Chia seeds and blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation and waist size in people
What it found
Across eight analyses involving about 2,500 people, chia seeds led to small drops in blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation and waist size.
The authors rate their confidence in these findings as low to moderate.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood pressure
People taking chia had lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure compared with those who did not. The drop in diastolic pressure was larger than the drop in systolic pressure.
Cholesterol and triglycerides
Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides all fell slightly in people taking chia. HDL cholesterol also dropped by a small amount.
Inflammation marker
C-reactive protein, a sign of inflammation in the blood, was lower in people taking chia.
Waist size
Waist circumference was smaller in people who took chia compared with those who did not.
What the authors conclude
- They suggest chia may provide modest improvements in blood pressure, blood fats, inflammation and waist size.
- They note that the certainty of the evidence ranged from low to moderate for most outcomes.
How it was done
Chia seeds have drawn attention for possible health benefits, but scientists are unsure how well they work because the evidence is limited and studies vary widely.
The authors gathered eight meta-analyses of trials where people were randomly assigned to take chia or not. These covered about 2,500 participants in total. They looked at effects on blood pressure, blood fats, inflammation and body measurements.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These results come from combining many short trials, so they cannot show what happens when people eat chia over many years.
- Because the evidence quality is low to moderate, scientists do not yet know exactly how large these benefits truly are.
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 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error