Chia seeds and heart, blood and waist measures
What it found
In people, chia supplementation was linked to small improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, inflammation and waist size.
The authors rate the certainty of this evidence as moderate to low.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood pressure
Chia supplementation was linked to reductions in diastolic and systolic blood pressure in people.
Cholesterol and triglycerides
Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides went down with chia in people. HDL cholesterol also went down slightly.
Waist size
Waist circumference was reduced with chia supplementation in people.
Inflammation
C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, was reduced with chia in people.
Other findings
Certainty of evidence
The authors graded the certainty of the evidence as moderate to low for most outcomes.
What the authors conclude
“Overall, chia supplementation may offer modest but statistically significant benefits for improving blood pressure, lipid profiles, inflammation, and central obesity.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that chia supplementation may offer modest but statistically significant benefits for improving blood pressure, lipid profiles, inflammation, and central obesity.
- They note that the certainty of evidence ranged from moderate to low for most outcomes.
How it was done
Chia seeds have attracted interest for possible health benefits, but the authors say their overall effectiveness remains uncertain because high-quality evidence is limited and studies differ from each other.
They combined data from eight meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials, involving about 2,500 participants. The studies looked at blood pressure, blood fats, inflammation and body measurements.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The evidence comes from studies that followed people over time, so it can show links but not prove that chia causes these changes.
- The authors rate the certainty of the evidence as moderate to low, so the true size of any effect may differ.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- Declarations. Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate: Not Applicable. Consent for Publication: Not Applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
- Authors work at
- University of Basrah, Iraq; Al-Mustaqbal University, Iraq; King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia
The paper
- Title
- A Critical Review of the Health Benefits Associated with Chia Seeds (Salvia Hispanica L.)
- Type
- Systematic review and meta-analysisThe authors follow a set, published method to find every relevant study, then combine the numbers from them into one result.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Al-Younis ZK, Al-Shawi SG, Kareem AK, et al (2025). A Critical Review of the Health Benefits Associated with Chia Seeds (Salvia Hispanica L.). Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands). doi:10.1007/s11130-025-01401-zPubMed 41076614DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error