Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L.), incorporated into cookies, reduce postprandial glycaemic variability but have little or no effect on subjective appetite

Chia seeds are gaining interest as a potential functional food. We compared the subjective hunger, fullness and glycaemic responses elicited by 30 g cookies containing 0, 3, 5 or 7 g chia seed (CS0, CS3, CS5 or CS7; 140-150 kcal, 7-8 g fat, 4 g protein, 0-2 g dietary-fibre, 16 g available-carbohydrate) using a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design. Overnight-fasted heathy adults (24 male, 22 female) consumed test-cookies with endpoints measured before and intermittently for 3 h after eating. Total areas under the curve (tAUC0-3 h) for hunger were similar among treatments (p = 0.49) but fullness differed (p = 0.019) with tAUC0-3 h after CS3 > CS7 (mean +/- SEM) (140 +/- 9 vs 122 +/- 10 mm x h, p < 0.025), but neither different from CS0 (127 +/- 10 mm x h). Mean incremental glucose AUC0-2 h after CS3, CS5 and CS7, respectively, were 22%, 23% and 30% less than CS0 (p < 0.05). Thus, although chia seeds reduced glycaemic responses, we were unable to demonstrate a significant effect on hunger or fullness versus control.