Chia Seeds

Salvia hispanica, commonly known as chia, is a species of flowering plant in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentha" title="Mentha">mint</a> family, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamiaceae" title="Lamiaceae">Lamiaceae</a>, native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica#cite_note-GRIN-1">[1]</a> The 16th century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Mendoza" title="Codex Mendoza">Codex Mendoza</a> provides evidence that it was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Mesoamerica" title="Agriculture in Mesoamerica">cultivated</a> by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec" title="Aztec">Aztec</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian" title="Pre-Columbian" class="mw-redirect">pre-Columbian</a> times; economic historians have suggested that it was as important as maize as a food crop.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica#cite_note-CAHILL-2">[2]</a> It is still used in Mexico and Guatemala, with the seeds sometimes ground, while whole seeds are used for nutritious drinks and as a food source.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica#cite_note-Kintzios-3">[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica#cite_note-4">[4]</a>