Chia Star Offers Chia-Based Drinks
In his 2009 book, Born to Run (Vintage, 2011), Christopher Mc-Dougall examines the centuries-long extreme-running culture of Mexico’s Tarahumara people. On rugged trails threaded across the Sierra Madre, runners cover hundreds of miles at a stretch. The secret to their stamina? Iskiate, a drink made from soaked chia seeds.
With the rise of Chia Star, first launched in 2012, Morris County– based wellness entrepreneur Sara Erb intends to popularize this tiny powerhouse closer to home with her line of chia-based drinks that merge fruit flavors like blackberry lime or peach green tea with chia-based hydration. A holistic nutritionist with a track record in the wellness space—she launched one of NJ’s first full-service organic grocers in the 1980s—Erb honed in on the seed just as medical journals began to extoll its benefits.
“It’s amazing that a single seed can be so packed with antioxidants, calcium, fiber, B vitamins, strontium, and omega-3 fatty acids,” Erb says.
A wellness focus may be part of Erb’s DNA: Her aunt was an organic farmer and rancher, and organized California’s first organic farmers’ market in the 1960s. Erb herself was raised in a health-minded household where cooking and gardening were favored over TV. While she was tending her childhood garden plot and reading Prevention and Organic Gardening magazines, her lifelong interest in health and nutrition was born.
In 2016, Chia Star extended its brand to include coconut-chia shakes, and new fruit flavors are on deck for 2017. Chia Star products can be found at Whole Foods Market, Kings Food Markets, and other specialty grocers. Full disclosure: Chia Star may not turn you into an ultra-athlete. It will, however, leave you a better hydrated, more nourished human. Not bad for a small seed.
