These nutrients may play a role in reducing the risk of common health problems, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Here's everything you need to know about sunflower seeds, including their nutritional value, health benefits, and potential harm to the human body.
Sunflower seeds - benefits and harm for women and men
Vitamin and mineral composition
Sunflower seeds are an amazing product. It contains the following substances:
- Vitamin A – takes part in the processes of bone tissue structure.
- Vitamin D – helps restore the skin and mucous membranes of body tissues. For these qualities, sunflower oil is valued in the cosmetics industry.
- Vitamin E – participates in the removal of carcinogens from the body, neutralizes the effects of harmful radiation on tissues, and prevents the development of atherosclerosis.
- Vitamin F – protects body cells from cholesterol concentrations.
- Potassium and phosphorus are indispensable for the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
- Tannins – prevent infection by all kinds of parasites.
Main characteristics
On sale you can find both the familiar black sunflower seeds and white sunflower seeds. White ones are larger in size and elongated in shape and have a hard skin. Otherwise, the composition of black and white seeds is the same.
Sunflower seeds are a natural source of vegetable protein, which is the main building material for the human body and a participant in metabolism. Every person wants to have a strong, healthy body, and seeds are a good helper for getting healthy protein mass. To get the right portion of the product, you should know the chemical composition of the seeds, their calorie content, benefits and harms.
Sunflower seeds are an affordable and popular product
Compound
Sunflower seeds contain mono- and polyunsaturated fats that are beneficial for the body, including Omega 3 and 6. Moreover, 100 grams of the purified product contains about 52%.
In addition, sunflower seeds contain vegetable protein (about 20 g per 100 grams of product), most of which are amino acids essential for the human body (tryptophan, methionine, isoleucine and cysteine), and a smaller part are non-essential aspargine and glutamine.
The seeds contain the least amount of carbohydrates – no more than 10 grams.
Calorie content 100 grams
The calorie content of sunflower seeds is 578 kilocalories per 100 grams of product in an unrefined form and 601 kilocalories in a peeled form. Calorie content of banana and mango.
What vitamins does it contain?
If we talk about the chemical composition of sunflower seeds, the record holder is vitamin E. In 100 grams of a purified product, it can contain 208% of a person’s daily dose.
Then it is worth noting the content of B vitamins. The seeds contain the most vitamin B1 (122.7% of the daily value), slightly less B6 (67.3%) and B9 (56.8%) and the least vitamins B5 and B2, their in seeds 20%. The seeds contain just as little vitamin C. The mineral composition of sunflower seeds is also worth noting. If you eat 100 grams of raw seeds every day, you can provide the body with: copper (108% of the daily dose), magnesium and selenium (98 and 96%, respectively), as well as phosphorus, manganese, zinc, iron, potassium and calcium.
Calorie content
Do roasted sunflower seeds make you fat? It is quite difficult to call such a product dietary, despite the presence of a wide list of beneficial properties. Due to their protein base, seeds are extremely high in calories. There are about 578 kcal per 100 g of raw material.
To understand whether roasted seeds make you fat or not, you should pay attention to this visual comparison. The nutritional value of 100 g of sunflower seeds is the same as:
- A serving of pasta or two bowls of cooked rice.
- Bars of natural, dark chocolate.
- Loaves of wheat bread.
- Grilled steak.
Considering the above, you can independently answer the question, do fried sunflower seeds make you fat? It is certainly not recommended to include such a high-calorie product in a diet program.
Harm of seeds
Do seeds make you fat? Rapid weight gain is not the most serious consequence of frequent use of such a product. Among other negative aspects of eating roasted seeds, it is worth noting:
- Damage to tooth enamel, yellow plaque.
- Harmful effect on the liver and kidneys.
- Development of the feeling of heartburn.
- Concentration of cadmium in the body.
- Negative effects on the vocal cords.
Features of use
Do seeds make you fat? Gaining weight quickly is most likely when eating sunflower seeds after meat dishes. On the contrary, to maintain normal shape, you should eat the seeds in combination with dietary cereals or plant foods. If you have a strong desire to eat fried seeds, then it is advisable to devote time to physical activity.
For diabetes mellitus, it is recommended to include dried seeds in the diet. The same applies to cases of high cholesterol.
It is recommended for children to consume the seeds, because the product contains a significant amount of healthy proteins and amino acids. However, it is necessary to give seeds to babies in controlled quantities, about 15-20 pieces several times a week.
Is it possible to gain weight from seeds while on a diet? In the process of losing weight, it is worth eating several seeds for prevention. With this approach to building a diet, the amount of fat in the body is replenished, the lack of which is felt when refusing food of animal origin.
Strengthening or weakening?
