Chia Seed vs. Salba
Filed under Chia Seeds | Comments (24)
In my research into chia (Salvia hispanica) I've come across an issue that has sparked much discussion on the Internet. There seems to be some confusion and disagreement over whether chia is the same thing as Salba, a brand of white chia seed produced by a Toronto-based company of the same name.
I found a website where people are discussing the issue. It's an informative read. On the site, a representative from Salba says that their brand of chia includes two registered varieties of chia that have patents pending: Sahi Alba 911 and Sahi Alba 912. She also claims that these two varieties are the only ones on which clinical studies into the health benefits of chia have been done.
Now, this seems a bit dishonest. Dr. Wayne Coates of the University of Arizona is considered the world expert on chia seeds. He has done extensive research into chia and co-authored a book called Chia: Rediscovering a Forgotten Crop of the Aztecs.
In one interview, Dr. Coates was asked to give his thoughts on Salba and he said: "It's a joke. Salba is just the white chia. You can go to our website where we compare white versus black chia."
The chia I bought at Whole Foods is made by Greens Plus. There are many other brands of chia out there as well. I don't think I'll be purchasing Salba anytime soon, but I am open to learning more about it.
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Hello David,
I have just purchased Salba from North Star. It is the white seeded chia, I gather from reading this blog. I do not have diabetis, but have nasty IBS and there is a claim that these seeds will help with that too. Here's hoping!
Thanks for the info. I will keep reading up on this.
Best,
Ruth
Thanks for the opinions and story. I went over to Leisure Guy's blog based on your post and a few hours later I am back here. I actually read all the comments (crazy I know) but I wanted to know people's experience with Salba as I am just wrapping up a September is Salba month on Evolving Wellness.
Having done the research on both, I just feel Salba is so much more scientifically justified - but that is my own opinion.
Ultimately people have to do their own research and decide for themselves.
Hi All,
I'm concerned about the some of the content on this website. There is a massive amount of politics in the chia industry. Regarding Dr. Wayne Coates' comments above about Salba being "a joke"...a few points for discussion:
1.) Wayne Coates was an original member of the Salba team. There are many rumors about why he left Salba, but they all point to Dr. Coates wanting more money. Perhaps he was justified, but this speaks to the credibility of everything Dr. Coates says against Salba.
2.) Wayne Coates has owned or partnered in several failed chia companies: Arizona Chia, Anutra, Chia Farms, Lifemax ("the signature grain") - the latest generation is called Mila. With Mila, the only difference is a substantially higher price tag (around $40) and savvy marketing ideas like calling it "the miracle seed". Note that on the Mila website, they make no mention of "chia". http://lifemax.net/products/mila/
3.) Dr. Coates speaks extensively against Salba, often saying: "Salba is just the white chia." However, the facts contradict this. Salba is grown using a refined growing process where quality comes before quantity. As a result, Salba seeds have 30-35% more fiber and omega-3s than chia (BASED ON USDA DATA). http://www.salba.com/salba_chia.php
I don't have anything against Dr. Coates, but I think there might be a hidden agenda here.
I live in Costa Rica and am dabbling with growing Salba. I planted some Salba from North Star Nutritionals last year. The flowers were all white. It grew great but I botched the harvesting and most of my seed went to the ground. (I did contact Dr. Coates to enquire about harvesting tecniques but he had no interest to help for free.) I planted more this year from my own seed with much more success. At the same time I planted some “Salba” distributed by Core Naturals and Salbausa. Planted in exact circumstance the plants are considerably less hardy and the flowers are totally purple. By the way I have discovered how to successfully harvest the Salba if anyone wants the information.
I live in Costa Rica and am dabbling with growing Salba. I planted some Salba from North Star Nutritionals last year. The flowers were all white. It grew great but I botched the harvesting and most of my seed went to the ground. (I did contact Dr. Coates to enquire about harvesting tecniques but he had no interest to help for free.) I planted more this year from my own seed with much more success. At the same time I planted some “Salba” distributed by Core Naturals and Salbausa. Planted in exact circumstance the plants are considerably less hardy and the flowers are totally purple. By the way I have discovered how to successfully harvest the Salba if anyone wants the information.
To Ruth "I do not have diabetis, but have nasty IBS and there is a claim that these seeds will help with that too. Here's hoping!"
From earliest childhood I have had IBS, colitis, debilitating constipation that caused diverticulosis. About 4 years ago I began to research causes of the constipation that caused all the other problems - it's magensium deficiency.
