Sunflowers are not just wonderful in appearance but offer incredible health benefits too.
They are simply beautiful but its cultivation for ornamental purposes is dwarfed by the production for seeds and oil owing to its amazing health benefits. Sunflower seed/oilis crammed with essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, proteins and fats. Probably, that’s the reason why they are being regarded as ‘super-food’. They are available round the year and have a very distinct aroma. It’s consumed in a variety of ways. Be it the oil, seeds or sprouts – they give a unique nutty flavor and needless to say the countless health benefits.
Let’s take a quick look at the impressive nutritional profile of sunflowers.
Sunflowers – the wonderful gift of nature are packed with several essential nutrients, making them a super healthy food. Below is explained the remarkable benefits from sunflowers:
The abundance of essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants makes sunflowers skin-healthy. The skin benefits from sunflowers are as follows:
Sunflower seeds are a rich source of vitamin E. This vitamin helps protect your skin fromharmful UV rays and give a glowing and youthful looking skin (1).
Being rich in vitamin E, sunflower oil acts as a great moisturizer. It helps your skin to retain most of the moisture and provide a protective barrier. Its moisturizing qualities can also be attributed to the presence of linoleic acid in it (2).
Sunflower seed oil is a great source of essential fatty acids such as linoleic, oleic, palmitic and steraric acid. These fatty acids are known to encourage the formation of collagen and elastin making your skin soft and youthful.These fatty acids have antibacterial properties which protect your skin from bacteria and lower the occurrence of acne and pimples.The various antioxidants in sunflower seeds protect your skin from environmental damage, scarring and appearance of wrinkles, hence reducing the signs of aging (3). Here is an excellent post to know more benefits of sunflower oil!
Sunflowers contain good amounts of copper. It is an essential mineral required for melanin production in skin. Copper helps in hiding the appearance of aging symptoms such as wrinkles and fine lines, and maintains youthful skin. It also plays a great role in skin regeneration, making it highly effective in healing wounds and skin lesions (4). Copper promotes the production of collagen and elastin, which gives skin its strength and elasticity. It also enhances the function of antioxidants by assisting in the removal of harmful free radicals. This is why it has found its way into make cosmetics and creams today.
Sunflowers are packed with vitamin E, copper and zinc. They nourish the hair and make it healthy and beautiful. The hair benefits of sunflowers are explained below:
The abundance of vitamin E in sunflower seeds and oil,play an important role in providing healthy hair. Vitamin E is chemically known as alpha-tocopherol. It is a fat soluble vitamin and offers a number of hair and beauty benefits. Vitamin E increases blood circulation and boosts oxygen supply to the scalp, hence promotes hair growth. This vitamin is also helpful in growing healthy nails. Sunflower seeds also contain zinc that promotes hair growth. Click to know more tips for hair growth (5).
Sunflowers are a good source of copper. This mineral is responsible for imparting color to your hair and its deficiency is one of the leading causes of greying of hair. The rich presence of copper in sunflowers helps in maintaining the color and luster of hair.
Sunflowers are rich in several essential nutrients offering a host of health benefits. They are as follows:
Sunflower seeds have a crunchy, nutty taste that makes them delectable (6). Include them in your daily diet of granola, salads and stir-fries. You can also add them to yogurt, rice, pasta, sandwiches or mix it into the bread dough.
Sunflower seeds contain copious amounts of magnesium that soothes the nerves, and eases stress and migraines, thereby relaxing your mind (7). The seeds also contain tryptophan and choline that help in combating anxiety and depression. Choline improves brain function and boosts memory.
Sunflower is rich in bone-healthy minerals like magnesium and copper. These minerals help to maintain strong and healthy bones. Copper-rich sunflower seeds provide strength and flexibility to your bones and joints while magnesium is responsible for the physical structure of bones.Sunflower seeds are also abundant in vitamin E content which is helpful in soothing arthritic pain (8).
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