 Are all seeds bad for you? You know, I don't know how many times I've seen on the internet or people telling me that Dr. Gundry says that all seeds are bad for you. And I have no idea where that concept came from, but let's correct it right now. Now remember, plants have two philosophies in protecting their seeds so that their seeds, their babies, sprout and grow. In fact, some plants want you to eat their seeds. Let me briefly explain. If there is a tree that is stuck in the ground and in mobile and has grown big enough to make fruit, then they want you, their predator, to take that fruit with its seeds and eat it and walk away or fly away and deposit the babies with a generous dollop of fertilizer quite a ways away from the mother plant. Because the mother plant would shield shadow that baby if it just dropped to the ground there and probably wouldn't do well. So they protect their seeds with a shell that cannot be digested. And they make you interested in eating their babies by having all that wonderful luscious fruit dose laden fruit. And they even tell you that it's ready because they change colors and you have color vision. So you're a fruit predator. So they want you to eat their seeds. On the other hand, most grasses and other annual plants are growing in a great place and they're going to die. So they don't want their seeds to be carried off. They want them to be dropped to the ground. So they have number one, no incentive for you taking their seeds and going elsewhere. And they want their seeds to drop to the ground. So in that case, they protect their seeds from being eaten either by an impenetrable shell or by loading those seeds with lectins so that if those animals happen to eat those lectin-containing seeds, they will not thrive and will avoid them in the future. So there is method to a plant's madness. So there are plenty of friendly seeds. Let's talk about, for example, pomegranate seeds. So pomegranate seeds, they are aerals, are some of the best foods that you could actually eat. They have an incredibly high polyphenol content and in those of us who are lucky enough to have an appropriate gut microbiome, the agallic acid in pomegranate seeds can be converted into one of the most potent mitochondrial boosters that there is. They have omega-5, which is incredibly beneficial fat. But go easy on pomegranate juice. You're actually losing the benefit of the omega-5s in the seeds and a lot of the polyphenol content that's in the seed. So you don't get the fiber, you don't get the polyphenol content and you don't get the omega-5. Plus that pomegranate juice is gonna have a ton of sugar. So eat the seeds whole, that's the best way to get the benefits. How about basil seeds? Basil seeds are incredible for your health. They actually are an amazing prebiotic fiber that your gut buddies absolutely love. And they have adaptogenic properties. Just like basil in general, which is part of the mynth family, the seeds of basil have these same properties. In fact, we did a whole episode, episode 219, with Sekira Nyazi, the founder of Zen Basil, that I think you'll just absolutely love. Sesame seeds. Now sesame seeds are an excellent source of magnesium, which most people are deficient in. They also have oleic acid, just like olive oil. And they actually have a very interesting omega-6 fat. Now when you hear omega-6, you say, wait a minute, omega-6, that actually causes inflammation not so fast. It's been shown that the omega-6 fats in sesame seeds actually block inflammation. And a very interesting human study, having people have two tablespoons of sesame oil a day, dramatically lowered their blood pressure. And when they stopped using the sesame oil, their blood pressure went right back up. Now, sesame seeds versus sesame oil. Well, they're both actually great for you. The nice thing about sesame seeds is that you can make tahini out of it. And if you wanna know what to do with tahini, check out my macadamia nut hummus with tahini cooking demo on my podcast YouTube channel. I think you're gonna love it. And it's a great way to get all the benefits of another seed, sesame seed into your life. Ham seeds. Ham seeds are one of the great complete proteins out there. They are so versatile. You can put them into salads. You can stir fry them in some of your favorite vegetable dishes. You can put them in smoothies for protein. And despite the name, you will not get high from consuming large amounts of hemp seeds. Flax seeds. Now, flax seeds are another great example of a plant that has devised a way to protect their baby from your digestion. And I get a real kick out of people eating flax seeds or flax seeds crackers for their health benefits without realizing that that shell is impenetrable to digestion. You can't