Adding chia seeds to foods helps to cheaply prevent Kenya’s fastest-rising killer: heart disease.
Diseases of the heart and blood vessels are the leading cause of death globally. According to Kenya’s Ministry of Health, they are the second in Kenya, having risen by three per cent in the last nine years contributing to 13 per cent of total deaths and a quarter of all hospital admissions. They are also among the costliest diseases to treat with drugs costing up to Sh127,197 annually and heart surgeries up to one million shillings. This makes heart complications a driver in increasing poverty as the financial burden of healthcare is usually out of pocket as most Kenyans do not have health insurance, which leads to catastrophic health expenses. The cost of heart-related disorders is expected to grow by 5.14 per cent over the next five years taking the ‘cost of treatment market’ for these diseases in Kenya to a whopping Sh52.6B in 2029.
Chia’s power to reduce heart-related diseases lies in the seed’s ability to help overweight and obese people shed weight. Being overweight increases the risk of heart disease by seven per cent every two years.
Adding chia to bread and cakes noticeably increased weight loss and reduced heart disease in overweight people. In 24 weeks, they lost 1.8kg every week while those who were trying to lose weight without including chia seeds lost just 0.5kg. Their waists also reduced by 3.4cm– 2.6 times greater than those on a chia-less diet. This is because 95 per cent of the fibre in chia seeds is insoluble which takes longer to be digested increasing the time one feels full after a meal.
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Eating 25mg/day of chia also significantly reduced the risk of developing high blood pressure which is the number one cause of stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart attack deaths. Insoluble fibres reduce heart disease by getting rid of toxins from the body.
This is again because the insoluble fibres in chia– which are more than almost any other grain or dried fruit– also directly improve the heart’s health by lowering blood pressure.
Further still, chia seeds are packed with fatty acids and minerals like magnesium, potassium which helps relax blood vessel walls, and calcium which lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension.
These powers of reducing heart diseases have seen chia seeds used by yoghourt makers in Kenya such as AfyaLishe to make chia-infused mango yoghourts. There has also been growing consumption of chia-laced smoothies and cereals among Kenyan’s health-conscious middle class.
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Consumer tests have shown that Kenyans prefer the taste of ugali made with chia seeds than regular ugali. This shows that there is a ready market for a darker chia ugali which is not just sweeter but more nutritious. Adding chia to Kenya’s main staple food could be a game-changer, saving thousands of lives and millions in hospital expenses lost each year to heart disease.