Sunflower Seeds
Posted by terrepruitt on August 17, 2010
I love sunflower seeds. I love them on my salad. That is usually how I eat them recently. I used to shell them, now I just sprinkle the already hulled ones on my salad. According to the package I have right now they are pretty high in fat.
1/4 Cup has 17 grams of fat
—Calories 200
—Cholesterol 0 mg
—Sodium 135 mg
—Carbohydrates 8g
—with fiber at 3g
—Protein 7g
Someone on Facebook said that she read that they help people suffering with allergies . . . . sneezing and itches. I eat sunflower seeds so I don’t know that this helps me, but it might help others. From what I am seeing on the internet, it is the Omega 3 in the sunflower seeds that might be the reason for help because that particular fat helps with inflammation. Which, if you are an allergy sufferer, you know inflammation is a symptom of allergies.
Sunflower seeds are a good source of magnesium and it helps reduce the severity of asthma. It also helps prevent high levels of histamine in the blood. A quarter cup of sunflower seeds provides 31.9% of the daily value for magnesium. Sunflower seeds are very high in vitamin E and vitamin B.
Sunflower seeds also might help enhance the immune response because of the phytosterols. Allergies are just the body’s way of fighting off substances that are bothering it. So this could be another reason they are thought to help.
I couldn’t find the article that said specifically that sunflower seeds help. I just found a lot of information that states what they contain, so to me that can point to possible allergy relief.
They are pretty high in fat so it is important to keep that in mind when including them in your diet. Do you like sunflower seeds? If you do, do you just eat them plain or do you add them to recipes?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
niachick said
Hi Terre!
We sell alot of sunflower seeds at The Nutman (www.nutman.com). People buy them as a snack and also to put into salads and rice dishes. I’ve included an article below that gives some of the benefits (also noted in your blog of course!!!).
Alot of the information on cholesterol and fat content is based on the AMA’s “this is the way it’s always been” mentality. I’ve offered this before, and will continue to offer the Weston A Price Foundation’s information, which differs from the traditonal AMA info. Sally Fallon’s book, “Nourishing Traditions” is also an excellent resource for breaking through some of the fallacies around nutrition.
Here’s the link to the article on sunflower seeds. It’s merely informative…your blog always contains great information, along with your own heart energy which makes them so wonderful.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=57#healthbenefits
Love,
Jill
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terrepruitt said
Hi, the medical profession is kind of in a spot because they can only give us information on deficiencies. And then they are giving very wide general information at that. The can’t really tell us what is BEST because they only find out what does NOT work and in addition people are honestly individuals and have their own individual needs. So whatever they and the government puts out is a guideline. People really have to listen to their own bodies to figure out what is truly needed. I read some of the pages on Amazon from Nourishing Traditions and I would have to read more to really see what it is about, but it also sounded like “this is the way it’s always been” mentality and I thought with the name like Nourishing Traditions that would be what the book was all about.
With so many processed foods and our meats, fruits, and vegetables bred to look pretty and give us bigger results it is really difficult to know exactly what kind of “nutrition” we are getting in food. And it is impossible to know what “else” (chemicals, pesticides, pollutants) we are getting.
P.S. You are doing a good job of working the social networking lately and getting your company name out there, huh?
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Angelia Sims said
I love sunflowers and sunflower seeds. I like them on my salad or just shucking them from the bag. Sometimes working for that little morsel makes it all the more fun.
I didn’t realize there were recipes.
My favorite nut for health is walnuts.
🙂
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terrepruitt said
I love walnuts too. I love nuts because they pack a punch of protein and other good stuff. But I have to be careful because they also have a lot of fat. 😦
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suzicate said
I have also heard that eating honey (produced in the are you live) also helps with allergies. I tried it but didn’t notice a difference.
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terrepruitt said
Yes, I have heard that too, and researching the sunflower seed advice I saw that over and over. I tried it too and it didn’t seem to help, but it was a long time ago AND I don’t think I did it enough. I think it is like a vaccine, you are putting some of the stuff you are allergic to into your body so your body starts to build immunity to it. So I don’t think it is an instant thing. I think that the honey has to be consumed regularly and I KNOW I didn’t do that back when I tried it.
I just found a local place that sells local honey so I might try that. But I have been ok since Tuesday . . . .whereas Sunday if you had told me I needed to eat BEES in order to get relief, I would have!
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Thanksgiving Flowers San Jose said
I like Sun Flower seed but I mix with other nuts like almonds, walnuts for my breakfast.
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terrepruitt said
Any you eat a bowl of nuts for breakfast?
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