Sunflower seeds are a healthy option to include in your daily diet. Its unsaturated fats are beneficial for people’s health.
The Salud 180 portal mentions that this food has multiple benefits for the body. The consumption of these seeds “Help reduce LDL or bad cholesterol. This is because it has a high percentage of unsaturated oils, which help mobilize accumulated fatty tissue.
According to the Tua Saúde website, a portal specialized in health, sunflower seeds have positive effects on cardiovascular health, which is related to high cholesterol. This is because “they are good fats, sunflower seeds help protect cardiovascular health, because they regulate the total cholesterol levels, increasing the good one and decreasing the bad one, in addition to decreasing the triglyceride levels”.
Along the same lines, this food is also characterized by its micronutrients, antioxidant vitamins and other components that have positive effects on the human body.
La Vanguardia mentions the different nutrients that make up sunflower seeds per 100 grams:
- Calories: 584 kcal.
- Fat: 51g.
- Carbohydrates: 20 g.
- Proteins: 21 g.
- Calcium: 78 mg.
- Hierro: 5,3 mg.
- Potasio: 645 mg.
Recipe with sunflower seed
Ingredients
- 1 cup of honey.
- 3 tablespoons of margarine.
- 3 tablespoons of butter.
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
- 2/3 cup of wheat flour.
- 2/3 cup of whole wheat flour.
- 1 cup of traditional oatmeal.
- 1/2 teaspoon of chemical yeast.
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
- 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds without salt.
- 1/2 cup of chopped dried cherries
- 1 egg.
- 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
- In a bowl add honey, margarine, butter, vanilla, almond extract and egg.
- Stir well.
- Add the flour, oats, ferment and salt. Mix again.
- Add the sunflower seeds and cherries.
- Serve a sufficient amount of this dough on the baking tray.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- After this time, serve and enjoy.
High cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is important for the production of hormones, vitamin D, and other substances. The human body produces it, but it is also obtained through daily food.
Having high levels of this substance puts your health at risk. “If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in your blood to form plaque. Plaque sticks to the walls of your blood vessels. This buildup is called atherosclerosis. It can cause coronary artery disease, which can narrow or even block them,” explains Medline Plus, the US National Library of Medicine website.
Types of cholesterol:
- Colesterol total: Total amount of cholesterol in the blood. It includes both types: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
- Colesterol malo (LDL): The one that builds up in your arteries and clogs them.
- Good cholesterol (HDL): Helps remove cholesterol from your arteries.
- No-HDL: This number is your total cholesterol minus your good cholesterol (HDL). Your non-HDL cholesterol includes bad cholesterol (LDL) and other types of cholesterol, such as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL).
- Triglycerides: Another type of fat in your blood that can increase your risk of heart disease, especially in women.
Healthy blood cholesterol ranges
For those 19 years of age or younger
- Total cholesterol: less than 170 mg/dl.
- Non-HDL: less than 120 mg/dl.
- LDL: menos de 100 mg/dl.
- HDL: more than 45 mg/dl.
Men 20 years or older
- Colesterol total: 125 a 200 mg/dl.
- Non-HDL: less than 130 mg/dl.
- LDL: less than 100 mg/dl.
- HDL: 40 mg/dl o mayor.
Women 20 years or older
- Colesterol total: 125 a 200 mg/dl.
- Non-HDL: less than 130 mg/dl.
- LDL: less than 100 mg/dl.
- HDL: 50 mg/dl o mayor.