Sunflower seeds—as well as pumpkin, flax, and many others—are a popular treat that sometimes don't even feel like eating. And this is fundamentally wrong: this type of product is extremely high in calories, and with active consumption, they can easily “cover” the deficit of energy entering the body created for weight loss. This does not mean that you cannot eat them at all while on a diet; however, this requires significant caloric restriction at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Composition and properties of seeds
If you believe the research of scientists, then sunflower seeds (as well as the seeds of other plants) contain a lot of useful substances. How are they useful for weight loss? First of all, because it is:
- vegetable proteins - for a person losing weight, especially those on a diet, this is the main trump card;
- various fatty acids that dissolve cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels and this improves blood flow;
- polyunsaturated fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6, which normalize fat metabolism in the body;
- low amount of carbohydrates;
- a lot of magnesium, zinc, vitamins B, A, E, iron.
That is, for a person who monitors his weight, all the benefits of the product are obvious. And yet, why is there an opinion that seeds make you fat?
What are the benefits of sunflower seeds for human health?
- Regular consumption of sunflower seeds has a beneficial effect on the human cardiovascular system. Useful vitamins and microelements help strengthen the walls of blood vessels.
- Raw sunflower seeds have a beneficial effect on the health of the gastrointestinal tract, and all the beneficial substances from them are well absorbed in the body.
- Eating raw sunflower seeds will help the body recover from various diseases, saturating it with useful substances.
- The high content of vitamin D in seeds has a beneficial effect on the health and beauty of the skin, the absorption of calcium and the strengthening of bone tissue, and this vitamin is also very useful for children during the period of active development and growth of the young body.
- Just half a glass of sunflower seeds can replenish the daily requirement of an adult’s body with vitamin E, selenium and magnesium.
- Sunflower seeds have powerful antioxidant properties that help remove toxins, waste and other harmful substances from the human body.
- Eating seeds helps lower cholesterol levels in human blood.
- Regular consumption of raw seeds has a beneficial effect on skin health and prevents the appearance of acne and pimples on the skin.
- Sunflower seeds help fight bad mood and depression; just chew the seeds in the evenings for a week and depression will be gone.
- Regular black sunflower seeds are a good helper for those who want to quit smoking; whenever you want to smoke, you can crack the seeds to kill the craving for cigarettes.
Note: raw, unroasted seeds are healthier than fried ones, since after heat treatment some of the beneficial vitamins and minerals in them are destroyed.
What are the benefits of sunflower seeds for men?
The benefits of sunflower seeds for men are expressed in many of the beneficial properties listed above, while they also have a beneficial effect on potency, help strengthen bone and muscle tissue during constant physical activity or sports, and have a beneficial effect on overall well-being and mood.
The benefits of sunflower seeds for women
The rich vitamin composition, as well as the content of microelements important for the body, have a beneficial effect on the health of hair and skin. Masks and scrubs made from sunflower seeds are beneficial for facial skin, helping to make the skin more elastic and cleanse pores, give it a healthy color and saturate it with vitamins.
During pregnancy, eating sunflower seeds in small quantities helps strengthen the immunity of the mother and the unborn child, calms the nervous system and helps improve metabolism in the woman’s body. At the same time, it is always important to consult a doctor to create a high-quality diet during pregnancy and clarify whether it will be beneficial for you and in what quantities it is better to consume seeds.
You will also be interested to know the benefits of sunflower oil for the human body.
Harm of sunflower seeds to the human body
Abuse of seeds can lead to negative consequences in the human body; moreover, they are very high in calories and it is necessary to know the limits of their use for people who have problems with excess weight.
It is better not to bite sunflower seeds with your teeth, but to snap them with your fingers so as not to damage the enamel of your teeth.
The seeds are contraindicated for singers, since their regular use worsens their voice performance.
Note: it is not recommended to constantly eat salted seeds, since the ingestion of a large amount of salt into the body can harm it; it is also not advisable to eat overcooked seeds, since after prolonged heat treatment there are practically no useful substances left in them, and can only cause heaviness in the stomach. stomach and unpleasant heartburn.
How many sunflower seeds can you eat per day?
It is recommended that a healthy adult eat no more than 100 grams of sunflower seeds per day, but on average it is better to keep the norm around 50 grams of sunflower seeds.
How to deliciously fry sunflower seeds in a frying pan
To deliciously fry seeds at home, you only need a regular frying pan. The seeds are first washed under running cold water using a colander, then poured into a hot frying pan and fried. While frying, the seeds must be thoroughly and constantly stirred, and when they begin to crackle, remove the pan from the heat for a couple of minutes (several times during frying).