The human body digests certain foods differently. Products that are easily absorbed by the body contain practically no fiber, do not stimulate the intestines to work and, as a result, strengthen it. In contrast, foods with coarse fibers and those rich in fiber cause the intestines to actively contract to push food forward.
Sunflower seeds belong to the category of foods that weaken.
Magnesium, which is part of the seeds, stimulates the intestinal walls, which eliminates stool retention. Oils provoke contractions of the gallbladder and the production of bile. The rough structure of the chewed kernels irritates the intestinal walls, contributing to its rapid emptying.
Thanks to their chemical composition, sunflower seeds not only do not strengthen, but can also gently relieve constipation, being used as a natural laxative.
Do seeds make you fat?
It is believed that only about 40 g of roasted sunflower seeds can be consumed daily without danger to your figure. However, this is where the dangerous property of such a product comes into play - it is quite difficult to refuse it. Therefore, in most cases it is not possible to limit yourself to eating such a small amount of seeds. The consumption rate naturally increases during communication with friends or while watching television programs. People who are overweight should try to give up roasted seeds for a month. The difference in appearance before and after will become simply obvious.
How to properly prepare seeds for use?
When preparing sunflower seeds for consumption, it is important not to fry them for a long time. Indeed, in this case, the bulk of useful substances disappears from the composition of the product. It is much healthier to eat seeds that are only slightly dried in the oven. Seeds overcooked in vegetable oil are a dangerous product in which carcinogens are formed.
There are manufacturers who do not wash the seeds before cooking. Thus, in addition to fried seeds, the consumer comes across all sorts of pieces of garbage, dust and dirt in the bags. Contact with harmful bacteria can not only lead to food poisoning, but also provoke the development of infections. It is for this reason that it is highly recommended to prepare the seeds yourself.
What are sunflower seeds?
Sunflower seeds are technically the fruit of a plant called Helianthus annuus (1).
The seeds are collected from the plant's large flowering heads, which can be more than 30 cm in diameter. One sunflower head can contain up to 2,000 seeds (2).
There are two main types of sunflowers. One species is grown for the seeds you eat, and the other—which grows on most farms—is grown for sunflower oil (1).
The sunflower seeds you eat have an inedible black or black and white striped shell (husk). The seeds that are used to make sunflower oil usually have only a black husk.
Sunflower seeds have a mild, nutty flavor and firm texture. They are often fried to enhance their flavor, although you can also buy them raw.
Summary:
Sunflower seeds come from the large flower heads of a plant called annual sunflower. The species used for eating whole has a mild, nutty taste.
About the benefits of pumpkin seeds
So we found out whether sunflower seeds make you fat. Now let's look at whether it is possible to gain weight by eating pumpkin seeds and find out what properties they have.
It’s worth noting right away that pumpkin seeds are considered a dietary product. Eating them leads to a decrease in appetite. During the process, no change in insulin levels in the blood is observed. Therefore, people who suffer from diabetes are advised to consume pumpkin seeds.
The product has a negative effect on the vital activity of helminths in the body. For this reason, pumpkin seeds are often prescribed to people who have parasites.
According to the nutritional value, such food is comparable to walnuts. If a person is following a weight loss diet, you should not eat more than 30 g of pumpkin seeds per day. However, it is absolutely not recommended to season them with salt. Because in this case, the process of removing fluid from the body slows down significantly.
Diet using seeds
If we talk about whether it is possible to eat fried seeds while losing weight, then it is not advisable to consume them. Salts enter the body, accumulate in the tissues of the joints and destroy them. There is a seed diet. For 3-7 days they eat mainly only seeds, not forgetting the basic rules:
- Only raw seeds are useful.
- At the same time, you need to drink clean water, at least 2 liters per day. Water improves metabolism and helps eliminate toxins. But you can drink no earlier than half an hour after eating.
- The product must be thoroughly cleaned. Using a blender turned on at low speed, you can clean a large number of seeds. After processing, they are filled with water, the peel floats, and the kernels remain at the bottom.
- It is advisable to consume pumpkin kernels in the evening, and sunflower kernels in the afternoon or morning.
- Vegetables are gradually added to the diet. Fruits, sweets, and white rice must be excluded.
- After a week, they begin to eat fresh fruits, berries, fruit salads, and smoothies.
- It is allowed to eat cheese, boiled eggs or egg white omelet, steamed fish, fish soup or baked fish.
- On day 10, lean meat is introduced into the diet. It is also advisable to steam it or bake it, but not fry it.
You will have to give up spices and flavor enhancers. You can use herbs such as parsley and dill. A sample menu for the day looks like this: breakfast - oatmeal with water, lunch - a handful of sunflower seeds, dinner - pumpkin kernels and a cup of green tea. In 10 days of such a diet you can lose up to 7 kg.
