Sesame Seed, Calcium and Your Health

If the reader is familiar with the blood type diets, they know that different blood types require different foods. But, many overlook the differences in whole foods where vitamins and minerals are concerned.

According to Eat Right 4 Your Type, blood type O requires more calcium than the other three. Calcium can be difficult to assimilate, since most supplemental calcium is shell or rock that’s ground into a powder and then packaged in one form or another. There is a very good whole food source of natural plant based calcium that has other beneficial components, including manganese and copper. Used for thousands of years for health and beauty, sesame seed deserves more attention. Most of us think of them as the topping on hamburger buns or other baked goods but there’s a lot more than meets the eye.

Sesame seed contains 90 mg of calcium per tablespoon of unhulled seed and 10 mg for the hulled seed. We buy the hull type and, when ground in a coffee grinder, you can’t tell the hulled from the unhulled except for the taste. Unhulled seed has a richer, fuller and more natural flavor. Sesame seeds have phytosterols that help reduce blood cholesterol levels, vitamin E (tocopherol) Vitamin B1, sesamin, antioxidants and anticancer properties and lignans. Lignans are phytoestrogens. Various types of lignans are found in flax seed; sesamin is a lignan. Sesame oil is very high in antioxidants.

Sesame seed’s beneficial health components are more easily assimilated if first ground or pulverized. Grinding them in combination with flax seed, in a coffee grinder, makes a nutty tasting topping for desserts, and a great tasting addition to salads, soups, stews or whole grain cereals. Tahini is made from sesame seeds.

Sesame seeds were eaten during ancient times for beauty and to promote strength, energy and to speed healing. I grind the seed and mix it with curry, cayenne or other spicy condiments and extra virgin olive oil. The spicy paste makes a tasty and healthful snack when spread on crackers. Sesame oil is used in massage therapy and highly regarded for that purpose, and others, in Ayurveda the ancient healing and health regimen of India.

Being an O blood type, I sprinkle a combination of ground sesame and flax seed on my breakfast. We buy sesame seed because it’s easy to store. When living and traveling full time in a motorhome, storage space becomes a serious consideration. Sesame oil is more difficult to store and goes rancid quickly if not refrigerated. Refrigerator room is at a premium when living on wheels. The oil has less food options and is expensive when comparing it to the nutritional value of seed, dollar for dollar, pound for pound. Ground sesame seed will also add bulk to the diet.

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• Links available on www.newliferoadmap.com to other Larry R. Miller articles on Associated Content.