When you see a sunflower, the last thing you think of is eating it. You are probably dazzled by its beauty and want to put it in a vase and let it light up a room.
However, humans have a long history of eating sunflowers and using them for other nutritional purposes, particularly sunflower seeds. People harvest sunflower seeds from the flowers of the sunflower plant.
Sunflower seeds are white and have a smooth texture which you can feel by rubbing them. They are famous for their nutty flavor and nutrition. You can eat the seeds in various ways too.
The following article outlines the nutritional value of sunflowers and their health benefits:
Cardiovascular Health
One of the nutritional benefits of sunflowers is that they can help improve heart health and reduce the chances of contracting cardiovascular diseases. Sunflower seeds contain healthy fats, with three-quarters serving of sunflower seeds providing over fourteen grams of healthy fats.
The fats that most people use are saturated fats that add cholesterol to the body and significantly increase cardiovascular diseases. You will also get healthy fats from foods like olive oil and superfoods like avocado.
On the other hand, studies on sunflowers have shown reducing rates of cardiovascular diseases, lowering cholesterol levels, and reducing high blood pressure.
Increased Immunity
Although making a sunflower delivery can certainly brighten anyone’s day thereby improving immunity, sunflowers, particularly sunflower seeds, contain many vitamins and minerals that greatly improve the immune system.
These nutrients will boost your immunity and help you fight off harmful elements such as viruses in the body.
Some of the vitamins and minerals you will find in sunflower seeds include zinc and selenium. Zinc aids the body in the development and maintenance of immune cells. On the other hand, selenium helps to reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and fight infections.
Increased Energy
The ingredients of sunflower seeds include high protein levels, which are great for energy. Sunflowers also have vitamins that can help keep you energized, such as selenium. Selenium increases blood flow and delivers more energy to the body, which causes an increase in energy.
Vitamin B1 also called thiamin, which is present in sunflower seeds, is a crucial component in helping the body convert food into energy. The energy you get from the seeds can last for an entire day.
Reducing Inflammation
There are plenty of people in the world suffering from acute cases of inflammation. Sunflowers are a healthy food that can be a solution for such people.
Sunflower seeds contain vitamin E, flavonoids, and unique plant elements that help reduce inflammation in the body. The anti-inflammatory benefits of sunflowers are immense and hard to compare with other plants.
Several studies have been done where the participants consumed sunflower seeds five or more times a week. The result was a noticeable and dramatic decrease in inflammation levels.
The lower the inflammation levels in the body, the lower the chances of developing chronic disorders.
Sunflower Nutritional Value
Sunflower seeds are very nutrient-dense foods. The following is a breakdown of the nutritional value of sunflower seeds:
Sunflower seeds contain plenty of calories. One hundred grams of sunflower seeds can provide you with about 585 calories. They are also very rich in fiber and fats, with most of the fats being polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.
Sunflower seeds are protein-dense 100g containing 20g of protein. You will find minerals such as Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Folate, Choline, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Sunflower also contains minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, etc.
In conclusion, sunflowers are very nutritious and offer plenty of nutritional value. They have plenty of health benefits, as you can see above. Whenever you have a chance to consume sunflower seeds, do it.
