Jerry the Blogger

If you're anything like me then you're often looking for a healthy snack that's easy to keep with you at work. A handful of sunflower seeds will not only help satisfy your hunger cravings, but these tasty little seeds also improve your health thanks to significant amounts of vitamin E, magnesium and selenium.

Sunflower seeds, such as DAVID Sunflower Seeds, are an excellent source of vitamin E, the primary fat-soluble antioxidant in the human body. Vitamin E works with your circulatory system to neutralize free radicals that damage cell membranes and brain cells. By protecting these cellular and molecular components, vitamin E also has anti-inflammatory effects that reduce symptoms of arthritis and asthma. Vitamin E has also been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer and reduce the development of complications due to diabetes.

If that wasn't enough, vitamin E also plays an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease by preventing cholesterol from being able to adhere to blood vessel walls. This in turn prevents cholesterol from blocking arteries leading to heart attack or stroke. Getting plenty of vitamin E can significantly reduce these risks, and research shows that people who eat a diet rich in vitamin E are at a much lower risk of dying of a heart attack than people whose dietary intake of vitamin E is marginal or below recommended levels. A quarter-cup of sunflower seeds contains more than 90% of the daily value for vitamin E.

Sunflower seeds are a good source of magnesium, which helps reduce the severity of asthma, lowers high blood pressure, and prevents migraine headaches, as well as reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Magnesium works with calcium inside the body to regulate nerve and muscle tone. Magnesium prevents calcium from overwhelming nerve cells and keeps our nerves, blood vessels and muscles relaxed. Diets with too little magnesium cause nerve cells to become overworked, causing excessive contraction in muscles. Insufficient magnesium contributes to high blood pressure, migraine headaches, muscle spasms, muscle cramps, tension, soreness and fatigue. A simple quarter cup of sunflower seeds provides more than 30% of the daily value for magnesium.

Lastly, sunflower seeds are also an excellent source of selenium, a trace mineral that helps to induce DNA repair in damaged cells, to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, and to induce "apoptosis," the body's natural method of eliminating worn out or abnormal cells (including cancer cells). It's this selenium richness that makes sunflower seeds a great snack, and one quarter cup will provide you with more than 30% of the daily value for selenium. 

Bottom line, these tiny sunflower seeds make a huge impact on your health. More importantly, they come in a variety of flavors (even a reduced sodium variety) to help you find a flavor that's right for you.

• 1 (15 oz) can LIBBY'S pumpkin
  
• 8 ounces skim milk or low-fat soymilk
• 1 reduced fat graham cracker crust
• 3/4 cup Splenda sugar substitute
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 9 Tablespoons Egg Beaters Whites
  

As part of my ongoing effort to lose weight and get fit, I recently started working with a dietitian. Although most of what the dietitian told me was familiar, there was one surprising suggestion: the dietitian recommend cutting out all carbonated drinks (even diet soda or sparkling water) when trying to reduce body fat. I didn't quite understand how a one-calorie (or even zero-calorie) carbonated beverage could lead to weight gain. Surely if you cut your total calorie consumption and get some exercise a diet soft drink can't hurt. How does a carbonated drink hinder my weight loss?

The answer is fairly simple, but will take a little while to explain. First, carbonated drinks can be bloating, which in turn adds to our desire to overeat. Carbonation also can upset the digestive tract as well as deplete calcium from the bones. As carbonation irritates the stomach our bodies attempt to relieve the irritation by releasing natural antacid into the stomach. The stomach receives this antacid (calcium) from the blood. Once the blood becomes low on calcium, the blood replenishes the calcium supply from the bones in order to maintain brain and muscle function. Another problem with many carbonated drinks is that they contain phosphoric acid which even further depletes calcium levels in the body.

Another side effect of the release of calcium as a natural antacid is that it reduces the natural acid levels in the stomach, which can actually be a bad thing during meals. If your stomach lacks the proper pH balance to completely digest your food then the partially digested food moves into the intestines. Once in the intestines, food basically can only go in two directions: it's either processed as waste and removed from the body or it's processed into fat and stored for later.

Regular carbonated beverages (and even some diet drinks) are also "empty calories" in that they have no nutrients. Dietitians would rather you drink fruit juices that are loaded with calories and packed with nutrients.

Of course, everyone's path to a healthy lifestyle is different, and if diet soda helps you achieve your goal in losing weight by preventing your from drinking regular soda then it's not all bad. At that same time, it's better to drink a diet carbonated drink than eat an entire box of cookies or an entire bag of chips. Moderation is the key thing to keep in mind with any food or beverage.