SEEDS of CHANGE

Nuts may get all the glory, but seeds have plenty of healthy and culinary benefits too. Here are the ones to sprinkle into your diet more often as proof that great things come in small packages.

- MATTHEW KADEY, MS, RD

Seeds are proof that Mother Nature works in marvelous ways. A diminutive seed contains all the makings of an entire plant. Despite their small size, they’re fruitful nutritional giants.

So what makes seeds so darn healthy? Don’t let their scaled-down size fool you: sunflower, chia, and their ilk provide a powerful blend of healthy fats, plant-based protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that can help stave off heart disease, cancer, and more. In fact, because seeds are so nutrient-dense, you don’t need to eat a huge amount to reap the benefits—just 2–3 tablespoons a day should give you a big nutritional boost without breaking the calorie bank.

And if you’re hunting for something that also tastes great and is ultra-versatile in the kitchen, look no further than seeds. Here are the top picks, where there is certainly not a bad seed in the bunch.

Fend off diabetes with CHIA SEEDS

As a fiber heavyweight, chia delivers 5 grams in a mere tablespoon serving, much of which is soluble fiber. When soluble fiber interacts with gastric liquids it forms a gel. In this gel form, soluble fiber works to slow down digestion to help keep you feeling full as well as tempering rises in blood sugar. This is a key factor in helping fend off type 2 diabetes, a condition that impacts about 34 million Americans. A number of research papers show that soluble fiber also helps reduce levels of LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, making a daily chia habit ticker-friendly. Soluble fiber pulls off this trick by increasing the excretion of cholesterol-containing bile from the body.

Build muscle with HEMP SEEDS