Is This Chia-Pet Cousin the Next Big Superfood?
Ever heard of salba (Salvia hispanica), a cousin of mint that grows throughout southern Mexico? You’ve certainly heard of another product derived from the same plant: chia, whose seeds you grow on silly-stupid, tacky Chia Pets (I’m still unhappy about the awful Obama Chia they introduced last spring). What you may not know about salba is how utterly packed with nutrition it is. I certainly wasn’t aware of this superfood until I came across it at the Natural Products Expo East in September. And now that summer’s over and I’m back to cooking and baking lots of yummy comfort foods, this little grain will make an easy, healthy addition to lots of my dishes. According to a 2007 study published in the journal Diabetes Care, salba is the highest source of dietary fiber and healthy fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) found in nature. What’s more, say researchers at the University of Toronto, salba is an “exceptionally rich source of vegetable protein, calcium, magnesium, iron, and antioxidants,” al
