I have written before about my love of chia seeds. They are such a great super food and you can use them in so many different ways. Today I made a healthy sweet treat with them.

You will notice that I use coconut oil in this recipe. As with many oils, there is a big confusion about coconut oil. Many people are afraid of using it, because it has the “bad fat,” i.e., saturated fat. But, differing from other highly saturated fats, coconut oil is mostly made up of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs).  Why is that important?  Well let me explain. Fats are classified as short-, medium- or long-chain based on the number of carbon molecules they contain. Nearly two-thirds of the saturated fat in coconut oil consists of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs).

Long-chain fatty acids must be emulsified by bile salts in the small intestine before they can be absorbed into our body. Short- and medium-chain fatty acids, such as those in coconut oil, are absorbed directly through the portal vein to the liver, where they are immediately available as energy to the body.

So, in other words, most of the saturated fat in coconut oil is very easily digested and converted into quick energy. And therefor less likely to cause weight gain because they are immediately used by the body and have less opportunity to be stored.

Coconut oil has a lot of other good qualities:  It has antibacterial properties, It is rich in tocotrienols (vitamin E, witch is an antioxidant), and because of the high amounts of saturated fat, it is stable for cooking. So it is a great choice, if you want to cook with oil. You can also use it as a body lotion on your body, (it smells wonderfully) or even to clean make up of your face!

But now let´s eat it! You can easily enjoy this delicious healthy Chocolate-Coconut Chia Seed treat

Chocolate pudding:

Serves 1 – 2, depending on how hungry you are

Ingredients: Continue reading →