Now I take chelated magnesium, 3-4 100 mg capsules a day fix the problem, and no more muscle cramps either.
For chelated MG: http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SWU074/ItemDetail
It cannot hurt you.
See also:
http://www.enzymestuff.com/magnesium.htm (good website)
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
Magnesium deficiency is associated with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, migraines, and a bunch of other ailments. Supplementing with magnesium has helped many of these conditions in clinical studies.
The symptoms of magnesium deficiency are irritability, tantrums, seizures, insomnia, muscle cramps/twitching, hyperactivity and poor digestion among others. Magnesium is needed for proper electrolyte function, over 300 enzyme functions, and calcium absorbtion.
I also found it very interested to read that one of the primary sources of dietary magnesium is whole grains and cereals. If one goes 100% gluten free, you may be losing a main source of magnesium, and could go deficient especially if you are also supplementing with extra calcium to make up for the casein free part.
Higher amount of magnesium may cause a laxative effect (milk of magnesium, epsom salts).
Clinical indications of magnesium deficiency were associated with the following:
ADD/ADHD
Alzheimer's disease
Anxiety
Asthma
Attention deficit disorder
Autism
Auto immune disorders- all types
Cerebral Palsy- in children from magnesium deficient mothers
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic pain
Congestive heart failure
Constipation
Crohn's disease
Depression
Diabetes mellitus
Endometriosis
Fibromyalgia
Gut disorders- including peptic ulcer, Crohn's disease, colitis
Food allergy
Headaches
Hyperactivity
Hypertension
Hypoglycemia
Insomnia
Irritable bowel syndrome
Menopause
Migraines
Multiple sclerosis
Muscle cramps
Muscle weakness, fatigue
Osteoarthritis
Osteoporosis
Parkinson's disease
PMS
Psoriasis
Schizophrenia
Stress
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
Tension
Ulcerative colitis
Pass it on.
David Roberts. Tell me all you know about planting and harvesting white salba. Thanks R
SDew2O hi! mi site is http://norffg.com
see you!
SDew2O hi! mi site is http://norffg.com
see you!
SDew2O hi! mi site is http://norffg.com
see you!
SDew2O hi! mi site is http://norffg.com
see you!
SDew2O hi! mi site is http://norffg.com
see you!
SDew2O hi! mi site is http://norffg.com
see you!
David Roberts, I am interested in learning the growing and harvesting process of Salba. Thank you
I saved some white seeds from a couple of bottles of Salba I had purchased online. Started them by wrapping in a moist paper towel and was surprised to see how rapidly they sprouted. I transplanted in the ground with the towel intact but reduced in size and lightly covered with dirt. They seem to be doing quite well but, of course, are spaced too closely together. There will probably be some problem in separating them since the towel is now part of their growing medium even more so than the loose soil. I would be interested in learning what David Roberts has to offer about growing and harvesting the Salba.
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Hey guys! I am a bit biased, as I sell white chia seeds (http://www.nutsonline.com/seedsspices/chia-seeds/white.html). We are informed by our suppliers that Salba is just white chia seeds, a lot of marketing, and a lot more money. Regardless of whether you buy generic white chia seeds or the Salba brand, customers seem to be responding very healthily.
David, I too live in Costa Rica and am interested in growing some salba. I just tried it the other day on a recommendation from a friend. i can hardly believe how good they are for you, amazing. I would love to plant some and to know where you acquired your seeds from. I had only a small package given to me and I ate them all.
David, I too live in Costa Rica and am interested in growing some salba. I just tried it the other day on a recommendation from a friend. i can hardly believe how good they are for you, amazing. I would love to plant some as well. Do you know of any local sources? I had only a small package given to me and I ate them all.
I know that my recommendation is biased and I will come out and say that I am a distributor for Mila by Lifemax. There really is a difference between Mila and Chia that can be bought in bulk. I tried both and some of my customers tried a cheaper alternative. All came back to Mila. Try it for a week or so and feel the difference for yourself.
http://www.mykindofgrain.com
Pharmacy With Shipping Online Overnight Pharmacy With Shipping Online Overnight
I'm a biologist, and although botany is not my specialty, I have a strong base in it, as well as 30 years of herbalism. My father is a physician, and teaches at the his alma-mater, the 2nd ranked Med School in the US. Sister is highly trained accupuncturist & alternative med practicioner. Mom is regional director of a company that does phased clinical pharm testing. My knowledge & experience straddle a few worlds.
