6 Super Healthy Seeds You Should Eat: Hemp and flaxseeds are two types of seeds that can offer important nutrients and health advantages. They might include substances that lower your chance of developing specific illnesses.
6 Super Healthy Seeds You Should Eat
1. Pumpkin Seeds
Roasted pumpkin seeds are a popular snack and addition to baked products, salads, and trail mix because of their nutty, slightly sweet flavour. They’re a great supply of important minerals like iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, and plant-based protein.
Three-quarters of your daily requirements for magnesium, a mineral important in blood pressure, blood sugar, and stress management, are met by one ounce of pumpkin seeds.
They also include high concentrations of zinc, a mineral essential for immune system performance, growth and development, DNA synthesis, and skin health, as well as copper and iron, two elements required for the manufacture of red blood cells.
Pumpkin seeds are an excellent option for people who follow plant-based or low-carb eating patterns because they are low in carbohydrates and high in heart-healthy lipids and plant-based protein.
2. Hemp Seeds
Hemp seeds are amongst the most nutritious seeds you can eat, providing protein, healthy fats, fiber, and several essential vitamins and minerals including magnesium, B6, and zinc.
Hemp seeds may be especially beneficial for brain health, as they’re rich in nutrients needed for optimal brain function and stress regulation, such as protein, fat, and magnesium.
Magnesium plays an important role in the body’s stress response and studies show that people who are frequently stressed tend to have lower blood levels of magnesium compared to people who aren’t typically stressed.
What’s more, some research suggests that people with lower blood levels of magnesium are more likely to experience mental health conditions, such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.
Increasing your intake of magnesium-rich foods, like hemp seeds, could help increase your magnesium levels and support mental health. Just one ounce of hemp seeds covers 50% of your recommended daily intake for this nutrient.
3. Chia Seeds
Chia seeds are a great way to get a variety of minerals, including selenium, magnesium, and manganese. Additionally, they are incredibly high in fibre, with one ounce serving providing about 35% of your daily fibre requirements.
Chia seeds are one of the high-fiber foods that can help you maintain healthy blood lipid levels, such as cholesterol and triglycerides, while also supporting your digestive system.Rich in soluble fibre, chia seeds help to enhance the elimination of cholesterol and reduce its absorption in the digestive system.
Consuming chia seeds was found to be beneficial for reducing levels of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol in a review of ten research published in 2021.Additionally, the review discovered that eating chia seeds can raise HDL cholesterol levels, which are heart-protective.
Furthermore, research has indicated that include chia seeds in your diet may help lower blood pressure and blood sugar, which may enhance heart health and minimise the risk of heart disease.
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4. Sesame Seeds
Even in modest amounts, sesame seeds pack a powerful nutritional punch. Sesame seeds are a great way to increase your nutritional intake because a two-tablespoon serving provides more than 10% of your daily requirements for calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, thiamine, and zinc.
Consuming sesame seeds can help raise blood antioxidant levels and lower indicators of inflammation and oxidative stress. Sesame seeds are also rich in beneficial plant chemicals, such as carotenoids, flavonoids, lignans, and polyphenols.
Eating sesame seeds and products made from them, such as tahini, has also been demonstrated to be beneficial in lowering heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol. It may also help prevent atherosclerosis, which is the thickening or hardening of the arteries brought on by a buildup of plaque.
5. Flaxseeds
Flaxseeds are high in several vitamins and minerals, including copper, magnesium, and selenium.
These seeds also provide a good source of fiber, which can support digestive health. Flaxseeds have been shown to be an effective natural treatment for constipation and may support an overall healthier gut environment by encouraging the growth of beneficial probiotic bacteria.
In addition to encouraging healthy bowel movements and a balanced microbiome, adding high-fiber flaxseeds to your diet can also improve blood sugar regulation and reduce heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol levels.
A 2019 study found that treatment with 10 grams of flaxseed twice per day for 12 weeks was more effective than psyllium husk for reducing constipation, blood sugar levels, and cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
A 2022 study that included 19 men with type 2 diabetes also found that consuming 15 grams of flaxseed before breakfast reduced post-meal blood sugar by 17% compared to a control breakfast.
6. Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are a good source of many vitamins and minerals, but are especially high in vitamin E, copper, and selenium, all of which play critical roles in health.
One ounce of sunflower seeds provides nearly 50% of your daily needs for vitamin E, a fat-soluble nutrient that functions as a powerful antioxidant in the body, protecting against cellular damage that may otherwise lead to disease.
Sunflower seeds are also concentrated in selenium, a mineral with antioxidant properties that’s necessary for thyroid function and reproductive health.20
In addition to vitamins and minerals, sunflower seeds provide a source of fiber and plant-based protein, both of which can help you feel full after eating and support weight maintenance.