Nutrition Facts: Organic Chia Seeds and How to Use Them

October 16, 2026

Chia seeds are tiny, about 2mm long, but a nutrition table for them is full of large numbers. Here is what is in our Organic Chia Seeds, what each figure actually tells you, and how to use them.

Nutrition per 100g

Energy: about 486 kcal
Fat: 30.7g (saturates 3.3g, monounsaturates 2.3g, polyunsaturates 23.7g)
Carbohydrate: 42.1g (sugars about 0g)
Fibre: 34.4g
Protein: 16.5g
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA): about 17.8g
Calcium 631mg, iron 7.7mg, magnesium 335mg, phosphorus 860mg, potassium 407mg

Mineral and ALA figures are from USDA FoodData Central. A typical serving is 10 to 15g, so a serving gives a fraction of these amounts.

What the figures mean

Energy. Kilocalories are what most of us call calories. At about 486 kcal per 100g, a 10g serving gives roughly 49 kcal and a 15g serving roughly 73 kcal. The adult reference intake used on labels is 2,000 kcal a day.

Fat. Chia is oily: published analyses put the oil at around a third of the seed. By the NHS front-of-pack guide, more than 17.5g of fat per 100g counts as high, so the seeds sit in that band, but that is per 100g and a serving is a spoonful or two. What matters more is the type. Saturates are fatty acids with no double bonds and make up only 3.3g. The polyunsaturates, with two or more double bonds, make up 23.7g, and most of those are ALA, the plant omega-3 fat. The NHS lists flaxseed oil, rapeseed oil and walnuts among the plant sources of omega-3.

Carbohydrate, sugars and fibre. These lines need careful reading. On a UK label, carbohydrate means carbohydrate the body can digest, and fibre, which is not digested, is listed separately. The 42.1g figure here is much larger than a UK label would normally show next to 34.4g of fibre, and it appears to include the fibre. If so, only around 8g per 100g is digestible carbohydrate, which fits the sugars figure of about 0g: sugars are the simple carbohydrates, the mono- and disaccharides.

The fibre is the big number. The NHS says foods with 6g or more of fibre per 100g count as high in fibre, and that adults should aim for 30g a day while most average about 20g. A 15g serving of chia contributes about 5g.

Protein. 16.5g per 100g is about 14% of the seeds' energy, calculated with the standard conversion factor of 17kJ per gram. That is above the 12% needed to describe a food as a source of protein, and below the 20% needed for high in protein.

Minerals. Labels compare minerals against nutrient reference values: calcium 800mg, iron 14mg, magnesium 375mg, phosphorus 700mg and potassium 2,000mg. Per 100g, the seeds provide about 79% of the calcium value, 55% of iron, 89% of magnesium, 123% of phosphorus and 20% of potassium. A 15g serving gives about a seventh of each of those, for example roughly 95mg of calcium (12%) and 50mg of magnesium (13%).

Nutrition and health claims

Under the UK nutrition and health claims rules (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, as retained in Great Britain), chia seeds qualify as a source of protein (protein is over 12% of the energy), high in fibre (over 6g per 100g), and high in omega-3 (ALA) (the rules ask for at least 0.6g of ALA per 100g and per 100kcal, and chia has about 17.8g per 100g). The authorised wording that applies:

Protein contributes to a growth in muscle mass.
Protein contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass.
Alpha-linolenic acid contributes to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 2g of ALA, which is about 11g of chia seeds.
Calcium contributes to normal blood clotting and to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
Magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
Iron contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin.

These conditions are assessed per 100g of the food. How much you take in depends on how much you eat.

How to use them

Chia pudding: stir 3 tbsp into 250ml of plant milk and chill for at least 2 hours. Give it a stir after the first few minutes so the seeds do not clump.
Stir into porridge, yoghurt and smoothies.
Add to bread, muffins and pancakes for crunch.
Scatter over salads.

The seeds will keep swelling in any liquid they meet, so add a little extra liquid to recipes. Looking for recipes? See our Recipes & Suggestions blog.