Now that I've posted a my pseudo-CV:
the differences between Salba & generic chia are miniscule. Perhaps if you spent the next couple of years only eating chia, you might notice some slight differences (after you die of certain deficiencies of course), but those differences might not necessarily land on the side of Salba.
Chia in it's natural form comes in all shades. One might ask, if the white ones were just SO MUCH BETTER- why the Aztecs, or their descendants and the "indians" that still grow and use chia, didn't phase out all but the white ones? Chia is cheap, easy to grow, and plentiful. The only way to make big money off of it is to make it the next Magic-Stuff-In-A-Bottle (and throw it into an MLM scheme for good measure if you think you'll still have better profits after you get fined for your pyramid).
Clinical trials mean very little. We all have seen pharmaceuticals that have gone all the way through ALL the phased trials, yet still when they hit the REAL trial, public consumption of hundreds of thousands, to millions, of people- people start dying. The Cox-2 inhibitors are the most recent in my mind (Vyoxx, Celebrex, etc). There are plenty more that recently have earned "black labels".
Back to "nutriceuticals" and clinical trials. One company recently put their fish oil through clinical trials, and now you can spent $200 on 120 of their capsules. Same stuff as the caps I pay $13/120 for. Or theres the company that clinical trialed their time-release niacin, and charge $200/90.. or you can buy it on the vitamin shelf $15/250 (still time released too). Sure, the quality control is likely a little better on the pharm-grade stuff, but not practically orders of magnitude better.
We live in a world where "white is better". I'm not accusing anyone of racism- it's just something in the group consciousness. White-pure, black-unpure. White-good, black-bad. White-good, black-evil. White-virginal, black-more fun at parties.
Salba could have picked any shade of chia to separate, harvest, and do their clinicals on- of course, they chose white.
I've spent months reading every possible piece of info on chia- like I've dedicated my life to chia study. At most, there's a tiny difference between the protein & fiber contents- and I mean tiny difference. The rest of your diet will negate that slight difference within a single meal.
Do I trust the most recent Magic-Stuff-in-a-Bottle, or do I trust 3500+ years of ACTUAL use. The choice is obvious.
I'd also like to add, that if you're old enough, you'll have noticed that Magic-Stuffs come onto the scene with a roar, and disappear within a short time with a whimper. That's all it takes for the company to make its tens of millions (or more). All it has to do is sell each skeptic one or two bottles to test out, and they make their money because of their massive product margin. There are tons of these products that come onto the market yearly that are going to make you thin, beautiful, and make people like you- and seldom are these products still around a couple years later, or if they are, their prices have dropped to a mere fraction of their initial price, after desparate people have fallen for their claims, and the products have shown to be either useless, or merely overpriced food. Heck, I sometimes get sucked in, and I KNOW better.
If you think the white ones are better- buy them without paying for the fancy bottle, pretty label, and expensive marketing campaign. Nutsonline carries white chia.
Or if you think there's just a difference (neither good nor bad) between natural chia (with all shades in it) and white chia- buy a lb of both and mix them!
I'm writing this to help people get a little healthier and hopefully save some money. Chia will help. It's not a cure-all, but it's a healthy addition to ones diet. Magic-Stuff-in-a-Bottle only hurts people. Not only does it take money out of peoples pockets, but when people realize that it doesn't stand up to it's miracle expectations, then people give up on that food completely. Many people will give up on chia eventually because of Salba. Chia, of any color, is just a food source. It will aid in weight-loss, cholesterol lowering, blood-sugar issues, omega-3 intake, and a number of other things- but it wont cure cancer, or AIDS, or make you run through the Barrancos at the speed of the Tarahumara.
There are two companies that I have heard good things about from people who know (my wife is a runner & bodybuilder), including marathoners, ultra-runners, and other endurance sport enthusiasts (people who REALLY do amazing things with their bodies). So far I haven't ordered from either, I don't know the owners, I don't have a stake in this. When I do have to refill the big chia jar in my fridge, I'll be refilling from one of these 2 companies:
http://www.hidalgofoods.com/products/products.asp?category=8&subcategory=8&size=0&search=&page=
http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/chia-seeds/
(I'll probably go with nutsonline just because they have SO MANY other interesting things I'd like to try!)
Good luck. Be an informed shopper. Avoid outrageous claims & prices. Do your own thinking & research- don't trust those who care more about their bank account, than those who care about improving humanity.
dXm- biologist at large...
My husband turned me on to Salba, and I will NEVER doubt him again. Salba is delicious.