Pulling Out Strong Hearts: An Aztec Medicinal Secret

Now we know how the Aztecs had such vigorous hearts to be pulled out from the chests of the unfortunate victims as an offering to the gods. Their cardiac secret was salba or chia, a grain related to mint.

A new Canadian research suggests that people with type 2 diabetes could decrease their cardiovascular risk by consuming whole grain salba originating from the Valley of Mexico, in a research published in Diabetes Care. The consumption of 2-3 recommended daily portions of whole grain salba was connected to lowered systolic blood pressure and decreased cardiovascular risk factors in the case of individuals with well-controlled type 2 diabetes.

"All our subjects continued their usual treatment over the duration of the study. The effects seen with salba were in addition to intensive conventional medical treatment", said co-researcher Dr. Alexandra Jenkins, of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

Whole grain salba abounds in fibers, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, magnesium, iron, and antioxidants.

The research team recruited 11 men and 9 women, on average 64-year-olds with well-controlled type 2 diabetes. All subjects ate either 37 grams of salba daily or wheat bran for 12 weeks. After that, the subjects changed diets for another 12 weeks. During the trial, the subjects did not change their lifestyle or physical activity.

At the end of each period, researchers made measurements, discovering that systolic blood pressure lowered by 6.3mm Hg on average while on salba diet, a significant value.

Salba has been found to be effective against factors connected with inflammation and blood clotting, and maintains blood glucose levels constant. Even if the research was made on diabetes patients, the researchers believe the results could be applied for the overall population.

Indeed, ancient Aztecs employed salba not just as food but also for medicinal purposes. Today, the plant is also cultivated in Peru and Argentina.