HEALTH BENEFITS OF SOME POWERFUL SEEDS

HERE ARE SOME POWERFUL SEEDS 

Sunflower

This seed has Vitamin E to help keep free radicals at bay.  They also contain magnesium to help with keeping your muscles healthy and bone health and selenium to keep your thyroid working at its best, it can help relieve symptoms of eczema and control your dandruff.


Pomegranate

This seeds are full of antioxidants, low in calories and rich in Vitamin C.  It can also help with keeping your heart healthy and reducing risk of atherosclerosis which is hardening of the arteries.  

Hemp

This seed contains all of the 20 amino acids which is great for toning and building your muscles.

Chia

This is a good seed for building strong bones and are rich in calcium.  They also contain Omega 3, fibre, protein and are high in antioxidants.  The seeds are great to add to smoothies by mixing them with some almond milk, fruits, cinnamon and anything else you want to add to a smoothie.  You can also mix them with water.  This will form a gel to use in baking as a egg replacer. 

Pumpkin

This seeds is a natural energy booster. They also contain iron which is essential for maintaining high energy levels.  They contain plant based omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium, zinc and tryptophan which converts to serotonin in the body and then to melatonin to aid sleep.  Serotonin is your happy hormone and melatonin is the hormone to help you sleep.  You could try some pumpkins seeds in the evening to help your body produce melatonin for sleep.

Why not try some roasted pumpkin seeds.   Soak 150g of pumpkin seeds in salted water overnight.  Drain the water and rinse them.  Put them into a roasting tin and add some paprika or turmeric and sea salt and roast them in the oven on a low heat for about 1/2 to 1 hour until they are dried out and crispy. This is a really delicious snack.

Sesame

The sesame seed is rich with linoleic and omega-6 fatty acid. This can help in lowering your cholesterol.  They also contain protein, magnesium, fibre and zinc.  They are very good sources of B-complex vitamins such as niacin, thiamin (vitamin B1), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and riboflavin (vitamin B2).

Flax

Flax has lignans and omega-3 fatty acids.  Flax can be used as a cancer prevention medicine that reduces disease causing inflammation.  They also contain B vitamins, manganese, fibre, magnesium,  The best way to eat flax is to grind it up into a powder and add to smoothies or stir into yorghurt.


These seeds are nutritious and have great health benefits but like with everything you need to eat them in moderation and be careful not to over eat nuts and seeds because it can cause an imbalance with your zinc and copper.

If you are a vegetarian or vegan and eat seeds for your omega 3 fatty acids, this will only give you the ALA acids.  Your body can convert ALA to DHA and EPA but you can get the DHA and EPA from algae if you do not eat fish.