What could be better than a chia chocolate pudding that not only delights your taste buds, but also soothes your stomach? Whether you have digestive troubles or simply want a tasty and nutritious treat, this dairy-free chia chocolate pudding is a must-make.
Do you have a favourite snotty food? Let me be more polite. Do you have a favourite mucilaginous food? If you’ve never encountered this term before, mucilaginous foods are incredible for healing the digestive tract. It makes perfect sense that mucilage would help to heal a mucus membrane, which is what lines our insides from top to bottom.
Some common mucilaginous foods are:
- Chia seeds
- Okra
- Aloe
- Flax seeds
- Slippery Elm
- Marshmallow root
- Psyllium
The somewhat slimy, goopy factor of these foods is their exact power. They promote digestive healing and are gentle, nourishing and soothing to the mucous membranes and cells of the intestines. They are calming and can reduce or ease pain.
When I was healing from Crohn’s disease, I relied on mucilaginous foods regularly. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) involve ulcerations and inflammation throughout the digestive tract. The challenge we have with IBD and IBS is often that our digestive tracts are so angry that they are unable to properly absorb nutrition from the foods we eat, and perpetuate the growth of the bad bacteria that are implicated in the onset and flare of such conditions. We need that nutrition: all those vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and phytonutrients to heal and repair. The first step then, of course, is to stop that anger cycle and begin to heal.
The Health Benefits of Mucilaginous Foods
Think of how awesome aloe feels when applied to a burn. Now imagine that soothing action happening to the hot, hot, heat of intestinal irritation and inflammation. Suddenly those snotty foods are looking pretty great, right?
An added benefit of these slimy foods is often the power pack of nutrition they offer. Aloe, for example, is also anti viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory – all important factors when trying to heal. Now there has been some debate, largely among the GAPS diet followers, regarding mucilagenous polysaccharides and that the slime factor hampers digestion and the growth of beneficial gut flora. I do believe, however, that as long as you are not in an acute-flare stage, they are monumentally healing.
The healing power of these mucilaginous polysaccharides include:
- Helps stop the bleeding, damage and leakage of the intestine wall.
- Relieves autoimmune response and allergic conditions.
- Helps to effectively balance and restore proper immune system function.
- Reduce inflammation: very strong anti-inflammatory agent.
- Encourages and increases the tissue healing process.
- Prevents the production of to much stomach acids, which lead to heartburn, acid reflux disease or gastro esophageal reflux disease known as GERD.
- Maintains or correct fluid levels within the colon after continued use, eliminating both diarrhea and constipation.
- Helping all the body’s systems work together as they should: proper digestion, absorption of foods and nutrients are no longer a problem.
- Protects and encourages healthy flora in the digestive tract.
- Controls chronic yeast growth to ensure that normal healthy flora may remain.
Chia Chocolate Pudding: The Benefits
There are so many things to love about this chia chocolate pudding, both flavour-wise and nutritionally. Some of the awesome ingredients here include:
- Chia seeds. These are mucilaginous, rich in protein, fibre, anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats, calcium, iron, magnesium and antioxidants.
- Coconut milk. This beneficial fat is fantastic for the nervous system and has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. You can discover 12 delicious ways to use it here.
- Raw cacao. Cacao is extremely high in antioxidants and magnesium, which helps our intestinal muscles relax.
- Collagen. This amino acid helps to soothe the digestive tract and improve nutrient absorption, plus it’s great for our hair, skin and nails.
This chia chocolate pudding is one of my favourite things to eat. You can jazz this up with mint, cinnamon or nutmeg, top with fresh fruit or cacao nibs, or dollop with coconut whipped cream. You can also amp up the mucilage factor by adding in a bit of aloe. It’s very versatile, creamy and delicious!
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Chia Chocolate Pudding
- Total Time: 8 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This delicious dairy-free pudding is rich in protein, gut healing fats, magnesium rich raw cacao to relax the colon and other smooth muscles, and is naturally sweetened with whole dates.
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 ripe banana
- 1/4 cup chia seeds (grind first in a coffee grinder if you don’t have a Vitamix or something similar)
- 2 Tbsp collagen (optional)
- 2 Tbsp flax oil
- 1/4 cup raw cacao
- 4 medjool dates
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in your blender (or food processor) and mix until smooth.
- Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes and go!
