Panthers DE Thomas Keiser ingesting Chia Pet seeds to stay hydrated

Well, this is a new one: Panthers defensive end Thomas Keiser has spent training camp ingesting chia seeds -- like the ones used to grow Chia Pets -- along with drinking a gallon of water a day, in order to stay hydrated.

Do not drink Keiser's water. (US Presswire)

Athletes do some weird stuff, man. But this might take the cake: Thomas Keiser, a defensive end for the Panthers, has spent training camp ingesting chia seeds -- yes, like the ones used to grow Chia pets -- along with drinking a gallon of water a day in order to stay hydrated.

The natural reaction to this, for me, is to wonder why his stomach hasn't gone all Alien on him, bursting open with fake green flowery goo. Most people, according to Max Henson of Panthers.com, apparently just ask him if the chia seeds are the same thing used for Chia Pets.

"People ask me all the time if it's the same stuff that's in Chia Pets. It is," Keiser said. "I'll have probably two or three tablespoons in somewhere between two-thirds and a full gallon of water every day."

So Keiser takes these seeds and dumps them in his water and carries them around training camp drinking the mixture and trying to freak people out. Apparently though, there's some sort of science behind it.

"It helps hydrate you, because it absorbs 10 times its weight in water," Keiser said. "And instead of the water just going in your system and flushing right out, it's going to sit in you longer."

That's precisely what would terrify me about using chia seeds. What if they sit inside of you and turn into green fur? That would be very bad for your stomach. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way either -- clearly some of the other players on the Panthers are a little weirded out by Keiser's decision.

Fortunately, he's got a pretty solid old-school reference to an American movie classic to keep us off the weird scent of whatever he's taking down.

"Most of the guys think I'm pretty weird for carrying that around," Kesier said. "I just keep telling them it's like Mike's Magic Juice in Space Jam."

Not bad. You can hardly ever go wrong with Space Jam references. That'll get you a free pass from me just about every time. But if I were Keiser, I'd just tell everyone I figured out what the secret ingredient to Cammy Cam Juice is, bottle that mess up and watch the profits roll in.