10 minutes after the start of frying, they must be constantly tasted so as not to overcook, and there is no need to bring them to a state where they are almost overcooked and have a light brown color, since after frying they are still transferred to regular newspaper and covered on top of another so that they reach.
To make the seeds salty, you can spray them with salt water at the very beginning of frying (the salt is diluted in a small amount of water in advance).
You can also cook (dry) sunflower seeds in the oven. It is enough to spread them in an even layer on a baking sheet and place them in a preheated oven to a temperature of 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
In conclusion to the article, it can be noted that knowledge of the benefits of seeds for the human body will help you love this product even more, the main thing is to know the limits in their use and give preference to raw and undercooked ones, as they have more beneficial properties. We leave our reviews about the benefits and harms of sunflower seeds for the body of women and men in the comments to the article and share it on social networks if it was useful to you.
Yulia Sabinova
Chief editor of the site. Cook, technologist, traveler. I love to cook, read interesting articles about cooking and proper nutrition, learn everything new and share the most interesting things with others. I am glad to see you on the pages of the InfoEda website.
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Is it possible to get fat from seeds?
The calorie content of seeds (roasted) in their purified form is approximately 600 kcal/100 g. A glass of peeled seeds contains approximately 170 grams. That is, there will be more than a thousand calories in it. For comparison, six hundred calories are contained in one hundred grams:
- sausages;
- chocolate;
- cheburek.
But not everyone can eat a full glass of peeled seeds. The packaged product, as a rule, has a husk and weighs much less. Even if you decide to eat seeds once or twice, you are unlikely to gain weight. But if you constantly nibble on seeds, then, as with the abuse of any product, even the most healthy (like apples and carrots), you can add a few extra pounds.
Mono-diets and fasting days on seeds
To be honest, I have never been on such a diet. But after studying the question, I found a menu for such a diet on the Internet. Nutritionists do not recommend such a diet, as it is not balanced. But there really are results. Those who managed to hold out for a week lost an average of 5 kg-7 kg. Here are some basic rules:
- a diet based on seeds involves using only those products that are allowed;
- You need to drink at least 2.5 liters of water per day;
- You need to get out of the diet gradually. In the first week, you need to add one vegetable to the main diet menu;
- on day 7 you can introduce fruits and berries;
- any meat products are introduced on the 10th day after the diet.
Now on to the diet itself. You can choose either pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. In terms of calories, they are approximately the same, it’s up to you to decide which one you like best. On a diet, they can only be chewed raw. If you choose pumpkin, then you are allowed to eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. The porridge is cooked in water; sugar cannot be added to it. For lunch and dinner - 100 g of seeds. Tea without sugar and water without carbon are allowed. You can snack on a handful of seeds.
If you choose sunflower fruits for your diet, you need to alternate them with pumpkin seeds. So, morning - cereal porridge on water. Lunch - 100 g sunflower seeds, dinner - 100 g pumpkin seeds.
There is another extreme diet - on fried seeds. You are allowed to eat no more than 170 of them per day. Apart from this product and water, nothing else is allowed. There will probably be an effect, but for me it is doubtful. Sitting on such a diet for a week is fraught with damage to the gastrointestinal tract. I think this menu is suitable for a fasting day. You will receive no more than 900-1000 calories per day.
If we're talking about diets, I recommend a more balanced diet. This is the menu for the Maggi diet. Still, it is more diverse and not so hungry. The diet has helped many men and women around the world lose weight. The opinions of nutritionists about her are not very flattering. This diet is a protein diet. If we compare it with a diet based on seeds, the Maggi menu is safer.
Features of use
In order for the seeds to be beneficial and not harmful, they must be eaten correctly. It would seem that everyone knows how to do it - click and enjoy. But nutritionists say that seeds can be consumed in a variety of ways - both harmful and beneficial.
The seeds can be eaten in different forms: raw or sprouted; dried (not exfoliated); fried in oil and salt; baked in confectionery products; in sweet desserts (such as kozinaki).
Raw (sprouted) seeds
The healthiest thing to eat is sprouted raw seeds, or more precisely, their sprouts. Then all vitamins, minerals and other benefits will be absorbed by the body 100%. The germination technology is simple. The seeds are placed on a saucer of water and covered with film. As a rule, several days pass before sprouts appear (depending on the time of year, as well as on the quality of the seeds). After the sprouts appear about one and a half to two centimeters, they can be eaten (after, of course, removing the husks).
They can be dried, ground, dried. These sprout seeds are very tasty. You can use them with kefir, tea and various dishes. If you eat one teaspoon of this product twice a day, your metabolism will improve, your energy will increase, excess weight will not be deposited, and your beauty will also benefit greatly.
