The Spectacular Nutrition from Seeds & Sprouts!

​Seeds are fascinating! 

You often hear of "nuts and seeds" lumped together like they're practically one word, but have you ever thought about the nutritional benefits you actually get from seeds? You should!  

​Seeds are a very concentrated food.  This is because they are the initial source of nutrition for a new plant.  They are the potential for new life that a plant grows to carry on its species.  Seeds may be quite little in size, but they're a very big deal with an important job!

Different seeds have different nutritional benefits, but in general, they are a good source of fat and are rich in the fat-soluble vitamin E, which is great for the skin. They also contain the other fat-soluble vitamins A and D.  Seeds are usually rich in minerals, too, especially zinc, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorous, and iodine. Seeds are actually a good source of plant-based protein (although they lack the full collection of essential amino acids that are found in animal sources.) 

​Seeds can come from both perennial and annual plants.  Beans and peas are actually seeds as well; so are nuts and cereal grains technically.  Most seeds can be stored in their whole form.  In fact, some can germinate after centuries of storage!  Many seeds, like celery, cumin, mustard, cardamom, and coriander are used in ground form as seasonings.  Seeds can also be eaten raw after shelling. Some other popular seeds include: chia seeds, flax seed, hemp seeds, poppy seed, caraway seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seed, safflower, and sunflower seeds. (source)

Quite commonly, seeds are used to make oils.  If the oils are made using a rare cold-pressing method and then kept refrigerated (and not heated in cooking) they can be used. However, seed oils are very fragile.  They are NOT healthy if the oil is made by heat refining, which is a very common method.  This causes rancidity due oxidation and is highly inflammatory to your body.  Unfortunately, the number or products on store shelves that contain these unhealthy oils is ubiquitous, yuck!  Frankly, there are so many other healthy oils to choose from that are much more stable, that there is really no reason to ever eat seed oils.  See my Guide to Choosing Healthy Fats & Oils. 

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​One of my favorite snacks is Eden Organic Pumpkin Seeds!  I buy them by the case and send some to work with my husband, too.  They are so nice & crunchy! They come in regular and spicy flavors. Pumpkin seeds also make a great salad topping in place of croutons. YUM!

I also like to use these pumpkin seeds in my recipe for Seeded Dinner Rolls - Au Naturale! So yummy!

​Sprouted Seeds:

The sprouting of seeds is also a fascinating natural phenomenon!  In un-sprouted seeds, their enzymes are dormant and inhibited.   However, when seeds are soaked and allowed to germinate and sprout, an incredible amount of enzymes are released.  Enzymes are found in raw foods and are the spark of life!  They are proteins that are needed for all the metabolic processes in your body to occur.  The sprouting of seeds also releases wonderful vitamins, especially vitamin C and the spectrum of B vitamins. The seed transforms into something brand new, which has released much of its energy, but is much richer in nutrients. They're so very good for your health!  

(Read much more about the marvelous benefits of eating raw foods for enyzme preservation in my article HERE.)

Almost any seed can be sprouted (as long as it hasn't been irradiated.)  More information about enzymes and super easy, detailed instructions on how to sprout your own seeds at home are found in the book: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig.  
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You can purchase Organic, non-GMO Sprouting Seeds online on Amazon.  
The Sprout House offers a wide variety. Gotta love a super-food!

The benefits of sprouting seeds are also why I always use Sprouted Flax Seed Meal in my recipes that call for flax meal.  

When the flax seeds are sprouted, their nutrients and enzymes are much more bio-available because they are "unlocked".  YAY!

To prevent any oxidation, I keep the sprouted flax meal in my fridge.
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​Here are some of my recipes that include sprouted flax meal:

• Focaccia Flax Bread -Au Naturale!
• Jenny’s Flax & Sunbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sandwich Rounds - Au Naturale!
• Onion Bagels - Au Naturale!
• Savory Salmon Burgers - Au Naturale!
• N'Oatmeal Cream Pies with Vanilla Buttercream - Au Naturale!
• Caraway "Rye" Sandwich Bread - Au Naturale!

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