 fatty acid content once again.
The way this helps to reduce inflammation is by reducing the amount of omega 6 fatty acid in your body. Omega 6 fatty acid is good for you and has a number of important roles in the body, just like omega 3. However, the problem is that when you get too much of it, you get inflammation.
This is an issue for many of us, seeing as the modern Western diet contains a lot more omega 6 fatty acid than 3. Omega 6 is found in a lot of processed foods because it is used as a preservative. Omega 3 on the other hand is only really found in fish, chia seeds and a few other obscure places. So eat more chia seed and you might reduce inflammation and potentially help to combat chronic pain from arthritis and other conditions.
Oh and that means that omega 3’s benefits for the joints have nothing to do with the oil in the fish – even though that might sound like it makes sense!