break through the wall of a flax seed. So you can eat all the flax seeds that you want, but the plant has designed them so that you'll poop them out the other end. But flax seeds are one of the richest sources of the short chain omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and also one of the great sources of flax seed lignans, which are other signaling compounds that may actually have some interesting anti-cancer benefits. So how do you get that benefit? You gotta grind them up. And don't grind them up and leave them out because they will actually go rancid very quickly. If you buy ground flax seeds in the grocery store or the health food store, you'll usually see them in the refrigerated section for a reason. Once you open that package, put it back in the refrigerator. I find the easiest thing to do is buy flax seeds whole. I've got a coffee grinder devoted to grinding the flax seeds and then add them to what you're gonna eat. That way you'll get all the benefit. Same way with flax seed oil. Flax seed oil carries those same benefits of ALA and lignans, but once you open it, put it in the refrigerator because it'll go bad very quickly. How about something we have been lacking for many years in our diet? Grape seeds. It turns out the biggest benefit of eating an actual grape was actually eating the seed because grape seed extract, grape seeds are incredible source of polyphenols. And there are studies after studies after studies, some of which I've published showing the benefit of grape seed extract on dilating blood vessels in humans and in making the lining of our blood vessels less sticky. And believe me, you do not want sticky blood vessels. The problem is when I was growing up, all grapes had seeds. And so if you ate grapes, you ate the seeds as they still do in Europe. In fact, I recently returned from a trip this fall in Europe where we were given grapes with seeds for dessert to have with our cheese. And we ate the grapes and the grape seeds because that's what they were designed to do. Every now and then in farmers markets and some high-end grocery stores, you can still find grapes with seeds. And if you do, buy them. If not, grape seed extract is a great choice. Papaya seeds. Papayas, the real benefit of papayas is in the seeds. And most people throw them away. Papaya seeds are loaded with polyphenols. And here's the deal. Just throw them in your smoothie. They will blend up. You won't taste them and you'll be good to go. So don't waste those papaya seeds. All right, how about seeds that you should avoid? Number one is chia seeds. Now, I can't believe how many times I've heard the Aztecs have been eating them forever. They're a health food. Well, I used to think so too until I got off the phone years ago with the father of the paleo diet. And I was exclaiming how great chia seeds are. And he says, you idiot, don't you read the literature? And he sent me two papers, one a human study where they wanted to show that people who ate chia seeds got more omega-3 fat in their system. And by the way, they also wanted to prove that their inflammation markers measured by C-reactive protein went down, which you would think if the omega-3s were anti-inflammatory. Unfortunately, what they found was, yes, the omega-3 levels in their blood went up, but their C-reactive proteins also went up exactly what you don't want to happen. And interestingly enough, that inflammation, many of my patients feel, and many of my patients who had autoimmune diseases, when we took the chia seeds out of some of their favorite foods, and I won't name them here, they started to get better. Use basil seeds instead of chia seeds. You'll get the exact same effect that you want in thickening, but you won't get the ill effects of chia seeds. Second, pumpkin seeds, papitas. Pumpkins are part of the squash family. The skin and seeds are full of lectins. Now the flesh of pumpkin does not have many lectins. The same goes for the foods in this family, in France and Italy, I always see peeled and deseeded cucumbers because they're smart enough to realize that these are where the problems are. The seeds are the problem. But by the way, the squash family unfortunately has a lot of sugar in them, so eat them in moderation, even if you peel and deseed them. How about everybody's favorite seeds, sunflower seeds? Sunflower seed and oil are one of the great lectin bombs of all time, so please stay away from sunflower seeds and sunflower oil. But now you know there are some seeds that are very much your friends, and surprisingly the plant wants you to eat those seeds. Not all seeds are bad, but know your seeds. This next one is sure to surprise you. One can of soda increases your risk of having a heart attack by 20% if you have one can a day.