- Prep Time: 8 mins
- Category: Snack or Dessert
Image: iStock/Lilechka75
33 responses to “Chocolate Chia Pudding for Digestive Health”
I love marshmallow root. I make a tea with either the dried root or the tincture mixed with ginger tea. I’m not sure if marshmallow root helps the digestive tract, but it is wonderful for a sore throat and inflamed tonsils.
If sure does!
That looks so good! I’m having my first endoscopy/colonoscopy tomorrow (fasting today) and I wonder if this would this be a good post op treat?
Trying to plan ahead as I cant stand the idea of putting anything less than amazing ingredients though my soon-to-be-sparkling-clean colon.
Do you have any suggestions for taking aloe for IBS that doesn’t include cutting up an aloe plant? I don’t have one right now and am afraid that it will be crazy expensive to buy the aloe the size of the one you had in your video!
I wish i could come to your digestive health weekend but I have just enrolled in IHN for September (yay!) and am funnelling all my money into that!
thanks!
Great post! I had no idea the benefits of these ‘snotty’ foods. Very cool indeedy.
Yum. That looks so delish.
I have to ask, given your repeated use of the term ‘snotty’, but do mucilaginous foods give you a snotty nose, as do dairy, oils etc? Is that a side-effect?
No! It actually as the opposite effect- helping eliminate excess mucous from the body.
Snotty is actually a description of the texture of these foods. Ever ate Okra?
I love that this raw pudding is made without mylk or avocados (I used raw applesauce). Next I will try it with fresh mint, but so far my experience of this chocolate pudding was tasty and filling! Made it two days in a row!
Hey, thanks for the advice to use applesauce! I wouldn’t have thought of that! I actually did use avocado instead of banana as bananas make me bloated. Also, I was out of coconut milk so I used 1.5 cups almond milk and omitted the water. It is fabulous, my favorite chia pudding I’ve ever made. Thanks as always, Meghan!
Apple sauce is a great idea. Can you kindly say how much did you used🙏
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You could try about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup applesauce, depending on how thick you like your pudding to be. If you wanted to swap out the banana, you could try adding a little more (about 1/2 cup).
I was just wondering if you are using the aloe directly from the plant or if the one that comes in a bottle (aloe juice) is also good? Thanks
I always use the one directly from the plant. I’m personally not a fan of the ones that come in the bottle- they’ll be diluted and deodorized versions of the whole plant.
Beautiful recipe! Just wondering if you have a post on collagen, where to source it and how to use it (other than this great recipe :))
thank you!!!
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Any thoughts on fermented cacao? Just curious what the difference is and if there is more benefits to fermented version of this superfood?
To my knowledge all cacao is fermented as part of the processing from raw pod to chocolate.
Can cacao powder be substituted for the raw cacao? Also, can chia oil or “omega oil? be used in place of flax oil? That’s all I can find at the grocery store where I am shopping today.
Thanks!
You can use another omega-3 oil if that’s what you have access to. You can also use cocoa powder in place of raw cacao – the flavour and nutritional profile will be different, but you gotta work with what you’ve got. :)
I was wondering if you have a go to Coconut milk you buy for when you do not make your own? Thanks!
Check out brands that are in BPA-free cans or cartons. Native Forest is one example. I have also used the Thai Kitchen organic brand.
Can’t wait till tomorrow. My Vitamix arrives. Waited 2 yrs for this. Definitely making this pudding this week.
Hey Meghan. I don’t have a place to grind seeds. What do you think about consuming overnight hydrates flaxseeds?
You could also try this recipe using whole chia seeds – the texture won’t be quite as smooth, but you’ll still have the thick pudding-like texture.
Tried this with coconut kefir in place of the coconut milk – delicious!
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So good! I want to make a chocolate pie with this. Just need gluten free pie crust. Yum!
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Thanks for this recipe & info, Meghan. I’m excited to try it! Do I have to soak the chia seeds prior to using them in the recipe?
No, you don’t.
Made this for dessert today, and it turned out great! I added 2 more dates as mine were tiny. Thanks!
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Thank you for this recipe, made it with organic prunes today instead of dates. & .topped with fresh rasberries & cream yoghurt.
yum.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is sooooo good and so easy! I used applesauce in place of the banana since I didn’t have a banana. Thank you, Meghan, for all the goodness you share with the world!
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