Sun & Seed - Sprouted Sunflower Seeds - 250g - Natural, Vegan, Source of Fibre & Protein - Raw and 100% Organic

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This is also the stage to keep your sunflower hydrated. Regular watering is so important for the budding and flowering stage of its life, so it can grow strong and big. If you need more details about watering I’ve written more information here. the sunflower bud begins to open Stage 5. Flowering. 65 to 85 days. According to Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute, around 10-20% of the crop consists of the confection crop. The rest is mainly oil seeds which are the preferred type for birds, who are the main consumer of sunflower seeds. For human consumption, sunflower seeds are commonly eaten in trail-mix, nutrition bars, in multi-grain bread, sunflower seed butter or on their own. The richness of fats, minerals and vitamins are the reason behind them being so beneficial to your health. Are sunflower seeds good for you?

Devaraj S, et al. (2000). Alpha tocopherol supplementation decreases serum C-reactive protein and monocyte interleukin-6 levels in normal volunteers and type 2 diabetic patients. As well as what has been discussed above, a main precaution to take is allergies. Whilst allergies to sunflower seeds is rare, it can happen. If you notice any symptoms such as mouth swelling, skin rashes, lesions, vomiting and nausea then stop consuming them immediately and seek medical help. This homemade sunflower seed butter recipe (otherwise known as sunbutter or sunflower butter) is a very frugal seed butter (up there with pumpkin seed butter and homemade tahini – aka sesame seed “butter”). It also works amazingly as an alternative to many types of nut butter in recipes, without giving up on nutrition. Plus you can prepare homemade sunflower butter from raw, soaked (sprouted), or roasted seeds with very little hands-on time!

Sprouting Sunflower Seeds

You can consume sunflower seeds on their own or with other ingredients. Eating them alone provides you all the health benefits discussed above, but adding them into meals with other health boosting ingredients is good too. Studies suggest that people who eat 1 ounce (30 grams) of sunflower seeds daily as part of a healthy diet may reduce fasting blood sugar by about 10% within six months, compared to a healthy diet alone. For raw sunflower seed butter: You’ll likely need to add a little additional oil, unfortunately. Roasting really helps the oils to release in the seeds. Without that step, these seeds will either take a LOT longer to process or simply won’t move past a certain stage unless a little oil is added to help move the process along. I’ve also found that raw sunflower butter is usually slightly more bitter in flavor, too. The effects of sunflower seeds on blood sugar and type 2 diabetes have been tested in a few studies and seem promising, but more research is needed.

Zoumpoulakis P, et al. (2017). Evaluating Modern Techniques for the Extraction and Characterisation of Sunflower (Hellianthus annus L.) Seeds Phenolics. I have based this general growth timeline observing the sunflowers I grow in my own garden. Depending on your growing conditions you might find a slight variation in some of the stages of growth.

You can add sunflower seeds into your meals such as smoothies, bakes and more. Or, you can consume them alongside other nutritional foods such as fruits, vegetables, spices and other nuts and seeds. In meals sprouts are used both cooked and raw in green salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, soups and as a garnish. What Do Sunflower Sprouts Taste Like? The way our sunflower does this is by following the sun. It is a truly fascinating phenomena called heliotropism and I’ve written about this here If you’ve grown your sunflower for the wildlife to enjoy and a nifty creature hasn’t eaten all of the fallen seeds, then maybe the seeds might nestle in the undergrowth where they stay dormant for the winter.