Both chia seeds and flaxseeds are highly nutritious seeds that offer various health benefits for our body. Due to all of these health benefits, these two seeds have become increasingly popular. Honesty, they have lots of things in common and the difference is small. Still, one of them is healthier than another. So, read the whole article to know chia seeds vs flaxseeds: which is actually healthier and better than the other? We will go through different benefits of both chia seeds and flaxseeds to compare these two versatile seeds. Let’s get started.
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Chia Seeds Vs Flaxseeds: Nutritional Content
The first impression should be the nutritional content both the chia seeds and flaxseeds possess. If we go through the nutritional values of these two seeds, we can notice that they have much in common. Both of them are rich in fiber, protein, ALA Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.
But there are still some things that make them different from one another such as, chia seeds are high in minerals like calcium, phosphorus and magnesium while flaxseeds have minerals like copper, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamins like thiamine (Vitamin B1) and more beneficial antioxidants. Another thing to keep in mind is that chia seeds have more fiber but flaxseeds have more soluble fiber which are better for your body. We have discussed all these things later in this article. So, chia seeds vs flaxseeds: these are a few differences in their nutritional values. Here’s is the detailed lists of both chia seeds and flaxseeds nutritional contents per 1-ounce (30 grams) or 2 tablespoons:
Chia Seeds
- Calories: 138
- Carbs: 12 grams
- Fiber: 10 grams
- Protein: 5 grams
- Fat: 10 grams (5 grams of ALA Omega-3)
- Thiamine: 15% of the DV
- Copper: 29% of the DV
- Magnesium: 23% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 5% of the DV
- Calcium: 14% of the DV
- Selenium: 28% of the DV
- Iron: 12% of the DV
- Zinc: 12% of the DV
- Potassium: 2% of the DV
Flaxseeds
- Calories: 150
- Carbs 8 grams
- Fiber: 8 grams
- Protein: 5 grams
- Fat: 12 grams (5 grams of ALA Omega-3)
- Thiamine: 38% of the DV
- Copper: 38% of the DV
- Magnesium: 26% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 5% of the DV
- Calcium: 6% of the DV
- Selenium: 13% of the DV
- Iron: 9% of the DV
- Zinc: 11% of the DV
- Potassium: 5% of the DV
Also Read: Benefits of Flaxseed: It is a Super-food! (Here’s Why?!)
Heart Diseases Prevention
Both chia seeds and flaxseeds are filled with ALA Omega-3 fatty acids which are linked to protect your heart from chronic heart diseases. What Omega-3 does is to lower the bad LDL cholesterol in your body which leads to a healthier heart. Moreover, both chia seeds and flaxseeds possess outstanding amount of fibers which can regulate the blood sugar levels by reducing the insulin spikes.
But, here comes the difference. Chia seeds have more fibers than flaxseeds but flaxseeds can offer way more soluble fibers than chia seeds and this soluble fiber is the reason for the regulation of blood sugar levels which also is indirectly linked to prevent your heart from various diseases. In that aspect, flaxseed is slightly better than chia seed thanks to its high amount of soluble fiber.
Bone Health Support
When it comes to support your bone health, minerals like calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are some of the essential ones and chia seeds have decent amount of these 3 minerals unlike flaxseeds which also is rich in phosphorus and magnesium but don’t have that much calcium at all. So, consuming chia seeds regularly can help you get stronger and thicker bone density which leads to a healthy bone development in our body. For this reason, in this case, chia seed is better than flaxseed because of its high calcium content.
Protection from Cancer
Both chia seeds and flaxseeds are claimed to have the ability to protect your organs from cancers but flaxseeds are way better in that case. Flaxseed is high in a plant compound called lignan and various researches have shown that lignan possesses various cancer-fighting properties.
On the contrary, chia seed is richer in many antioxidants that are known to have the ability to fight against cancers too but the chances are slimmer than lignan present in flaxseeds. So, in this matter, flaxseed is better than chia seeds.
Weight Loss and Healthy Bodyweight Management
Again, both chia seeds and flaxseeds are decent if you want to maintain a healthy bodyweight or just want to lose your extra weight. How? Because of fibers. As we already mentioned earlier in this article, both of these seeds contain high amount of fibers and fibers can help you control your appetite and insuline spike. But again, here comes the main issue. Only soluble fiber can do this job. And even though, chia seeds contain more overall fibers, it has way lesser soluble fibers than flaxseeds. If we go into numbers, 33% soluble fibers are present in flaxseeds but in chia seeds, the percentage goes down to only 7 to 15%.
So what soluble fiber does is to slow down the digestion process which will make you less hungry and this can lead to less intake of calories. Soluble fiber also controls the insulin spikes during food consumption and this can reduce the sugar levels in the blood and ultimately help you maintain a healthy bodyweight. And since flaxseed has more soluble fibers than chia seed, it is obviously better than chia in terms of managing your weight.
Brain Health Support
Flaxseed is a clear winner in this case too because flaxseed is high in thiamine and copper – this combination of Vitamin B1 and mineral is necessary for our brain development and maintain a sound brain health. On the contrary, chia seed is also rich in copper but it lacks thiamine which makes it less useful to maintain brain health.
Chia Seeds Vs Flaxseeds: Which Should be Your Preference?!
In the bottom line, it is obvious that both chia seeds and flaxseeds are healthy and nutritious additions to a balanced diet but which one is healthier and which one should you choose?! As per the comparison says, flaxseed is better than chia seeds in many aspects like better cancer-fighting properties, more soluble fibers to manage weight and blood sugar levels, better brain health whereas chia seed is only better in one aspect that is better bone health thanks to the minerals it contains.
Thus, it is pretty clear that in this comparison of chia seeds vs flaxseeds, flaxseed is the winner and you should choose it. But that doesn’t mean chia seeds are bad. Both of them are greatly nutritious seeds from which you can prefer any of them. Even if you choose chia over flax, it is also a healthy choice. So, don’t be worried about what to choose. Choose any one of them or even both of them as per your taste preference and nutritional requirements.
Both chia seeds and flaxseeds are versatile ingredients that can be added to a variety of dishes, including smoothies, oatmeal, salads, and baked goods. All you need to do is to make sure you are having at least 2 tablespoons or 1-ounce of any of these 2 seeds in your daily diet to get maximum benefits. Hope, we have covered everything about chia seeds vs flaxseeds so if you find this article “Chia Seeds Vs Flaxseeds: Which is Better for Our Health?” helpful enough, don’t hesitate to express your valuable thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for visiting and appreciating our work.