Dried
Ordinary seeds in the husk, which are used as a “measure of leisure” when watching TV or just to get distracted, of course, do not provide such benefits (as sprouted ones). They are more likely to have a relaxation (meditative) effect. If you use them a little and infrequently, you will not gain excess weight.
Fried in oil and salt
In addition, those purchased from street vendors pose a threat not only to your figure, but also to your health. Such a product may contain carcinogens from overheated oil and dirt. Moreover, the calorie content of such seeds is very high, since frying in oil adds it.
As an addition to baked goods
Seeds are often added to flour (bread) products. This enriches the product, makes it tastier, and if the baking is made with vegetable oil (rather than butter or margarine) and without eggs, it does not provide much calories. The seeds in such products are very tasty.
Kozinaki
Another product based on seeds (or nuts) is kozinaki. Mixed with honey syrup it is a tasty and healthy treat. Of course, it contains enough calories, but it is difficult to eat a large amount of such a product. And yet, when losing weight, it is better to refuse kozinaki.
Sunflower is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals
The tightly packed hard shells of sunflowers contain seeds that are nutritionally equivalent to the healthiest nuts. First of all, the seeds are extremely rich in vitamin E. A 35 g serving of peeled seeds contains 200 calories and covers up to 82% of an adult's daily requirement for vitamin E, 43% and 28% of the requirement for vitamins B1 and B6, respectively.
In addition, vitamin E, a fertility vitamin, is necessary for the proper functioning of the reproductive organs during pregnancy, since it is responsible for the normal development of the fetus. Its deficiency, among other things, contributes to the degeneration of male sperm.
Seeds daily norm
Already three handfuls of sunflowers are enough to cover the daily requirement for vitamin E in an adult.
Combined with significant doses of folic acid and vitamin B3, sunflower snack is a real balm for the nervous system, skin and metabolism.
Sunflower seeds also contain other vitamins - A, group B (B2 and B5), C and K1.
The inconspicuous seeds also contain an impressive wealth of copper and minerals - zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium, selenium, calcium, iron. Active people who care about the definition of their muscles will also appreciate the low level of carbohydrates with a fairly high proportion of protein (20 g per 100 g of seeds) and fiber (9 g per 100 g).
The combination of protein and fiber is the basis for rational weight loss, and given the vitamin and mineral composition of the seeds, it is difficult to get a more nutritious injection with limited dietary portions.
All the Health Benefits of Sunflower Seeds
- A huge dose of vitamin E is, above all, an excellent support for the body in the fight against free radicals and inflammation. The consumption of sunflower seeds can be recommended to everyone who suffers from rheumatic and cardiovascular diseases, asthma. Magnesium also helps heart health by regulating muscle function and influencing normal blood pressure.
- Sunflower seeds contain significant amounts of plant sterols (phytosterols), which help reduce bad cholesterol levels in the blood. However, it should be remembered that they have a positive effect on health when consumed in quantities not exceeding 3 g per day, for example, in 100 g of seeds there are 0.32 g.
- Scientists believe that sunflower seeds are effective in cancer prevention. Both vitamin E and selenium and the lignans present in the seeds have the amazing ability to repair damaged DNA in cells, fight existing tumors and prevent the appearance of new ones, in particular this applies to lung, prostate, colon and breast cancer.
- Finally, copper present in sunflower seeds plays a significant role in the synthesis of collagen and elastin, which not only has a positive effect on the skin, but also supports the health of ligaments and tendons.
Contraindications
Such a healthy treat has a sufficient number of contraindications and restrictions. And this is not only a tendency to obesity.
Seeds are contraindicated for people suffering from:
- stomach diseases - gastritis, colitis, peptic ulcer, heartburn;
- individual intolerance, as well as allergies to the product.
Those who suffer from:
- fragility of tooth enamel, gum disease;
- problems with the vocal cords;
- bloating.
Abuse harms the heart
In small quantities, seeds are extremely beneficial for the heart and blood vessels, as vegetable fats remove “bad” cholesterol. But in volumes over 100 grams per day they turn into a time bomb for the circulatory system. Excess healthy fatty acids are transformed into the same dangerous cholesterol that forms atherosclerotic plaques.
American Heart Association spokesperson Jody Breverman, in a study published in 2021, states the dangers of excessive consumption of the product. Seeds contribute to an increase in sodium levels in the body, which stimulates weight gain, disruption of the cardiovascular system, and the development of hypertension.
Eating seeds often and in large quantities is dangerous for the heart (Photo: Pixabay.com)
