I remember a beautiful Saturday afternoon when I returned from grocery shopping with some fruits and other foodstuffs I needed for the month. But before arranging these foodstuffs in their designated areas, I cut some watermelons and bananas into a small bowl because I was dehydrated. Then, I thought about how it would taste if I added some sesame seeds too.
So, I went ahead and sprinkled some sesame seeds into my fruit bowl. I took a bite, and guess what? It tasted amazing!
Of course, it wasn't my first time having watermelons, bananas, or sesame seeds, but combining them made a big difference. Ever since, I haven’t stopped eating watermelons and bananas that way.
You should give this recipe a try!
Now, enough of my little story. Let's discuss different seeds you can include in your diet and some of their health benefits.
Seeds to add to your grocery list
Chia seeds
Chia seeds are tiny round-shaped seeds that come in colours of either black, brown, or white. They are one of the most purchased seeds in grocery stores because of their enormous nutrients. They contain plenty of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, and antioxidants that play different roles in maintaining good heart health, encouraging bowel movement, preventing diseases, and promoting weight loss.
How can you incorporate chia seeds into your diet?
Chia seeds can be added to different food recipes such as salads, smoothies, baked products, parfait, and many more. Due to their distinct nature of absorbing liquid, they can thicken soups and sauces.
Their Health benefits
The omega-3 fatty acids in chia seeds are good fats that help prevent hypertension. They do this by downregulating the formation of cholesterol plaques within the heart's blood vessels.
The fiber in chia seeds aids proper digestion and improves satiety to avoid overeating and obesity.
With obesity comes diabetes, and this is because obesity causes insulin resistance. This means that if chia seeds can encourage weight loss, the risk of diabetes is reduced.
The antioxidants in these seeds can neutralize free radicals. A build-up of these free radicals is what contributes to premature aging and diseases such as cancer. For this reason, it is important to have a diet rich in antioxidants.
Flax seeds
Flax seeds are another of the most purchased seeds at grocery stores. They contain the same nutrients and provide the same health benefits as the chia seeds. Regardless of these similarities, they have a different appearance, flavor, and consistency. Compared to chai seeds, flax seeds have an elliptical shape with a nutty, crisp, crunchy consistency and do not absorb as much water as chia seeds.
Almonds
You will be shocked to find out that almonds are not true nuts but they are seeds. These seeds contain antioxidants, proteins, fibers, and other nutrients beneficial to your health.
How can you incorporate almonds into your diet?
These seeds can be eaten alone as a snack or added to your pastries, parfait, oats, cereal, and others. They can also be transformed into other food items such as almond milk, almond flour, or almond oil.
Health benefits of almonds
Almonds contain certain pigments called Flavinoids. Flavinoids have anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties that can help nourish your skin.
The fiber in almonds helps encourage the proper digestion of foods thereby reducing the risk of colon cancer. (healthline.com)
Almonds serve as good brain food. They contain a nutrient known as phenylalanine that encourages neural pathways connectivity, thereby improving your brain power.
The vitamin E in almonds reduces the risk of developing age-related eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. (medicalnewstoday.com)
Almonds also help fight against the free radicals that destroy cells as a result improving your immunity.
Sunflower seeds
These seeds are derived from sunflower plants and are very rich in nutrients. They contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals beneficial to health.
How can you incorporate sunflower seeds into your diet?
They can be added to salads, oatmeals, stir-fry sauces, baked foods, burgers, and other meal recipes.
Health benefits of sunflower seeds
They help reduce inflammation and prevent the occurrence of chronic illnesses.
They also contain healthy fats that help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.
They contain an important nutrient called zinc that helps maintain and develop immune cells. Its antioxidant properties help to neutralize free radicals.
Sunflower seeds contain two important nutrients selenium and vitamin B1 that help increase energy levels. While Vitamin B1 helps convert your digested food into energy, selenium helps to increase the flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to different parts of the body.
Sesame seeds
These are personally my favorite seeds. They have a similar texture and consistency to the flax seeds. They are also high in healthy nutrients and are particularly known to contain high amounts of manganese and calcium.
How can you incorporate sesame seeds into your diet?
Sesame seeds can be eaten raw or used as toppings for different baked goods such as bagels, burgers, biscuits, etc. They can also be sprinkled into salads, vegetable or fruit salads.
Their Health benefits
Due to the high calcium in sesame, they play a major role in promoting the growth of strong and healthy bones.
They contain iron, an essential nutrient needed for blood cell formation
They contain zinc, a nutrient with antioxidant properties that can help enhance one's immunity and fight against infections.
Sesame seeds contain a high level of selenium essential for thyroid hormone production.
3 takeaways
Seeds are good sources of fiber that can help aid proper digestion. Incorporating seeds into your diet will reduce the risks of constipation and indigestion.
There are tons of seeds available to purchase at the grocery store, and they offer similar benefits. If you are on a budget, it's okay to purchase one at a time.
As much as these seeds contain adequate nutrients, don't consume too much of them, especially almonds. Almonds are very high in copper and if consumed in excess, could lead to copper toxicity.
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