5 foods you should NEVER combine with chia seeds

If you add chia seeds to your dry granola in order to add more fiber to your breakfast, stop right now! Yes, chia seeds are an excellent source of fiber. One ounce (28.35 g) of chia seeds ​contains about 7.8 g of fiber. But chia seeds can absorb water and swell into a gel-like consistency. So when you add dry chia seeds to your dry granola and eat it, they can draw that water from your digestive tract to expand. In fact, chia seeds can absorb up to 27 times their weight in water. These seeds can expand in the esophagus, which can potentially lead to blockages. Dr. Kunal Sood, MD, a board-certified doctor practising in Germantown, Maryland, reveals that consuming dry chia seeds can even land you in an ER. He spoke about an incident where a 39-year-old man who swallowed a tablespoon of dry chia seeds, followed by water, landed in the hospital. “In one rare case, a man swallowed a tablespoon of dried chia seeds with water, and they expanded in his throat, blocking his airway,” he said, in a video shared on Instagram. Always soak chia seeds properly before consumption.