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(NAPSI)-Here's news to brighten your day:
Sunflower seeds are like a multivitamin-only better, since they deliver many
powerful nutrients in a naturally small, flavorful morsel.
Tiny sunflower seeds package an entire
"winning team" of hard-to-get nutrients, including 76 percent of the
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin E. In fact, sunflower seeds
are the richest whole food source of vitamin E. This is good news since
experts generally agree that whole foods are better than supplements because
several components work together to prevent disease.
A recent study supports that the vitamin E
in foods, but not from supplements, was found to be associated with a lower
risk of Alzheimer's disease. Large-scale clinical studies have failed to
confirm that mega-doses of vitamin E in supplemental form are beneficial for
health.
Sunflower seeds are loaded with many
nutrients that potentially work together. One ounce delivers about 25
percent of daily needs for selenium, a hard-to-get antioxidant that works
with vitamin E. Sunflower seeds can also increase dietary folate and
magnesium, both lacking in typical American diets and are good sources of
copper, iron and zinc. Surprisingly, sunflower seeds even have room for
phytochemicals like phenolic acids and lignans that may help prevent heart
disease and cancer.
Perhaps better still, almost 90 percent of
the fat in sunflower seeds is the healthiest type for the heart-"good"
unsaturated fat. According to a recent Harvard study, substituting "good"
unsaturated fats for saturated and trans fats is one of the most effective
diet strategies for preventing coronary heart disease. One easy way to begin
this strategy is to sprinkle sunflower seeds as a salad topper, instead of
cheese. Sunflower seeds and oil contain both mono- and polyunsaturated fats,
are low in saturated fat and do not contribute harmful trans fat to the
diet.
Planting the seed for healthier lives may
be as simple as using sunflower seeds in a variety of healthful ways. Pack
protein into homemade granola bars by substituting sunflower seeds in place
of some oats. Coat fish or chicken in crushed sunflower seeds for a
nutritious crunch. Sprinkle sunflower seeds into stuffing mixes for a nutty
flavor. For more information and recipes, visit
www.sunflowernsa.com.
Snack like a blooming genius: enjoy
home-made granola bars packed with healthful sunflower seeds. |
