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Best Snacks - Healthy Low Calorie Snack Foods - Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds make for a great crunchy snack that keeps you cracking for hours! Sunflower seeds are the best whole-food source of Vitamin E. They provide an ideal heart healthy profile, are high in protein, and naturally low in carbohydrate.

Sunflower seeds are an excellent snack by themselves or as an ingredient, offering a wealth of nutrients, many of which are hard-to-get. Full of healthy unsaturated fats, protein, fiber, minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals, nutrition scientists are realizing that we should pay better attention to this power packed whole food.

In the United States, obesity as well as diabetes and heart disease are on the rise. The 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommends an intake of 20- 35% of calories from fat, mostly coming from healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated sources. Consumption of these kinds of good fats has been shown to improve heart disease risk. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) encourages choosing sunflower seeds, which can boost these fats.

Sunflower seeds are also recognized by the US Dietary Guidelines for their nutrient density. They are specifically noted to be the best whole food source of vitamin E, providing 84% of the daily value in just one ounce. A lower risk of death from stroke has been associated with vitamin E-rich foods; and since studies have shown that only 5% of men and 4% of women meet the RDA for vitamin E, choosing sunflower seeds to increase vitamin E intake is a wise and easy solution.

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