--- description: How to eat the superfood safely title: You'll Never Guess What Chia Seeds Can Do To Your Esophagus image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf567c918f37d7d92/698761bc06f2c16320331791/chia-seeds.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Diet & Nutrition](/tag/dietnutrition/) ## Diet & Nutrition Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # You'll Never Guess What Chia Seeds Can Do To Your Esophagus  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Oct 20, 2014 4:47 PM CUT  Whole Chia seeds Whole Chia seedsGetty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Oct 20, 2014 4:47 PM CUT Chia, the superseed _du jour,_ is all the rage for its abundant fiber and plant-based protein and fat. But swallowing chia seeds, warns new [research](http://acgblog.org/2014/10/14/watch-it-grow-esophageal-impaction-with-chia-seeds/ "undefined") presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, should also come with a note of caution. That’s because the seeds can absorb 27 times their dry weight in water—expanding in size so much that the thickened, gel-like mass got lodged in a man’s esophagus, sending him to the ER. The 39-year-old man swallowed a tablespoon of dry chia seeds and then chased them with water. When he did, he discovered he couldn’t swallow any of his own saliva. The man had a history of intermittent dysphagia—or the sensation of things getting stuck as he’s swallowing them.  Courtesy of Carolinas HealthCare System How could a seed so tiny actually cause a blockage? “It got to be this sort of almost Play-Doh-like consistency, very hard in terms of a liquid but also sort of soft,” says Dr. Rebecca Rawl, MD, the gastroenterology fellow at Carolinas HealthCare System who helped treat the patient. None of her regular tools worked at dislodging it, so using a tiny endoscope meant for babies, she broke of little chunks of chia until it got small enough to push the whole thing through. “It was labor intensive,” she says. **MORE**: [The Truth About 6 “Superfood” Seeds](http://time.com/2946028/seeds-chia-hemp-flax-sesame-pumpkin-nigella/ "undefined") Rawl has seen plenty of things get stuck in the esophagus, but the obstructions are usually meat: things like steak, chicken and hot dogs. “Generally, vegetative matter and seeds at least can get broken down and slide through,” Rawl says, and the chia case was the first she’s heard of. “The popularity of chia seeds is growing, and I think this will come up more frequently,” she says. You don’t have to swear off the smoothie-enhancer for good: just let them expand fully in liquid before eating or drinking them, Rawl recommends. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3524803/chia-seeds-superfood-stuck/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3524803/chia-seeds-superfood-stuck/"},"headline":"You'll Never Guess What Chia Seeds Can Do To Your Esophagus","datePublished":"2014-10-20T16:47:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:20.949Z","description":"How to eat the superfood safely","url":"https://time.com/3524803/chia-seeds-superfood-stuck/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","seeds"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf567c918f37d7d92/698761bc06f2c16320331791/chia-seeds.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf567c918f37d7d92/698761bc06f2c16320331791/chia-seeds.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Whole Chia seeds","caption":"Whole Chia seeds","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3524803/chia-seeds-superfood-stuck/","name":"You'll Never Guess What Chia Seeds Can Do To Your Esophagus"}}]}] ```